This AI scans for auto damage in 30 seconds; Here’s how it’s gaining instant trust, KC tech industry veteran says

A growing number of automotive-sales and related businesses are turning to Click-Ins, an AI-assisted startup on a rapidly upward trajectory, to solve a long-standing problem: how to inspect vehicles quickly, accurately and consistently without relying solely on human judgment. 

But the value isn’t in replacing humans in the workforce, said Josh Parsons, a 20-year auto tech industry veteran-turned-president and CEO; Overland Park-based Click-Ins empowers staff  to go beyond the human eye with a fully automated tool for informed outcomes in seconds, he said.

“The goal was always to get more scientific with the inspection,” said Parsons, previously co-founder and chief operating officer at BacklotCars (now OPENLANE). “Not that you don’t rely on the human element — but if you can enable humans to be more scientific in a process that’s open to interpretation, that’s the North Star.”

From the archives: BacklotCars completes historic $425M exit, joining ‘power and fierce entrepreneurial spirit’ of KAR Global

The company’s platform allows users to take a few photos of a car and receive an instant, detailed inspection report. In fewer than 30 seconds, scratches, dents, rust and misaligned panels can be flagged with precision, offering value to insurers, rental fleets, auto marketplaces and logistics providers alike.

Click here to see how the tech works.

First launched in 2014, Click-Ins is live in North America and expanding into Europe, serving rental providers, insurance carriers and auto resale platforms. It’s most recent funding round notably featured support from local angel investors, as well as homegrown KCRise Fund, which also backed BacklotCars with its original fund.

And while Click-Ins remains relatively small in headcount, Parsons said, it’s intentionally lean, focused on scalable tech, not personnel-heavy operations.

“This is a very tech-enabled piece of SaaS,” added Parsons, who previously was a vocal board advisor at Click-Ins before taking the CEO seat. “We don’t want to be something we’re not.”

‘Faster than you can blink’

Click-Ins trains its proprietary models on synthetic data, not real-world images. Using a custom CAD environment, the company simulates cars under varied lighting and environmental conditions — reflections from snow, shadows from trees, glare from streetlights. This allows the system to reliably interpret images in diverse settings, ensuring accuracy regardless of where or how the photos are taken.

The product is designed for real-time use. 

“As soon as you take a picture, you’re getting feedback on what was found — like, milliseconds,” Parsons said. “It’s faster than you can blink.”

This immediacy stands in contrast to many industry competitors, which require users to submit photos and wait minutes — or even hours — for sometimes-undisclosed human review or AI-assisted results. Click-Ins’ approach keeps humans in the loop, but reduces the inspection process from 15-20 minutes to just one.

“Some people are saying you’ll just take all the pictures and forget about it,” Parsons said. “They’re doing that because they don’t have an instant response.”

Click-Ins integrates directly into clients’ existing systems via API or branded web app, allowing organizations to keep their user-facing tools while upgrading the intelligence behind them. 

“Most of these folks already have their own applications,” Parsons explained. “We just want to replace that photo capture piece, and then we can give them all kinds of data as a result.”

Flexibility is built in. For example, the system can dynamically adjust for different photo environments — outdoor lots versus indoor garages — so the model maintains accuracy regardless of lighting conditions. Click-Ins engineers can even reference Google Street View imagery to train the system on specific locations and surface reflections.

Recent validation came through a new partnership with Turn Automotive, Parsons said.

“The CEO tested a bunch of the competitors and was skeptical going in, but we were the only ones that actually worked,” he recalled.

Turnkey transparency

Turn Automotive Group, a dealer-to-dealer marketplace operating in all 50 states, has officially integrated Click-Ins’ AI-driven inspection platform — adding what CEO Marc Steiner calls a game-changing layer of transparency and trust to vehicle appraisal and resale.

Marc Steiner, Turn Automotive

“This brings ultimate transparency and confidence,” said Steiner. “Our seller’s listing the car, and the buyer is saying, ‘I could see the damage. I don’t have to worry that someone’s lying to me.’”

Turn specializes in real-time offers and dealer-to-dealer auctions, and Steiner said its platform guarantees a cash offer on every vehicle it evaluates — something he believes no other auction currently offers. 

To support that model, Turn has spent years developing its own rigorous condition report process. The integration with Click-Ins takes it a step further.

“This product makes me much more comfortable — and my dealers much more comfortable — to spend their money,” said Steiner. “It’s totally for trust, transparency, confidence and absolutely to mitigate my risk.”

The AI tool also supports Turn’s growing consumer-facing workflow, allowing retail sellers to submit a self-guided inspection directly from their driveway. That information then flows into Turn’s platform where dealers can confidently bid on the vehicle.

“They know the customer never appraised a car in their life, but now they can say, ‘Joe didn’t do the damage assessment — the machine did,’” said Steiner.

Steiner, a longtime skeptic of so-called “AI solutions,” said he tested every product in the space before choosing Click-Ins. 

“Every one is bullshit,” he said. “They tell you 80 percent accuracy. I tested them all — and the best I found was 40 percent.”

Click-Ins, however, delivered. 

“We tested it and it was above 80 percent,” he said. “In an optimum environment with perfect light, you’re in the 90s. It’s light years ahead of anybody else.”

But for Steiner, the real differentiator is automation. 

“Everyone else — it’s not AI, it’s man-imation,” he said. “They say it’s automated, but it’s going to some war room with 12 people looking at screens. (Click-Ins) is truly automated.”

Only days into the rollout, Turn is already seeing results, Steiner emphasized.

“We’re getting more clicks, more bids — people are trusting the listings,” he said. “This is neat shit, man. It’s good stuff.”

Haines Eason is the owner of startup content marketing agency Freelance Kansas. Previously he worked as a managing editor for a corporate content marketing team and as a communications professional at KU. His work has appeared in publications like The Guardian, Eater and KANSAS! Magazine among others. Learn about him and Freelance Kansas on LinkedIn.