Vehicle data and the vehicles pack

On a marketplace for cars, members shouldn’t have to type “VW”, “Volkswagen” or “volkswagon” by hand. A vehicle catalogue turns the make and model fields into lists of real vehicles: the member picks a make, then a model of that make. Listings come out consistent, and buyers can search by make and model reliably.

On top of that, the vehicles pack gives vehicle listings key specs, compare, test drives, price labels, VIN checks, dealer pages and make and model landing pages.

Choose a vehicle catalogue

Go to Add-ons and open Vehicle catalogue. It shows the sources you can use, and which one is active. Only one is used at a time.

Source	Fields it fills	Cost
Built-in free catalogue	Make, model and year	Free, no account needed. Over 100 makes and 1,000 models.
Auto-Data	Brand, model and generation	Needs your own Auto-Data API token, a paid service with the most complete data.

CarQuery, a free source Yclas used to offer, has shut down. If your site still had it on, the Vehicle catalogue page shows CarQuery has shut down with a Turn off button. Turn it off, or click Use this on the built-in catalogue, which turns CarQuery off for you.

Use the built-in catalogue

The quickest way is from Custom Fields, which adds a complete set of vehicle fields and switches the vehicles pack on:

1. Go to Listings › Custom Fields.
2. Under Vehicles, click Add vehicle catalogue and confirm. This adds Body type, Fuel, Transmission, Mileage, Engine, Colour, Doors, Condition, First registration year, Trade-in accepted and VIN, skipping any you already have (a VIN field of your own, such as Chassis number, counts). It also switches the vehicles pack on.
3. You land on the Vehicle catalogue page. Under Built-in free catalogue, click Use this. This adds the Make, Model and Year fields.
4. The new fields apply to every category. Open each one in Listings › Custom Fields and limit it to your vehicle categories.

The Cars template under Start from a template also sets up the built-in catalogue’s make, model and year, unless your site uses Auto-Data. See Custom fields.

None of these fields is required, so members can always post. The make and year lists also work in themes that don’t load the catalogue’s scripts.

If your site was created as a vehicle marketplace, the catalogue may already be chosen without its fields. Custom Fields then says Your site uses the built-in vehicle catalogue: add the vehicle fields to get make, model and year on your posting form. Click Add vehicle catalogue, or Create the make, model and year fields on the Vehicle catalogue page.

Use Auto-Data

1. Get an API token from Auto-Data.
2. Go to Add-ons and open Auto-Data (or Configure under Auto-Data on the Vehicle catalogue page).
3. Tick Enable Auto-Data, paste your token into Auto-Data API Token and click Save.

Yclas checks the token with Auto-Data and creates three required, searchable dropdown fields: Brand, Model and Generation. They apply to every category and are required, so straight away open each one in Listings › Custom Fields and choose only your vehicle categories, or members posting a sofa would have to pick a car brand.

If the panel says Invalid token although you copied the token correctly, contact support.

The vehicles pack

The make and model lists work on their own. The vehicles pack builds on them, on every theme. It is off on existing sites. Add vehicle catalogue switches it on, and so does Settings › General › Listing types › Vehicles pack, then Save changes. New sites created as a vehicle marketplace start with it on.

The pack reads your vehicle fields by their names, so it also works with make and model fields you created yourself (for example Make, Brand or Marca) instead of the catalogue’s. See Run a car marketplace with the vehicles pack for everything it adds and its settings.

Finance calculator and vehicle search

If your plan includes the AI page builder, the pack adds two sections for your Nova pages: a Vehicle search (make, model, year, price, mileage and trade-in) and a Finance calculator that estimates a monthly payment. Set the calculator’s starting interest rate and loan term in Listings › Settings, under Vehicles (Default interest rate (%/year) and Default term (months)). Visitors can change both.

What members see

In the posting form, the first dropdown lists every make (or brand). When the member picks one, the next dropdown fills with that make’s models. The search form works the same way, so buyers can narrow down to a make and model.

The values chosen are saved with the listing like any other custom field, so listings keep them if you change the catalogue later.

With the vehicles pack on, the Nova posting form also has an optional VIN box with a Decode button above the make field. It fills in the make, model, year and other details it can find, for the seller to check, and copies the VIN into your VIN field (unless the seller already typed a different one there). It uses a free public vehicle database from the US road safety agency, so it knows vehicles sold in North America best, and it is never required.

Tips

• Keep a free-text field such as “Version” or “Trim” for details the catalogue doesn’t have.
• The built-in catalogue covers over 100 makes and 1,000 models. If your members sell many rare or local makes, Auto-Data covers far more.
• For car dealers who post many listings, look at business seller accounts, with bulk import and stock feeds. With the vehicles pack on, dealers also get stock pages.

Related guides

• Vehicles pack — test drives, price labels, VIN checks, dealer pages and landing pages.
• Custom fields — field types, templates and categories.
• Categories — organise your vehicle categories.
• Property pack — the same idea for property sites.
• Equipment pack — the same idea for machinery and equipment hire.
• Marketplace ideas — examples of niche marketplaces.
• Vehicle checks — fill in the posting form from a number plate, and show UK tax, MOT and mileage history.