Terms
The rules for using IsThisCarOK. Read them before you pay. The disclaimer you tick at checkout is part of this.
Last updated 30 August 2026.
The product
IsThisCarOK sells one PDF briefing per private-party listing. You paste the ad. We research that vehicle and send a downloadable report. Price is $29.99 USD on isthiscarok.com and $34.99 CAD on isthiscarok.ca. No subscription. One included update within seven days if the VIN, miles, or engine turns up after you pay.
By creating an account, ticking the disclaimer, or paying, you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, don’t use the site.
What this is not
- Not an inspection. Homework. Not a pre-purchase inspection, not a hoist or lift test, not a road test, not a certification.
- Not a warranty or a statement that the vehicle is safe, legal, or a good buy.
- Not tax, legal, or registration advice. Any tax chapter is plain-language research so you know what to ask. Confirm with Autoplan / the broker / your state title office. We do not invent a Canada-wide tax figure; Canadian tax copy today is written around British Columbia PST, Autoplan, and ICBC.
- Not a history report. Not Carfax, not AutoCheck, not a lien search. Buy those yourself if you want them.
- Not dealer, wholesale, or unlimited-feed software. One listing, one report.
Private-party sales are typically as-is. You still need a shop with a lift before you buy. If the seller refuses, don’t buy it.
Your job
Give us a real listing you’re considering, photos that are yours to share, and an email you can read. Don’t use the product to harass a seller, scrape the web, or resell our PDFs. Don’t paste someone else’s personal data you have no right to share. You’re responsible for the purchase decision. We are not at the driveway with you.
Our job
We write the report in good faith from the listing, photos, public research, and shops we’ve actually checked. We do not invent a VIN or a shop phone. If we don’t have a verified shop in that city, the PDF says so and still tells you how to book an inspection. Research can be incomplete when the ad is thin, photos are missing, or a model isn’t in our files — we’ll say what’s unknown rather than guess.
Reports may wait for a human skim before we email you the PDF. That’s on purpose. Timing is usually the same day, not 60 seconds.
Payment
Payment is processed by Stripe. We accept card and, where Stripe and your device allow it, Link, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Currency follows the site: CAD on .ca, USD on .com. Founder dogfood uses a grant, not your card.
The seven-day update is the usual remedy if details arrive late. Refunds are not automatic — the research is the product, and it runs when you pay. If the PDF never arrived or we clearly failed to deliver, write us and we’ll make it right.
Intellectual property
The site, the wording, and the report format are ours. The PDF we generate for you is for you and anyone helping you buy that vehicle (a partner, a shop). Don’t republish it as your own product, don’t bulk-harvest /cars pages, and don’t pretend we inspected the car.
Listing photos remain the seller’s (or the platform’s). We use them only to research that job.
Accounts
Keep your email inbox under your control. You’re responsible for activity on your sign-in. We may refuse, rate-limit, or close an account that looks like abuse, card testing, or automated scraping.
Availability
We run daily caps so a bad day doesn’t run up an unbounded bill. If we’re at capacity, checkout or a new job may fail with a “try tomorrow” message. We’ll still honour a report you already paid for.
Liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, IsThisCarOK and John Jensen are not liable for the car you buy, the car you pass on, a missed defect, a tax bill, a lien, an accident, or a seller who lied. Our total liability for a given report is limited to the amount you paid us for that report. Some places don’t allow these limits — in those places, they apply only as far as allowed.
Governing law
For isthiscarok.com, these terms are governed by the laws of the US state that applies to you as a consumer. Consumer protection statutes in your state still apply and win where they must.
Changes
We can update these terms. The date at the top is the current version. Changes apply to new purchases after that date. If a court knocks out one clause, the rest still stands.