Frequently asked questions

Carous AI is a buyer-facing chat that searches every UK Carous dealer in one place. You describe what you're after in plain English — "diesel hatchback under £8k with low miles" or "family SUV for the school run" — and Carous AI surfaces matching used cars and vans from independent dealers across the UK. Every result links straight to the dealer's own page so you can book a viewing or send an enquiry.

Yes, completely free. Carous AI is funded by the network of independent UK dealers that list their stock with us, so there's no cost to buyers. You don't need to sign up to start searching, though signing in with Google saves your chat history and shortlist across devices.

Carous AI is dealer-neutral. We don't take commission on individual sales and we don't influence which dealers' cars surface based on payment. Every result is matched purely by how well it fits what you asked for. Dealers pay a flat platform fee to be listed; that's it.

Auto Trader and Motors.co.uk are filter-driven listings — you tick boxes for make, body, fuel, price, then scroll a results page. Carous AI is conversational: you describe what you want like you would to a friend, and the AI does the filtering for you. It also handles use-case queries ("good for a long motorway commute", "first car for my daughter") that filter UIs can't easily express.

Yes — tap the image icon in the chat composer and upload a photo. Carous AI identifies the make, model, body and approximate year, then surfaces similar cars in stock across the network. Useful when you've spotted something parked up and don't know what it is.

Run a search you'd come back to (for example "Skoda Octavia estate under £8k within 30 miles"), tap "Save this search" on the result, and Carous AI will check the network for new matches each time you open the app. New stock that fits your criteria appears as a "+N new" badge in the sidebar so you don't have to repeat the search every visit.

No. Carous AI doesn't sell user data — full stop. Anonymous chats are stored in our database keyed to a long-lived cookie so your shortlist and chat history survive between visits on the same device. If you sign in with Google we also store your profile (email, name, picture) so chats sync across devices. You can delete a chat at any time from the sidebar.

You're taken to the dealer's own website — the same page they'd show on Auto Trader or their own forecourt site — where you can book a viewing, send an enquiry, or arrange a test drive. Carous AI never intercepts the lead. The dealer handles the rest.

Carous AI can compare two or three cars side by side with an honest written verdict, including known common faults to check on viewing. It's not a substitute for an independent inspection or your own research, but it'll point you at the trade-offs that actually matter for the cars in front of you.

Chats are private to your account (or your browser cookie if you haven't signed in). We don't share chat content with dealers or other users. The only thing dealers see is the enquiry you choose to send via their own contact form on their site.

The network covers independent UK dealers across England, Scotland and Wales — cars, vans, prestige, and specialist used. We don't list franchise dealers or main agents. Each dealer is verified, has been trading at least 12 months, and meets the Carous quality bar on inventory accuracy and response time.

Carous AI only searches the Carous dealer network — not every used car for sale in the UK. If you're looking for something very specific (a rare trim, a colour combination, a car under £2,000), the network may not have it. In that case the chat will say so honestly and suggest broadening your criteria rather than fabricating matches.