Inspection Standards
What is a major-accident vehicle?
A vehicle whose structural (load-bearing) components have been subjected to a collision or other external force and — even after repair — still carry a safety concern.
What are the common signs?
The vehicle's frame shows serious safety concerns such as cutting, welding, replacement, or deformation of structural members.
Our criteria distinguish inner structural members (pillar inners, rocker / lower side-rail inner panels, frame rails) from outer cosmetic panels. A classification is driven by damage or repair to the inner structure — bolt-on outer panels, cosmetic damage, and airbag deployment on their own do not make a vehicle an accident vehicle. Carify's determination is based on the severity of structural-component damage, not on repair cost.
How we classify a major-accident vehicle
During inspection, if a unibody vehicle shows any one of the following defects (not caused by modification), it is classified as an accident vehicle.
| Inspection point | Defect (not from modification) — unibody |
|---|---|
| Front / rear frame rails (L&R) | Replacement, cutting or bodywork, welding, dents, cracks, twisting, deformation, or wrinkling ≥ 0.5 in² |
| Front / rear shock-tower seats (L&R) | Replacement, cutting or bodywork, welding, dents, cracks, twisting, deformation, or wrinkling ≥ 0.5 in² |
| Firewall (cowl panel) | Replacement, welding, cutting or bodywork, or deformation ≥ 3.1 in |
| A / B / C / D pillar inner (L&R) | Welding, cutting, replacement, or deformation; repair length ≥ 3.1 in and paint thickness ≥ 16 mils |
| Upper side rails (L&R) | Replacement, welding, or cutting |
| Lower side rails / rockers (L&R) | Welding ≥ 0.5 in²; bodywork; inner crack damage ≥ 3.1 in; cutting; replacement; or severe reinforcement deformation |
| Front fender frame (L&R) | Cutting, replacement, or welding ≥ 1.4 in² |
For a body-on-frame vehicle, any of the following (not caused by modification):
| Inspection point | Defect (not from modification) — body-on-frame |
|---|---|
| Front / rear frame rails (L&R) | Replacement, cutting or bodywork, welding, dents, cracks, twisting, deformation, or wrinkling ≥ 0.5 in² |
| Front / rear shock-tower seats (L&R) | Replacement, cutting or bodywork, welding, dents, cracks, twisting, deformation, or wrinkling ≥ 0.5 in² |
Is my car unibody or body-on-frame?
Most sedans are unibody; many SUVs and trucks are body-on-frame. The inspector confirms your vehicle's construction on site before applying the matching criteria.
How many items trigger the classification?
Meeting any single criterion above classifies the vehicle as an accident vehicle.
My airbag deployed once — why isn't it an accident car?
Airbags can deploy in non-collision situations, so airbag deployment alone is not a primary determinant of accident status.
The repair cost was high — why wasn't it classified as an accident car?
Classification is based on the damage severity of structural components, not on the repair cost (which mostly reflects parts pricing).
How much damage classifies a car as an accident vehicle?
Any single defect that meets a threshold in the criteria table above — for example, cutting, welding or replacement of a load-bearing member, or deformation beyond the listed size. Those thresholds sit at the point where a structural member's integrity, and therefore occupant crash protection, is compromised.
Why might my car be “restricted / not inspectable”?
If the vehicle's structure, the inspection environment, or other force-majeure reasons prevent an item from being assessed — or if modifications affect the determination — that item, or the inspection, may return a restricted result instead of a definitive one.
Why does my car need extra authorization?
Some items can only be assessed by partially disassembling a component. Whoever owns the car — the current owner or seller — signs off on any teardown on-site (this is the on-site authorization we collect before the inspection begins). If they decline for a given item, that item can't be disassembled and is marked “owner authorization required.”
Can my modified car still be inspected?
Yes — we inspect normally. But we annotate the modified areas, and any areas the modification prevents us from assessing. Annotated areas fall outside the guarantee's coverage.
Does Carify guarantee a vehicle's complete history?
No. An inspection is a point-in-time assessment of observable and diagnostically detectable condition. It is not a guarantee of the vehicle's full history or future condition.
These standards are published for transparency and may be refined. Fire-damage and additional categories follow the same observational approach: a determination is made only when the defined, reasonably detectable thresholds are met.