Data exchange in Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications systems is a field that requires automated solutions, tools and methods and the capability to facilitate early detection and even a prediction. Many studies have focused on V2V system and its classification to improve road safety, reduce traffic congestion and help streamline the vehicle flow on the road. This study aims to review and analyse literature related to data exchange in V2V communications systems. The factors considered to improve the understanding of the field's various contextual aspects were derived from published studies. We systematically searched all articles about the classification and detection of data exchange in vehicles, as well as their evaluation. Three main databases, namely, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and IEEE Xplore from 2008 to 2018, were used. These indices were considered sufficiently extensive to encompass our literature. On the basis of our inclusion and exclusion criteria, 140 articles were selected. Most articles (53/140) are studies conducted in a V2V communication system; a number of papers (51/140) covered the actual attempts to develop V2V communications; and few papers (18/140) comprised framework proposals and architectures. The last portion (18/140) of articles presented review and survey articles. V2V collision avoidance system, which is a field requiring automated solutions, tools and methods, entails the capability to facilitate early detection. Several studies have been performed on the automatic detection of V2V and their subtypes to promote accurate detection. The basic characteristics of this emerging field are identified from the aspects of motivations, open challenges that impede the technology's utility, authors' recommendations and substantial analysis of the previous studies are discussed based on seven aspect (devices, number of scenario, test location, types of sensors, number of vehicle, evaluation techniques used and types of software). A propose research methodology as new direction is provided to solve the gaps identified in the analysis. This methodology consists of four phases; investigation, develop a hardware system, study and analysis, and evaluation phases. However, research areas on V2V communication with the scope of data exchange are varied. This systematic review is expected to open opportunities for researchers and encourage them to work on the identified gaps.