What is Scan Auctions Valuation?

Every car you scan needs a retail valuation so we can show profit and margin. ScanAuctions gives you two ways to get those values:

How does Scan Auctions Valuation work?

For each car you scan, the SA engine looks up comparable cars across our database (built from public listings + paired ground-truth data) matching the same make, model, year, mileage band, fuel type, and trim signature. It then aggregates them into a retail estimate, applying our trained corrections for asking-price bias and per-make pricing patterns.

When does each engine fire?

• AutoTrader connected: we use AT for every car. The retail value comes directly from AT's live trader portal.
• AutoTrader not connected, or temporarily down: we use Scan Auctions Valuation instead. Your scan still completes — no blank cells.
• AutoTrader connected but a specific car has no AT data: we fall back to SA Valuation for just that row, so you still get a number.

How do I tell which engine valued a car?

On every scan-results table, the Retail column shows a small badge next to the price:

• ATValue came from AutoTrader trader portal.
• SAValue came from the Scan Auctions Valuation engine.

Accuracy

Measured: April 2026 — re-benchmarked monthly

On a 400-car random sample of real customer cars where we have AT trader-portal ground-truth values:

• AT-connected: values come straight from AutoTrader trader portal, with our engine cross-checking suspicious results and falling back to AT for any car AT couldn't value. Effective accuracy: identical to AT.
• SA-only, previously-seen VRM or popular spec: ~90% of values land within ±15% of AT, median error 0%. Cars cycle through Motorway/CarWow auctions and we cache their AT values when seen, so common specs return tight values.
• SA-only, sparse-data spec: ~36% within ±15%, ~83% within ±25%, median error 17%. High-trim exotic variants (M-spec BMW, AMG Mercedes, Porsche premium) are the weak spots. Every car still gets a value with an honest confidence/range marker — the engine improves continuously as more paired data accumulates.

FAQ

Do I need to opt in to use Scan Auctions Valuation?

No. It's on by default for every plan. If you don't connect AutoTrader during onboarding, scans use SA Valuation automatically.

Will my pricing change if I switch from AT to SA?

No. Plan pricing is the same regardless of which engine you use. SA Valuation is included.

Can I see both values side-by-side?

Today the system uses AT when available and SA otherwise — one value per car. If you'd like a side-by-side comparison view, let us know via Support.