Help

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The assistant answers from the help articles below. It cannot see your account; for that, a person on our team helps you.

Getting started

What is Carnoat?

Carnoat is a private digital archive for collector cars. You upload invoices, work orders, purchase documents and photos; Carnoat reads them, removes personal details from a copy, and builds a dated history of your car with a verification score.

If you ever want to sell, Carnoat also has a marketplace where you decide how much is seen. A car can only be found when you offer it, and you choose per car: openly, with its photos, price and mileage; discreetly, as an anonymous profile; privately, findable by nobody; or only through Concierge. Buyers ask their question through Carnoat, and you decide whether to answer. Using the archive never obliges you to sell.

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Is Carnoat only for classic cars?

No. Carnoat is for any car whose history matters to its owner: a classic from the sixties, a youngtimer from the nineties, a recent sports car, or the car you simply look after with care.

A well-kept history is worth as much on a two-year-old GT as on a fifty-year-old coupé: it shows how the car was looked after, and it makes a later sale easier and more transparent.

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Who is Carnoat for?

For owners of cars whose history matters: collectors, enthusiasts, and anyone with a folder of invoices they would rather not lose. Dealers can use the Professional subscription for their stock and, if they choose, public listings for their own cars.

Buyers use Carnoat to find cars that are not for sale anywhere else, with a documented history they can check.

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How do I start?

Create an account and add your car; that is free and needs no documents. Then drop an invoice or a work order on the car's page. Your first few scans are free.

Carnoat reads it in the background. At the top of the car's page, under "New since your last visit", you check what was read, correct anything that is off, and confirm. From then on it is part of the car's history.

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Is there an app?

Yes: the Carnoat app for iPhone and Android is coming soon. It opens your archive as on carnoat.com, with what a phone does better: scanning an invoice or work order with the camera (the pages become one PDF), sharing an invoice from your mail or a photo from your camera roll into Carnoat, notifications when a document has been read, and Face ID or your fingerprint to open it. Without a signal, an upload waits on your phone and goes as soon as you are back online. The same rules apply as on the website: the same redaction, the same checks, the same credits. Until then, carnoat.com works in your phone's browser, camera included.

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Your archive and documents

Which documents can I upload?

Anything that tells the story of the car: invoices, handwritten work orders, purchase documents, inspection reports, as PDF or as a photo. You can also add photos and video of the car itself.

You don't have to sort anything first. Carnoat works out whether a file is a document or a photo, and what kind of document it is.

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How does Carnoat read my documents?

Software, including AI, reads the date, mileage, cost, garage and the work done, and checks each value against a second, independent reading of the page. Values that could not be confirmed are marked, so you know what to check.

Nothing becomes part of the history until you have confirmed it. In the beginning, a person on our team also reviews every document before a buyer could ever see it.

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What happens to the photos and videos I upload?

They are kept with the car and wait at the top of its page, under "New since your last visit", until you say where they belong. When a photo was taken close to an event, for example a service, Carnoat asks whether it belongs with that event; one click is enough. Otherwise you choose: work on the car, which goes with its invoice, or an occasion such as a track day or a concours, which becomes a new event.

Location data and camera details are removed from every photo when it arrives. Only the date it was taken is kept, to suggest the right event.

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I have an invoice and a work order for the same visit. Do I upload both?

Yes. When both carry the same work order number, Carnoat joins them into one event automatically. When they are a few days apart without a shared number, it suggests linking them and you decide.

If the two disagree, for example on the mileage, Carnoat shows both values so you can choose; it never picks one silently.

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What if something was read wrongly?

Correct it before you confirm, at the top of the car's page under "New since your last visit": every field can be edited. Fields Carnoat could not confirm are marked so you know where to look.

If a document cannot be read at all, for example because the scan is too poor, it may be sent back to you with a reason, so you can upload a better copy.

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Can I delete a document?

Yes, at any time, from the car's page. Deleting one document has no other consequences for your account.

If the car has already passed to a new owner through a sale confirmed on Carnoat, the anonymised copy stays with the car; your original is always yours to delete.

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Can I put several documents in one PDF?

Yes. If you scan a stack of invoices or work orders into one PDF, Carnoat recognises where one document ends and the next begins, and splits the file into separate documents. Each is read, checked and added to the history on its own, and each counts as one document for your scan credit.

You can drop such a PDF on a car's page or on the page with your cars, or forward it by email. On the page with your cars, each part finds its own car, so one stack may cover several cars. When Carnoat is not sure where a document ends, the pages stay together as one document.

Pages with general terms and blank pages stay free.

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Privacy and security

Who can see my documents?

Your original documents are encrypted and visible only to you, and to the moderators on our team who check them. Nobody else sees them: not other users, not buyers, and not the people you share a car with. To open an original yourself, Carnoat asks you to confirm it is you every now and then; the anonymised copy opens straight away.

A buyer only ever sees an anonymised copy, with personal details blacked out, and only after a moderator has approved it and you have chosen to share it with that particular buyer, once both identities are checked. Before that, a buyer sees what you chose to show: for an open car its photos, price, mileage and your description; for a discreet car an anonymous profile with rounded figures.

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Which personal details are removed?

Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, bank account numbers and similar details of people, including a mechanic's handwritten name. Details of businesses stay visible, such as a garage's name, address and VAT number, because they are not personal data and they matter to a buyer.

Two layers check every copy. If anything looks missed, the copy is held back until a person has checked it.

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Why do I need an identity check?

So that both sides know who they are dealing with. Before names, documents or the car's history pass between a buyer and an owner, or a viewing is arranged, both pass an identity check through a specialised identity-verification partner (Sumsub or Didit). A buyer also needs it before a question reaches an owner. It keeps out anonymous "test pilots" and fraud.

The check is free and needed only once. Carnoat never stores your identity document; we only keep the outcome. You don't need it to use the archive.

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Where is my data stored?

On servers in the European Union, with backups at a separate provider, also in the EU. Documents are encrypted at rest with their own key.

To read documents, Carnoat uses AI providers that do not use your data to train their models. The privacy policy lists every provider we work with.

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Buying and selling

Do I have to sell my car to use Carnoat?

No. Most owners use Carnoat only to keep a complete, well-ordered history. A car is never for sale unless you offer it.

To be offered, a car needs at least one document whose vehicle details match it. You then choose how it is shown:

- Open: an advertisement with photos, exact price (or "price on request"), mileage and your description, on Carnoat and on a public page search engines can find. We check the photos first; the documents stay behind the identity check. - Discreet: an anonymous profile with a blurred photo and rounded figures, at most the province. - Private: findable by nobody. You still see how many verified buyers are looking for a car like yours. - Only through Concierge: a specialist handles every request.

An offer runs for 60 days; a week before it ends we remind you, and you can extend it, stop it or mark the car as sold. You decide for every question whether to answer, and nothing about you is shared until you choose to share it.

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How do buyers find a car?

On the marketplace a buyer browses every car on offer that may be found, with filters such as make, model, years, price, mileage, gearbox, colour and a radius around a town. They can also describe the car in their own words, for example "Porsche 964 with full service history under 100,000 km", and Carnoat turns that into filters, asking a few short questions about what is still open.

Open cars show their photos, exact price and mileage. Discreet cars appear as anonymous profiles with a blurred photo, rounded figures and at most the province, so they cannot be traced. Private cars never appear. Open cars can also be found without an account, on the public For sale page and its pages per make and model.

Buyers can save a search and are told when a matching car appears. Owners see, as a range, how many verified buyers are looking for a car like theirs, never who. Under "Why this order?" we explain how results are ordered: no car is placed higher for payment.

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What is the verification score?

A score out of 100 that shows how well a car is documented on Carnoat. It is built from: ownership checked against its documents, the number of documents, how much of the car's life they cover, consistent mileage readings without rollback, and whether the owner's identity is verified.

A document counts once a moderator has approved it, or, while it still waits for one, once it passed every automatic check: read with confidence, its personal details removed without anything left over, confirmed by you and naming this car. The score then says that some documents are still being checked by a person. A rejected document never counts.

It scores the paperwork, not the car's condition or value. On your car's page you see which factors would raise it.

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How does contact between a buyer and a seller work?

Every request starts with a written question to the owner; asking is free. The question reaches the owner once the buyer has passed the identity check, once and free.

The owner is told and decides whether to answer; their answer opens the conversation. All conversations, as buyer and as owner, are in one place: Messages. No names or contact details are exchanged: each side shares its own if and when it chooses.

Names, documents, released photos and the car's history, and arranging a viewing, pass only between two people whose identity has been checked. The owner chooses which photos and anonymised documents to release, one by one or all at once. If the owner declines or doesn't answer in time, the request closes. Either side can also ask Concierge to handle it.

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Does Carnoat handle the payment for the car?

No. Buyer and seller agree on the price, the payment and the handover between themselves. Carnoat never holds or passes on money for a car, and is not a party to the sale.

After the sale, both confirm it on Carnoat. That moves the car's history to the new owner and earns each a badge.

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What happens to the history when I sell my car?

Once both buyer and seller have confirmed the sale, the car's history, the anonymised copies of its documents and their summaries pass to the new owner, the way a service book changes hands with the car.

Your original documents stay in your own account. You can still read the car's history as it stood on the day you sold it, but not what the new owner adds afterwards.

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What is Carnoat Concierge?

A specialist who helps you buy or sell, by phone or WhatsApp: advice on price and negotiation, help with the right questions, and contact with the other party once there is real interest. The specialist never handles the payment.

Concierge can be requested once identities are verified, by the buyer, the seller or both. An owner can also choose that every request for a car goes through a specialist, and a buyer can ask a specialist to find a car from a saved search. The fee depends on the sale price and is paid only by whoever asks for it, when the deal goes through.

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Can I keep track of cars I like?

Yes. Save a car from its page; your saved cars are on the marketplace under Saved, above your saved searches. With "Compare" you can put up to four cars side by side: year, mileage, price, score, documented history and specifications. The comparison list is kept in this browser.

When the price of a saved car drops, we tell you: for an open car the new price, for a discreet car only when it moves to a lower band. Saving is private: the owner sees how many people saved their car, never who.

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How do I report an advertisement?

With "Report" on the car's page; anyone can, also without an account, with an email address. Choose what is wrong, for example a car that doesn't exist, photos taken from elsewhere or misleading details, and add what you saw if you like.

A person on our team looks at every report. They can leave the advertisement as it is, ask the owner to correct it, or take it down; the owner is told why and can object. You hear the outcome by email. Photos we find on another owner's car are hidden until a person has looked at them.

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Car Passport

What is a Car Passport?

A way to share your car's history outside Carnoat, for example with an insurer, an auction house or a buyer you met elsewhere. You get a link and a PDF, with a verification code anyone can check on Carnoat.

You choose which approved, anonymised documents go in, and whether the chassis number, costs and photos show. It never says who owned the car. It's free, you can revoke it at any time, and it stops working when it expires or the car changes hands.

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Prices and payment

What does Carnoat cost?

Creating cars, keeping your archive, searching, contacting an owner and making a Car Passport are free. Reading documents uses scan credit, which you buy in packages; a new account gets a few free scans. Dealers can take the Professional subscription, and Concierge has its own fee based on the sale price, paid only by whoever asks for it.

The current prices are on the pricing page.

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What is scan credit?

Scan credit pays for reading documents. It is counted in scans: one scan reads one document of up to five pages, and a longer document takes one more scan for every five pages beyond that. Pages with general terms and blank pages are free and don't count. Several invoices scanned into one PDF are split into separate documents, each counted on its own. A new account gets a few free scans; after that you buy scans in packages. They are shared across all the cars in your account and never expire.

The pricing page has a calculator that suggests a package based on how many cars you have and how old they are. If you run out while a document is waiting, it is kept safely and read as soon as you add credit.

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What is the Professional subscription?

The Professional subscription is the plan for dealers: a business registered on Carnoat as a dealer, once we have checked it. It includes unlimited cars and scans within a fair-use limit, a public dealer page with the cars you choose to list in full, and colleagues who can work on your cars. A first subscription starts with a free trial period.

It renews on your billing date and you can cancel at any time; your archive stays as it is.

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How do invitations work?

Under Scan credit → Invite someone you find your own link. Share it however you like: in a message, by email or on social media.

You both receive free scans once the person you invite confirms their first document; the page shows how many, next to your link. Signing up is not enough: the scans arrive when they have uploaded a document and confirmed what was read from it. That way an invitation rewards real use, not an empty account. Each invitation is rewarded once.

Under your link you see each invitation with its date and where it stands: waiting for a first document, or rewarded. Carnoat never shows who signed up through your link, and never tells the person you invited who you are, because links are often shared publicly. You are told in Carnoat when someone signs up through your link, and again when the scans arrive, by email too unless you switched that off under Settings → Notifications.

The number of rewarded invitations per year is limited. Once you reach it, the page says so: your link still works, but neither of you receives scans for new invitations until a year has passed since the earliest rewarded one.

Did you follow someone's link? The sign-up page says so, and you receive the scans once you confirm your first document. Follow the link before you create your account: an invitation can't be added afterwards. If you don't see Invite someone, invitations are not offered at the moment.

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Your account

How do I delete my account?

In your settings, under your data. Your account closes at once and everything in it is erased after 30 days; until then, the email we send lets you restore it.

The history of a car you sold through a confirmed sale stays with that car and its new owner. Everything else is deleted.

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Can I download my data?

Yes. In your settings, under your data, you choose what goes in: the history of your cars, your original documents, the anonymised copies, and your photos and videos. You get it as one download, with a folder per car. We email you a link when it is ready; it works for 48 hours.

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How do I secure my account?

Use a password of at least 12 characters, or sign in with Google. In your settings you can add a second step with an authenticator app, or register a passkey to sign in with your fingerprint, face or device. Both are optional.

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How do I reach a person?

Through the contact page, by email, or by WhatsApp for something urgent. Every message is read by a person on our team, and we usually answer within one working day.

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Still a question? Every message is read by a person on our team.

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