CarvicoYour car's history
shouldn't need a login.
CARFAX Car Care is free, polished, and backed by the biggest name in vehicle history. It is also server-bound, login-walled, and structurally blind to the work you do yourself. If that trade stopped feeling free, here's the way out.
Download on theApp StoreWhy people are leaving.
Not our words — these are the recurring themes in CARFAX Car Care's own recent App Store reviews, as of August 2026.
Won't open
Reviewers report the app freezing on the splash screen — for some, across multiple updates and months, including the latest version.
Useless offline
"Cannot contact server" is a fixture of the review page. Every record lives server-side, so a bad connection means no garage at all.
Vanishing records
Reviews report entire garages and years of service history deleted after updates or logouts — with no way to get them back.
DIY doesn't count
Service entries route through affiliated shops. Your own oil changes and your independent mechanic never earn the "well maintained" record.
Odometer overrides
Reviewers describe the app overriding their real odometer reading with an estimated one — with no way to correct it.
It's a storefront now
Recent reviews object to a redesign that puts car shopping first and maintenance second. The free garage is the top of a sales funnel.
None of this is a scandal — CARFAX gives the app away because consumer-confirmed service data is what makes its paid reports valuable. It just means the app serves their database first, yours second.
Make the switch in three steps.
Save what CARFAX will let you
There is no export button — that's rather the point. Before you go, open your garage and screenshot or save your service history and any reports you might want later. Ten minutes now protects years of records.
Add your car to Carvico
Type or scan the VIN and Carvico fills in make, model, year, and engine from NHTSA's public database — the US government source, queried with nothing but the VIN. Recall alerts come from the same place: free, no account, and your reading of the odometer is never overwritten by an estimate.
Log everything from here on
Shop visit, independent mechanic, or your own driveway — every job counts. Scan the receipt and the fields fill themselves. It all works offline, and when you sell, Carvico generates a PDF handover report of the complete record on your phone.
Honest limitation: the shop-reported history already inside CARFAX's database stays there — no app can import it. What you build from today is yours, and no server outage, account lockout, or corporate pivot can take it.
What changes when you switch.
| CARFAX Car Care | Carvico | |
|---|---|---|
| Works offline | No — every record is server-side | Fully — records live on your iPhone |
| Account | Required, with re-login codes | None |
| DIY & independent shops | Don't count — affiliated shops only | First-class — every job, any wrench |
| Odometer | May be overridden by estimates | Your reading is never overwritten |
| Recall alerts | Behind the account | Free, no account — NHTSA public data |
| Getting your data out | No export | CSV and PDF anytime, generated on-device |
| Business model | Free — feeds report sales and shop referrals | Free for one car; paid Pro. No ads, no data selling |
Switching questions.
Can I export my CARFAX Car Care history?
No — the app offers no data export. Save or screenshot your service history before you leave. Then keep your records somewhere that generates its files on your device, so leaving is always a button, never a loss.
Do I lose the "well maintained" resale value?
CARFAX reports only ever showed work reported by affiliated shops — your DIY oil changes and independent-shop visits never appeared there anyway. Buyers respond to documentation: dates, mileage, receipts. Carvico's PDF handover report covers the complete record, including the work CARFAX couldn't see.
Are recall alerts really free without an account?
Yes. The data comes from NHTSA, the US government's public recall database. Carvico sends only your car's make, model, and year — no login, no personal data.
Is Carvico free?
Logging fuel and service for one vehicle is free, no account needed. Pro adds unlimited vehicles, more receipt scans, and CSV/PDF export. No ads, and your data is never sold.
Coming from Fuelly or Simply Auto instead?
Those apps have CSV exports, and Carvico imports them automatically — see the Fuelly guide and the Simply Auto guide.
Keep the next decade yourself.
A maintenance record that works offline, counts your own work, and can't be deleted by someone else's server.
Download on theApp Store