Competitive Pricer
Market price context for appraisals — dual retail/wholesale pricing, comp distribution, and price position analysis
Purpose
An appraisal is only as strong as its market anchor. Without knowing where a vehicle sits in the current competitive landscape — how its price compares to the cheapest and most expensive competing units, what percentage of the market it undercuts, and whether it is priced at franchise retail or independent wholesale — any valuation is a guess dressed up as analysis.
Competitive Pricer runs dual price predictions (franchise retail and independent wholesale proxy) against live competing listings to give appraisers the full price spectrum. It calculates percentile rank, median, and distribution statistics for the competitive set, and shows the retail-to-wholesale spread — the core metric for trade-in offers, insurance claim settlements, and estate midpoint valuations. CPO vehicles get separate certified and non-certified market prices with the premium quantified.
How It Works
Execution flow. MCP tool calls are shown inline on each step.
Reads marketcheck-profile.md for ZIP, radius, country, and min_comp_count. US appraisers get VIN decode and dual price predictions; UK appraisers get active comp search only with comp median as the price anchor.
decode_vin_neovinCalls decode_vin_neovin to confirm year, make, model, trim, body type, drivetrain, engine, and transmission. Presents confirmed specs to user before pricing — assumed trims produce unreliable comparables.
↔ Parallel Execution
predict_price_with_comparablesCalls predict_price_with_comparables with dealer_type=franchise. This represents full retail market value — what a franchised dealer would list the vehicle for. The primary anchor for insurance replacement cost claims.
predict_price_with_comparablesParallel call to predict_price_with_comparables with dealer_type=independent. Provides wholesale-oriented context — what independent dealers pay and list at. The anchor for trade-in offers and auction buying decisions.
search_active_carsCalls search_active_cars with YMMT, ZIP, radius=75mi, sorted by price ascending, rows=15. Returns the full competitive set across all dealer types with price, miles, DOM, dealer name, dealer type, and distance.
If a subject or asking price is provided, calculates percentile rank in the competitive set, distance to cheapest and most expensive unit, median/mean market price, and count of competing units within ±5% of the subject price.
Presents franchise (retail) and independent (wholesale) market prices with the spread in dollars and percentage. Appraiser selects the appropriate benchmark based on appraisal purpose: insurance = retail, trade-in = wholesale, estate = midpoint.
MCP Tool Calls
| Tool | Calls | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
decode_vin_neovin | 1 | Spec confirmation before pricing |
predict_price_with_comparables | 2–4 | Franchise and independent predictions; doubled for CPO vehicles |
search_active_cars | 1–3 | Competitive listings, market statistics, cheapest/most expensive units |
get_car_history | 1 (optional) | Listing history and price trajectory for trade-in context |
Example Output
COMPETITIVE PRICE CHECK — 2022 Toyota RAV4 XLE AWD ════════════════════════════════════════════════════ VIN: 2T3P1RFV7NC123456 | 54,200 miles | Phoenix AZ (75mi) MARKET PRICE SUMMARY Franchise (Retail) Market Price: $29,400 (based on 22 comps) Independent (Wholesale) Market Price: $26,800 (based on 14 comps) Retail-to-Wholesale Spread: $2,600 (8.8%) ACTIVE COMPETITIVE SET (15 listings, sorted by price) Price Range: $27,100 – $34,900 Median: $30,100 | Mean: $30,420 Std Deviation: $1,840 # Price Miles DOM Dealer Type Dealer Distance ─── ─────── ────── ─── ──────────── ───────────────────── ──────── 1 $27,100 58,400 31 Independent Southwest Auto Sales 14 mi 2 $28,200 51,900 8 Franchise AutoNation Toyota 22 mi 3 $29,400 53,100 4 Franchise Camelback Toyota 8 mi 4 $30,800 49,700 12 Franchise DriveTime 19 mi APPRAISAL BENCHMARK SELECTION Insurance replacement: Use franchise retail → $29,400 Trade-in offer: Use wholesale proxy → $26,800 Estate / fair market: Use midpoint → $28,100
Cost Estimate
150 price checks/month ≈ $6–20
Limitations
- US-only for dual pricing (decode + predict). UK returns comp median only.
- Wholesale-proxy pricing via independent dealer_type is an estimate — actual auction prices may differ by 3–8%.
- CPO detection requires VIN history pull or user confirmation; adds one API call.
- Market distribution stats (percentile, stddev) require the full competitive set — thin markets (< 5 comps) reduce statistical reliability.
More in the Appraiser Plugin
Full comparable-backed appraisal report with cited transaction evidence
View details →Trend-adjusted valuations with depreciation velocity and retention curves
View details →Quick market price with retail and wholesale values in 60 seconds
View details →Full VIN decode, listing history, and current market value
View details →Same Capability, Different Plugin
These skills share the same underlying methodology but are tuned for a different audience.
Dealers use the same dual pricing to set acquisition cost vs retail pricing targets, but frame the spread as gross margin opportunity rather than an appraisal benchmark.
View in Dealer →Lenders need the same franchise vs independent price spread to calculate recovery exposure — the wholesale-proxy price is their liquidation floor in a repo scenario.
View in Lender →Insurers use retail replacement cost as the settlement anchor — the same franchise prediction that appraisers cite, but with total-loss threshold overlay added.
View in Insurer →