Resources · Make integration

CarsXE API Make integrationAutomate CarsXE API with Make.

Need vehicle data to show up in your tools without copying it by hand? The CarsXE API Make integration gives you 12 modules: 9 searches and 3 actions. This guide is for dealers, fleet teams and inspectors, and it walks you to a first working scenario.

Try the CarsXE API integration on MakeSee the 12 modules

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What you can automate

What can the CarsXE API Make integration do for you?

The CarsXE API Make integration links your CarsXE account to Make, a no-code tool where you build a scenario, meaning an automation made of modules chained one after the other. Each CarsXE module asks the API one question about a vehicle and passes the answer to the next step, so the data lands where your team already works.

A trade-in desk that prices itself. When a salesperson logs a car in a sheet or a form app, Search vehicle specifications pulls its details and Search market values adds a value estimate right next to it. Your appraiser starts from facts instead of a blank row.

A recall check before a car leaves the lot. Search Vehicle Recalls runs on every vehicle your team adds, and Search vehicle history completes the picture for a buyer who asks questions. Nobody has to remember to open a website.

Photos that turn into records. A garage or a parking operator receives pictures of cars. Plate Image Recognition and Search VINs in images read them, then Search vehicle plates finds the matching vehicle.

What Make cannot tell you: its documentation for CarsXE API is marked as limited, because little public information exists about the app. The modules are listed, but the doc says nothing about their fields or quotas, so test each one with your own data. If you hit an error, the Make troubleshooting guide covers the usual causes.

Apps like this one often have an n8n node too. The n8n vs Make comparison helps you pick, and the Make review gives the full picture of the tool.

Connect

How do you connect CarsXE API to Make?

  1. 01

    Add a CarsXE API module

    In your scenario, click the +, type CarsXE API and pick any of its modules. Make then asks for a connection, which is your CarsXE account linked to Make once and reused by every CarsXE module. Click Create a connection.

  2. 02

    Name it and give Make access

    Give the connection a name if you plan to run several accounts, for example one per branch. Then follow what the window asks: either an authorization page on the CarsXE side, or a field where you paste the key CarsXE provides in your account.

  3. 03

    Save and check it

    Click Save. The connection now appears in the module, and every other CarsXE module in any scenario can pick it from the same list. If Make shows an error at this point, the key or the authorization is the first thing to recheck.

First scenario

Your first scenario with CarsXE API

GoalWhen a new vehicle arrives from another app, Make looks up its specifications in CarsXE API and then its market value.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the +. The first module is the app where your vehicles arrive, such as a spreadsheet or a form tool.

  2. 02

    Add the specifications lookup

    Click the + on the right of that first module, search CarsXE API and pick Search vehicle specifications. Create the connection when Make asks for it.

  3. 03

    Map the vehicle data

    Fill the module with data mapped from the first module: Make shows what each module received, so you drag the vehicle value in place of typing it. Each vehicle travels as a bundle, one item passed from module to module.

  4. 04

    Add the market value search

    Add Search market values after it and map the vehicle again. A search module can return zero, one or several bundles, so plan what should happen when nothing comes back.

  5. 05

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once. Make executes the scenario one time and shows the bundles each module received, which is the best way to see what CarsXE really sends back.

  6. 06

    Schedule and switch it on

    Open the clock on the first module to set the schedule, every 15 minutes by default, then switch the scenario on. Each module run on a bundle counts as one operation on your Make plan.

Modules

What each CarsXE API module does

CarsXE API gives you 12 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

CarsXE API1

Make an API Call

ActionIn the docs only

This one reaches any endpoint of the CarsXE API with the connection you already set up, so you are never stuck with only the listed modules.

When to use it
CarsXE offers a lookup your use case needs and none of the eleven other modules covers it.
Watch out
you build the request yourself from the CarsXE API docs, since Make gives no guide for this app.
CarsXE API2

OBD Codes Decoder

ActionIn the docs only

Turn a cryptic diagnostic trouble code into something a service advisor can explain to a customer. It is an action, so it works on one code per run and hands back the result.

When to use it
a technician logs a code from a diagnostic tool and you want the meaning stored next to the repair order.
Watch out
Make documents no fields for it, so check the output with Run once before relying on it.
CarsXE API3

Plate Image Recognition

ActionIn the docs only

Get the plate out of a photo without anyone typing it. This action reads a picture of a vehicle and returns what it recognized, ready for the next module.

When to use it
photos come in from a parking lot, a gate camera or a customer upload, and you need the plate as text.
Watch out
image quality is outside Make's control, so route failed reads to a person rather than dropping them.
CarsXE API4

Search VINs in images

SearchIn the docs only

Pull vehicle identification numbers from a picture, such as a shot of a windshield sticker or a registration document. Being a search, it can return several results or none at all.

When to use it
your team snaps VINs on the lot instead of writing them down.
Watch out
add a filter after it so an empty result does not push a blank record into your stock sheet.
CarsXE API5

Search Vehicle Recalls

SearchIn the docs only

Find out whether a vehicle has open recalls before you sell it, service it or buy it. The module searches CarsXE and returns every matching recall as its own bundle.

When to use it
a car enters your inventory or books a workshop slot and you want the check done automatically.
Watch out
several recalls mean several bundles, so each following module runs once per recall and uses more operations.
CarsXE API6

Search Vehicles by Year, Make, and Model

SearchIn the docs only

Look up vehicles when you only know the basics a customer gives on the phone: the year, the brand and the model. It is the entry point when no VIN or plate is at hand yet.

When to use it
a quote request form asks for year, brand and model, and you want matching vehicles attached to the lead.
Watch out
broad criteria can return many bundles, so narrow the result before sending it anywhere.
CarsXE API7

Search images

SearchIn the docs only

Fetch pictures of a vehicle model so a listing, a quote or an internal card is not left without a visual. The search returns the images CarsXE finds for the vehicle you describe.

When to use it
you publish vehicles in a catalog or a CRM and want a reference image before your own photos exist.
Watch out
the doc gives no rights or format details, so check what you may publish.
CarsXE API8

Search international VINs

SearchIn the docs only

Decode vehicles built for markets outside the one your usual lookup covers. Choose this module over the plain specifications search when your stock includes imports.

When to use it
an importer or a dealer receives cars from abroad and needs their details in the same sheet as local stock.
Watch out
Make lists no supported countries for it, so test a few real imports with Run once first.
CarsXE API9

Search market values

SearchIn the docs only

Put a market value estimate next to each vehicle, so pricing starts from data rather than from memory. It pairs naturally with the specifications search that comes before it.

When to use it
a trade-in is logged and the sales manager wants a reference value before the offer.
Watch out
treat the figure as a starting point, and keep the date of the lookup with the value you store.
CarsXE API10

Search vehicle history

SearchIn the docs only

Bring the past of a vehicle into your file, so a buyer or an appraiser sees what happened to it before today. The search returns the records CarsXE holds for that vehicle.

When to use it
a used car is about to be listed or bought and you want its history attached to the deal.
Watch out
an empty answer does not prove a clean past, so word the note in your CRM carefully.
CarsXE API11

Search vehicle plates

SearchIn the docs only

Go from a license plate to the vehicle behind it. This is the module to chain after Plate Image Recognition, or to use alone when people type the plate in a form.

When to use it
customers book a service with their plate, and you want the vehicle identified before they arrive.
Watch out
a plate typed with spaces or dashes may not match, so clean the text in Make first.
CarsXE API12

Search vehicle specifications

SearchIn the docs only

Fill a vehicle record with its technical details in one step, instead of opening a decoder website for each car. Start here when you know the vehicle but its columns are still blank; the value and history searches can then run on the same vehicle.

When to use it
a new vehicle row appears in your stock sheet and the columns are still empty.
Watch out
map the output into fixed columns once, then rerun Run once on an unusual vehicle.
Need help

Need help automating CarsXE API with Make?

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FAQ

CarsXE API and Make: common questions

01Is the CarsXE API Make integration free?
Yes, on the Make side. CarsXE API is a standard app, so it is available from the Free plan. That plan allows 2 active scenarios, a minimum of 15 minutes between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution at most, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) bring the interval down to one minute and remove the cap on active scenarios. Your CarsXE subscription is a separate matter that this page does not cover.
02What do you need to connect CarsXE API to Make?
A CarsXE account and a Make account. Make's documentation lists no prerequisite for this app and no specific connection steps, so you follow the generic path: add a CarsXE module, click Create a connection, optionally name it, then either authorize Make on the CarsXE page or paste the key CarsXE gives you, and click Save. The connection is reused by all 12 modules of the app. If Make shows an error when you save, check the credential first before looking anywhere else.
03Can CarsXE API start a Make scenario on its own?
No. The app has no trigger module, scheduled or instant, so CarsXE never tells Make that something happened. You start the scenario another way: with a trigger from the app where your vehicles arrive, such as a new row or a new form entry, or with the schedule on the first module, every 15 minutes by default. The CarsXE searches then run on each bundle that comes in. Pick the option that matches how vehicles reach you.
04What if the CarsXE API module you need is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It calls any endpoint of the CarsXE API with the connection you already have, so a lookup that none of the listed modules covers is still reachable. Keep in mind that Make marks its CarsXE documentation as limited, because little public information exists about the app, so you rely on the CarsXE API docs to build the request and on Run once to check the answer.
05Should you use Make or n8n for CarsXE API?
It depends on the tool your team already runs. On Make, you get 12 ready modules plus Make an API Call, and the visual editor with Run once is a gentle start for someone new to automation. Apps like CarsXE often have an n8n node as well, so check it exists before choosing. The page makes no claim about speed or cost between the two; the comparison linked earlier lays out the criteria side by side.
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