About The Equipment and Features Car Search API

Our search APIs allow users to look for cars meeting criteria such as:

• Equipment and Features: Including standard equipment (including zero cost or default options) and exterior/interior features;
• Monthly Payment: Including factors such as the finance type, term and annual mileage;
• Price: Including manufacturer's List Price and On-The-Road Price; and
• Body Style: Including factors such as fuel type, seats, gearbox and fuel type.

The APIs can be combined to produce searches by factors such as standard equipment and monthly finance payment.

The equipment and features search API can find cars with:

• standard equipment such as air conditioning, bluetooth connectivity and navigation; and
• body features such as metallic paint, sunroof and alloy wheels.

In the demo API below we have grouped the equipment and features into the following categories:

• Comfort: Including air conditioning, driver seating and steering;
• Safety: Including airbags, stability protection and parking aids;
• Entertainment: Including Bluetooth, mobile phone app interface and digital radio;
• Interior: Such as upholstery type;
• Exterior: Including alloy wheels, door mirrors, paint finish and sunroof.

Every item of equipment/feature with each category is coded and this code is used to find cars with all the selected matching equipment/features.

A full list of item codes is available upon request.

Additional custom equipment and features can also be included in this search API.

Dataset

Data can be provided as 'JSON' or 'XML' datasets and you can choose the type of data returned in your HTTPS request by declaring 'json' or 'xml' in the 'd_Type' element of the request string.

JSON is the default type for the dataset if no 'd_Type' is set.

Our Demo

Our demonstrator provides an illustration of how the car search API works using XML.

Set the criteria for the search (equipment and features are presented as check-boxes) to see a list of cars matching the requirements as either:

• a standard item of equipment;
• a no-cost option;
• a default feature in the absence of other selections;

For 'at-cost' option searches (which include the price of the option) see our car comparator tool.

Where the item is an 'at-cost' option included in a pack of options the cost of the pack is displayed.

We have set out our demo using the categories explained above for convenience, but any combination of equipment/features can be presented to the user as long as the appropriate item coding is used for a selection.

The relative HTTPS {GET} request is displayed once all the selections are made and the results displayed.

You can copy and paste the sample request strings into a browser address bar to see the raw XML data returned for the request (right click on the browser page displayed and you will see the XML dataset).

You can also substitute XML for JSON when you perform the 'copy|paste' exercise.

For our returned datasets we have provided:

• a table formatted to provide a display similar to a typical end-user experience
• an unformatted table to display the dataset results
• a sample XML dataset for the table

The dataset also includes the CAPID of each vehicle which then allows a link to data on individual vehicles from other APIs.

{GET} Requirements

The {GET} request follows standard HTTPS key:value pair protocols. No response will be given for an HTTP request.

The {GET} request for a search requires only our standard security login/session token and search parameters according to the pair:value keys below.

All of the keys set out below are independent and can be used individually or in conjunction with other keys to build selection criteria for a car which meet the user's requirements.

The keys from each search can also be combined to create more sophisticated searches, e.g. body style by monthly payment, performance by body style, etc.

Security

A session token is created on initial login and must be included as a cookie with all HTTPS requests or the request will fail.

If the user's browser does not allow functional cookies then the {GET} request will become orphaned and the request cannot be linked to any other requests in the same session.

If the session token is not included then the session will be terminated, any data created in the session may be erased at the server and the user may need to re-authenticate with a new session.

For security reasons the HTTPS protocol must be used for all {GET} requests so that all data passed between the browser and the server is encrypted, including the session token.

Pair:Value Summary

All d_type: xml or json for the required return data type (json if not specified)
v_fe: A string type variable representing each of the feature codes require for the search, with each code separated by "-", e.g. "1-2-3-4-5"

Details of other possible key:value pairs for the feature search are available on request. Custom pairs can also be created.

PLEASE NOTE: Response times on this demonstration server are throttled to prevent abuse. Demonstrations using production servers are available upon request.