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Car History Report FAQ |
| A car history report allows you to check a cars history in detail online | |
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Car history reports can help you spot odometer fraud and a rebuilt or salvage car easily |
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Get a Used Car Report Check or get a complete Car History Report online for any used car. You will need a VIN number. Locate the VIN Number Here.
Basically, a lemon is a car that had so many mechanical problems and breakdown history that the manufacturer bought it back. States have their own lemon laws, so the exact circumstances vary. Try searching online for "lemon law" to get more info or visit www.autopedia.com has some good state-by-state data. A VIN (short for car "Identification Number") is a seventeen-digit code that uniquely identifies a car. Every car, truck, motorcycle, trailer, etc. that is built is assigned a VIN and DMVs and insurance companies use the VIN to keep track of which car is which. The VIN encodes specific information about a car, including country of manufacture, manufacturer, model, body style and even engine and other information. This was standardized in the early '80s and all major manufacturers follow the standard. If you're interested in how VINs work, check out this used car report guide. It shows you where the different info is encoded. Or see this car history report explanation. A lot of used car websites include a VIN in their for-sale listings. When you're shopping online, find the VIN and cut and paste it into the VIN form. Get the unlimited version of the report so you can screen as many VINs as you need to. If there's no VIN listed in the newspaper or website ad, contact the seller and ask for it before you go see the car. You could save yourself a lot of time by avoiding problem cars. You can also get the VIN from the car itself. A VIN is visible on the lower right hand (driver's side) corner of the dash when looking through the front windshield. The VIN is also printed on registrations, titles and proof of insurance cards. A car history report is the quickest and easiest way to research the history of a car. It gathers all of a car's insurance and DMV records into one place. At a glance, you can tell if there are major accidents, odometer problems, flood damage issues or if the car is a lemon. With this info in hand, you can make an informed purchase decision AND negotiate the best price. Where can I get a car History Report? Several companies gather the data and sell these reports online: Consumer Guide, carfacts and AutoCheck. What will I get from a car History Report? A free car history report will tell you one of two things about the car's history:
Why should I buy a Car History Report? If you're selling...
if you're buying...
How far back do the databases go? VINs were standardized in the early '80s to all be 17 digits long and to use certain codes to indicate make, model, year and other information about the car. Manufacturers were using other types of IDs before that, but the major history databases only include the standardized VINs from 1981-on. You probably won't find many records for most cars older than the late eighties, but you should run the VIN check anyway. It is illegal to tamper with an odometer to change its reading: usually to reduce the number of miles on the car. Unscrupulous dealers have been known to "rollback" an odometer to make a used car more attractive to a buyer. Buying a car history report can protect you from odometer fraud. With the data in-hand, it's obvious if the mileage suddenly goes down between registrations or annual emissions tests. You can also protect yourself from odometer fraud by having a mechanic inspect the car: they will get a sense of how much wear-and-tear there is on the car, which is more important than raw miles in determining the car's value. Should I buy a single report or the multiple report option? All these sites give you the option of buying multiple reports. At carfacts, a little bit more gets you as many reports as you need for 60 days. At AutoCheck, you can get 10 reports for $9 more. If you're going to be looking at a lot of cars, the multiple report option is the way to go. You can get a car history report here. What should I do if the report shows potential problems? If you see a potential trouble area in the report, don't immediately assume the car is not worth buying. If the problem is not serious, you might want to use the information to negotiate a better price on the car. If you're buying from a private seller, you could ask them to explain anything unusual in the report. There may be a reasonable explanation. Where can I get a car history report with Canadian data? carfacts and AutoCheck both claim to have Canadian DMV data. However, you might want to try www.used-car-report.net. Based on their sample report, it looks like they have access to Canadian provincial motor cars data. And they promise not to charge you if they don't find anything for your car. They also will do lien searches at the same time. And the price is comparable to the major US providers once you factor in exchange rate. What other research should I do before I buy a used car? At the very least, you should check out reviews on the model you're considering and used car pricing guides to find out what the market price of the car is. Consumer Reports has a lot of this information available in their used auto reviews. Other sources online for pricing info are kbb.com and nadaguides.com. As with any major decision, the more research you do before you make up your mind, the more likely you will be satisfied with your decision. Are there other options to protect me from car history problems? A free car history search gives you a detailed history of a car, but it's still up to you to make sure that you make good decisions based on that information. Another option is to buy a Used Car Title Insurance policy. Title Insurance means that you are paying someone a small fee to assume the risk of buying a used car. If something turns out to be wrong with the car's title, you have a way to recoup your investment in that car. TitleGuard from First American Corporation offers a title insurance policy for $49.95. There is no deductible, no hidden fees and no fine print. It covers you against undisclosed problems with a car's title that could cost you thousands of dollars. Things like: lemon cars, flood damage, stolen damage, liens. (Title insurance won't cover mechanical defects if they're not related to a title problem, so be sure you still get any used car checked by a mechanic before you buy.)
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