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How OFFO works

We combine listing signals, EV-specific risk checks, market context, and routine-fit analysis to help you decide whether a car is worth pursuing.

What OFFO evaluates

Three surfaces, each with its own analysis logic.

Analyze a Car

  • Listing quality
  • Battery & service risk
  • Price context
  • Seller questions

Auction Bidder

  • Salvage risk
  • Repair vs parts-only economics
  • Safe bid range
  • Title & uncertainty

EV Routine Check

  • Charging fit
  • Winter & longest-day buffer
  • Ownership friction
  • Comparison support

How we estimate battery health

A physics-informed lookup with empirical priors — not a trained ML model.

We don't pull a real-time SOH value from the car, and we don't have a trained predictive model with held-out test sets. What we build is an expected health range using a small set of raw inputs combined with published degradation priors for each battery chemistry.

Raw inputs — what actually goes in

VIN decodeExact trim, model year, battery pack size, production spec — straight from the manufacturer
Reported mileageFrom the listing — the primary binding constraint on degradation
EPA-rated rangeUsed as the denominator to normalize SOH across platforms, since OBD 100% means different things on different architectures (e.g. E-GMP vs Ultium overprovisioning varies)
Battery chemistryInferred from VIN: NMC, LFP, NCA, or air-cooled — determines the degradation rate prior
Vehicle ageCalendar years since production — applied alongside mileage, whichever is the binding constraint

What we cannot track from a listing

DCFC charging frequency or fast-charge history
Thermal events or extreme temperature exposure history
Charging habits (regular 100% vs 80% daily limit)
Individual cell variance within the pack
Whether the seller completed any battery-related recalls

These inputs move individual packs meaningfully. We don't have them. The range we output is the population distribution for that VIN profile — not a prediction for that specific unit.

Degradation priors by chemistry

NMC / NCM

~2.0% / year

Majority of current EVs — Hyundai, Kia, VW, Ford

LFP

~1.5% / year

Tesla Standard Range, BYD — better longevity tail

NCA

~2.3% / year

Older Tesla Model S/X pre-2021

Air-cooled

~3.0% / year

Pre-2023 Nissan Leaf — steeper decline cliff

Rates sourced from published fleet studies and peer-reviewed degradation literature. Chemistry differentiation matters most at the tails (LFP longevity advantage, air-cooled Leaf degradation cliff) and less for mainstream NMC-to-NMC comparisons.

What the output actually means

The result is a cohort range, not a unit measurement. “88–93% expected at this mileage” means: vehicles with this VIN profile at this mileage typically land in that band based on population-level degradation data.

The signal is most useful for relative comparison — two otherwise identical listings where one is at 90k miles and one at 45k miles, or where one is a Leaf (air-cooled) and one is a Bolt (liquid-cooled). It's not a warranty-grade SOH certificate.

On OBD2 SOH readings: They're noisy — a February reading in a cold climate is not the same as a post-summer full-cycle reading. Our estimate doesn't use OBD data. It's a population prior applied to VIN-decoded specs, which is why it doesn't vary with season or charge state.

The decision framework

OFFO looks at three things — not just specs.

Vehicle condition and riskIs there evidence this car will cause problems?

Deal economicsIs the price fair given what the listing tells us?

Ownership fitDoes this car match the buyer's real routine?

A car can be mechanically sound but still a bad deal.

A fair deal can still be the wrong fit for someone's routine.

Auction vehicles may have parts value even when repair is not recommended.

Data sources

What goes into each analysis.

Vehicle & safety

  • VIN decode
  • Trim normalization
  • Recalls & safety campaigns
  • Battery-pack attributes

Market & pricing

  • Listing price comparisons
  • Auction context
  • Title & salvage context

EV-specific ownership

  • Battery chemistry & degradation assumptions
  • Range adjustments
  • Charging density
  • Climate effects
  • Model-specific issue patterns

User-provided

  • Listing or lot URL
  • Routine answers
  • Budget & preferences

Some data is exact. Some is inferred from known patterns. Confidence reflects that.

How each product computes results

What happens after you paste a URL or answer a question.

We extract key details from the listing, compare price against similar vehicles in context, and check for EV-specific warning signs — missing battery proof, weak service history, unclear charging details, and ownership-risk patterns. We generate a verdict and seller questions based on what is missing or risky.

We use signals, checks, and weighted inputs — not exact condition data.

Confidence and uncertainty

Confidence matters as much as the score.

HighEnough detail to distinguish clearly between outcomes.
MediumThe direction is useful, but one or two missing factors could move the result.
LowTreat as a starting point, not a decision.

What can improve confidence

Verified battery health · Service records · Title history · Exact trim · Charging setup details · Climate & parking details · Inspection results

What OFFO does not do

  • Not a substitute for a professional inspection.
  • Does not guarantee battery health from a listing alone.
  • Does not know whether a seller completed a recall unless verified.
  • May use estimates when exact local market or charger data is unavailable.
  • Designed to reduce uncertainty, not eliminate it.

Methodology changelog

Methodology v1.0 · Last updated: March 2026