Questions, answered plainly

Publicly advertised private-seller listings on Facebook Marketplace, Carsales and Gumtree. CarHawk prices each one and links you to the original ad. You contact and deal with the seller directly; CarHawk is never a party to the sale.

Facebook Marketplace is scanned every 3 minutes, Gumtree every 5 minutes and Carsales is polled continuously. A new car is usually priced within minutes of going live. We cannot promise every listing is found, or that a car is still for sale when you call.

South-east Queensland, the coasts and regional Queensland and northern NSW, with every state rolling out. Each alert also has its own postcode and radius, so you only hear about cars you would actually drive to.

No. Alerts are for private sellers, where the underpriced cars are. Dealer listings are still read for pricing, adjusted down to private-sale terms, so the market value reflects everything on sale.

Licensed traders and people who flip cars first, and private buyers who want a fair price on the one car they are after. The Scanner plan suits a private buyer; Dealer and Dealer Pro are built for weekly buying.

It is the median asking price of clean comparable cars advertised right now: same make, model and badge, year within one, closest in kilometres, across all three platforms, adjusted to the car's kilometres. Listings that mention damage, mechanical faults, no rego or needing work are left out. See how the pricing works.

Wholesale is market value less the greater of $1,500 or 20%, capped at $8,000: roughly what a trader would pay. Deal at is wholesale less the same gap again. An alert fires when the asking price is at or below deal at.

CarHawk checks the odometer against the car's age. If 24,000 km on a 2011 car is almost certainly 240,000, it is priced at 240,000 and the alert says so. “240” is read as 240,000, and an extra zero is removed.

No. Every value is an estimate from other listings and the ad itself. It is not an inspection, an appraisal or financial advice. Always inspect the car and check its history before you buy.

AI reads the full description and inspects the photos, lists each fault with a repair cost, estimates a worst case and checks the car still makes a 20% return after repairs, safety certificate, detailing, rego if unregistered and pickup. It then gives you the maximum to offer. See Evaluate deal.

Each plan includes free evaluations every month (1 on Scanner and Dealer, 10 on Dealer Pro). After that each one is A$2, added to your next monthly invoice. Unused free evaluations do not roll over.

Yes, on Dealer and Dealer Pro. Run it from the deal page using the VIN or rego from the listing to see whether there is finance owing, or the car is recorded as written off or stolen. The price is shown before you run one.

Scanner and Dealer receive alerts 15 minutes after a listing goes live; Dealer Pro receives them instantly. Higher plans add more alerts and searches, more free evaluations, PPSR checks and team seats. Compare them on the pricing page.

No. Plans are monthly with no lock-in contract, so you can cancel before your next billing date if it is not for you.

From the billing portal in your account. Your plan stays active until the end of the month you have paid for and you are not charged again. Monthly fees are not refunded for part-used months. Read the cancellations and refunds policy.

Yes. All prices are in Australian dollars and include GST. Platinum Digital Enterprise Pty Ltd is GST-registered.

Yes. Upgrades apply immediately, charged pro rata for the rest of the month. Downgrades apply from your next billing date.