VEHICLEFAULTS.COM

We partnered with vehiclefaults.com to architect, design, and develop a full-stack SaaS platform that gives UK motor trade professionals instant access to AI-generated fault intelligence at the point of purchase. The platform eliminates guesswork from stock decisions by delivering comprehensive vehicle reports — including known faults, estimated recon costs, market valuations, and negotiation leverage — in under sixty seconds.

The Challenge

Dealers across the UK were losing margin to unexpected comebacks, hidden faults, and inaccurate recon estimates. There was no fast, reliable tool that combined fault data from manufacturer bulletins, recall databases, MOT patterns, and owner reports into a single actionable report. The client needed a platform that could serve individual buyers and scale to multi-user dealership teams, all while maintaining the speed and simplicity required for use at auctions and on the forecourt.

What We Built

The frontend is a React single-page application built with TypeScript, Vite, and Tailwind CSS, optimised as a Progressive Web App for mobile-first usage. The interface supports instant vehicle lookups via registration plate, VIN, or camera-based QR scanning. Reports are generated through a suite of serverless edge functions that orchestrate calls to multiple AI models — including Gemini and GPT — to synthesise fault predictions, severity ratings, parts availability, and repair cost breakdowns.

Key platform features include:

• AI Vehicle Reports — Comprehensive fault analysis with severity scoring, diagnostic guides, and source-verified data from recalls, technical service bulletins, reliability studies, and owner communities.

• Market Intelligence — Live pricing data including dealer vs. private valuations, auction estimates, mileage-price correlation, days-on-market benchmarks, and seasonal demand insights.

• Dealer Dashboard — A full stock management interface with vehicle pipeline stages, shortlisting, favorites, team activity feeds, and inventory notes.

• Team Collaboration — Multi-user dealership accounts with role-based access (owner, manager, buyer), @mention notifications, shared inspection checklists, and real-time presence indicators.

• Bulk Reporting — Batch processing for auction lists, enabling dealers to assess multiple vehicles simultaneously with comparative scoring.

• Inspection Mode — A guided mobile inspection workflow with per-item photo capture, audio notes, and condition flagging — designed for use during physical vehicle assessments.

• Smart Buy Score & Negotiation Tools — Proprietary scoring that weighs fault severity, market position, and recon costs to produce a clear buy/pass recommendation with suggested discount ranges.

Technical Architecture

The backend runs entirely on a managed cloud infrastructure with PostgreSQL, row-level security policies, and serverless edge functions. We implemented granular RLS across thirty-plus tables to ensure strict data isolation between dealer teams. Authentication uses email verification with leaked-password protection, and all sensitive operations — report credit consumption, Stripe webhook processing, AI quota enforcement — execute server-side.

The billing system integrates Stripe Checkout, customer portal management, and webhook-driven subscription lifecycle handling. A referral programme with unique codes and automated credit rewards is built into the onboarding flow.

Performance was a priority throughout. We implemented lazy-loaded routes, font preloading, code-split authenticated components, and an aggressive caching layer for AI responses. Web Vitals are tracked in production via PostHog analytics. The PWA configuration enables offline access and home-screen installation on mobile devices.

SEO is handled with dynamic meta tags, OpenGraph and Twitter Card markup, JSON-LD structured data, canonical URLs, and semantic HTML throughout. Every public page is optimised for search visibility.

Security

We conducted a thorough security review before launch, hardening RLS policies to prevent cross-team data access, closing a self-join vulnerability on team membership, adding CSRF validation to edge functions, and enforcing Content Security Policy headers. A server-side trigger prevents client-side privilege escalation on user profiles.

The Result

vehiclefaults.com launched as a polished, production-grade SaaS product — fast, secure, and purpose-built for how dealers actually work. From a single registration lookup to a full team pipeline workflow, the platform delivers the fault intelligence motor traders need to buy smarter and reduce costly comebacks.