Do I have to save my order to an account?
No. Saving the order to an account is optional — the secure checkout link keeps working in that browser for seven days, but an account is durable.
Check the review date and linked sources for context. Live availability, prices and record coverage can vary by VIN, source, jurisdiction and time.
No. After payment the order page offers “Keep this report in My Reports”, but it is an offer, not a requirement. The secure link created by checkout already opens the order and the report in the browser you paid in. What an account adds is durability: the browser-scoped access lasts seven days and only in that browser, while a verified account keeps the purchase reachable from any device.
- Saving to an account is optional; the checkout browser is already authorized.
- Guest access is browser-scoped and expires after seven days.
- The account must use the same email you gave at checkout.
- Once the order belongs to an account, the browser-scoped tokens are retired.
What the offer on the order page does
The card that appears after a successful payment is a link between one purchase and one verified account. If you are signed out it shows two buttons, Sign in and Create account, and returns you to the same order afterwards. If you are already signed in with the checkout email it connects the purchase quietly and changes to “Saved to My Reports”. Nothing about the report itself changes either way — the same PDF, delivered the same way.
Ignore it and you still have your report. Checkout gives your browser a private token stored in a cookie, and that token authorizes the order page and the report page. The code that issues it is explicit that it is the browser-possession path and that claiming the order to a verified account is the durable recovery path.
Why most buyers connect it anyway
Seven days is the whole life of the guest token, and it only exists in the browser that paid. Clear your cookies, switch to your phone, or come back next month, and that route is gone even though the purchase is not. Signing in with the checkout email restores it: purchases attach automatically to a verified account with that address, which is why the sign-in screen says reports follow your verified checkout email.
Steps
- Download the PDF as soon as it is ready, whatever else you do.
- Decide whether to sign in from the order page — it takes you back to the same order.
- Use the same email address you gave at checkout.
- If you skip it, keep the report-ready email — it links straight to the report, the PDF and My Reports.
- Sign in later with the checkout email if you lose the link.
What this does not cover
- Guest access is tied to one browser on one device; clearing site data ends it before the seven days are up.
- A single browser holds a limited number of order tokens at once, so a long run of purchases can push the oldest out.
- Connecting an order requires a verified account whose email matches the checkout email — a different address is refused rather than merged.
Sources reviewed
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
Frequently asked questions
Does creating an account cost anything?
No. There is no subscription and no account fee. Reports stay one-time purchases at $14.99 for a single report, and the account is only a place to keep them.
What happens to the checkout link once the order is saved?
The browser-scoped tokens for that order are retired when the account takes ownership, so a shared or abandoned browser does not keep access. Your account is then the way in.
I never signed in and the seven days have passed. Is my report gone?
The purchase is not gone. Sign in with the same email address you used at checkout; paid orders under that verified address attach to the account automatically and appear in My Reports.