# CarsXE VIN Decoder — Vehicle Specs API

> CarsXE VIN Decoder — Vehicle Specs API is a paid API for AI agents from api.carsxe.com, paid per call via x402, $0.15/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Decodes a 17-character VIN to return vehicle specifications including make, model, trim, engine, transmission, colors, warranties, and equipment details.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://api.carsxe.com/specs
- Price: $0.15/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/carsxe-vin-decoder-vehicle-specs-api-e9ada7f0
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_4fYqLWUikUpUcfLpVK_-V

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability carsxe-vin-decoder-vehicle-specs-api-e9ada7f0
```

Example prompt: Can you decode this VIN for me — 1HGBH41JXMN109186 — and pull back the full vehicle specs including engine, transmission, drivetrain, colors, and warranty info?

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need comprehensive vehicle specifications decoded from a VIN, including trim, engine, transmission, colors, equipment, and warranty data. It covers 275M+ records across 50+ countries, making it suitable for both domestic and international vehicles. Prefer it over simple make/model lookups when you need rich structured attribute data for insurance, sales, repair, or compliance workflows.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or malformed VIN (not 17 characters) returns an error response
- Unknown or unrecognized VIN may trigger International VIN decoding fallback, potentially returning a partial response
- International VIN decoding disabled (disableIntVINDecoding=1) returns an error instead of partial data
- Network timeout or service unavailability returns a failure response
- Authentication/payment failure (x402 payment not processed) blocks the request

## How this service works

CarsXE provides a REST API for VIN decoding, license plate lookup, vehicle market value, history reports, NHTSA recalls, OBD codes, and VIN OCR. 12+ endpoints, 50+ countries, 275M+ records.

## Output

Returns a JSON (or XML) object containing: an echo of input parameters, a success flag, a timestamp, vehicle attributes (year, make, model, trim, style, type, size, category, country of manufacture, doors, fuel type, engine, transmission, drivetrain, dimensions, pricing, and more), available color options, equipment details, standard warranty information (by type, miles, and months), and optionally deep data with additional vehicle information when deepdata=1 is set.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "required": [
  "vin"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "vin": {
   "type": "string",
   "description": "The 17 character long vehicle identification number."
  },
  "format": {
   "enum": [
    "json",
    "xml"
   ],
   "type": "string",
   "description": "The format of the response. One of `json` or `xml`."
  },
  "deepdata": {
   "enum": [
    "1"
   ],
   "type": "string",
   "description": "Request extra data. Set to `1` to use. Significantly slower than the regular request but retrieves additional data."
  },
  "disableIntVINDecoding": {
   "enum": [
    "1"
   ],
   "type": "string",
   "description": "Set to `1` to disable the International VIN decoding fallback and return an error instead of a potential partial response."
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "allOf": [
  {
   "type": "object",
   "properties": {
    "input": {
     "type": "object",
     "description": "Echo of the input parameters specified by the query.",
     "additionalProperties": true
    },
    "success": {
     "type": "boolean"
    },
    "timestamp": {
     "type": "string"
    }
   },
   "description": "Generic success envelope. Endpoint-specific payload fields appear at the top level alongside these common fields.",
   "additionalProperties": true
  },
  {
   "type": "object",
   "properties": {
    "colors": {
     "type": "array",
     "items": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
       "name": {
        "type": "string"
       },
       "category": {
        "type": "string"
       }
      },
      "additionalProperties": true
     },
     "description": "Available color options based on the vehicle's year, make and model."
    },
    "deepdata": {
     "type": "object",
     "description": "More information on the vehicle from the deep data search (present when `deepdata=1`).",
     "additionalProperties": true
    },
    "equipment": {
     "type": "object",
     "description": "Equipment details based on the vehicle's year, make and model.",
     "additionalProperties": true
    },
    "attributes": {
     "type": "object",
     "description": "A map of specifications about the VIN (year, make, model, trim, style, type, size, category, made_in, doors, fuel_type, engine, transmission, drivetrain, dimensions, pricing and more).",
     "additionalProperties": true
    },
    "warranties": {
     "type": "array",
     "items": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
       "type": {
        "type": "string"
       },
       "miles": {
        "type": "string"
       },
       "months": {
        "type": "string"
       }
      },
      "additionalProperties": true
     },
     "description": "Standard vehicle warranties by type, miles and months."
    }
   }
  }
 ]
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/carsxe-vin-decoder-vehicle-specs-api-e9ada7f0/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.carsxe.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.carsxe.com/llms.txt)