Nowadays there are more and more ways to check the VIN number of a vehicle for free. Even if you own a vehicle, you can get a free VIN check to find out its history before you decide to buy it. In this article, we list all the ways you can get a free carfax report or vehicle history report online in 2021.
HERE ARE 5 EASY WAYS TO GET A FREE CARFAX REPORT:
1. BUYING FROM A CERTIFIED USED CAR DEALERSHIP
When shopping for a car at an authorized used car dealership you may find that they have a recent carfax already for your vehicle. Free CARFAX Reports are available at many car dealerships in your area. Just ask the dealer when you visit their showroom.
2. SHOP ONLINE LISTINGS OF USED CARS AT CARS.COM
A CarFax report comes free with thousands of new and used cars on Cars.com. Click the CarFax report link under the vehicle information heading. If you ordered a report from CarFax through their website, you’d find the same information. You can inquire about free car reports at dealerships if they don’t list them on their website.
3. PURCHASE FROM A PRIVATE SELLER
Request a CarFax report when buying a private used-car sale so you have as much information on the vehicle as you can on its history. You can tell the seller about cheapvhr.com and have them buy the report for you.
4. SIGN UP FOR A CARFAX CAR CARE ACCOUNT
Carfax.com car care program is a service where you will get an alert for any vehicle history change or upcoming maintenance alerts. If you are subscribed to this service then you can have the most recent carfax report for free.
5. OTHER OPTIONS
Consumers can check whether Insurance companies have reported a vehicle as totaled or stolen using free services online. Keep reading as we list these alternative carfax services in the next section below, such as The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), VehicleHistory.com and iSeeCars.com. Keep in mind that official CarFax reports are more detailed.
HERE’S WHERE TO GET CARFAX LIKE VIN CHECKS FOR FREE!
If you are buying a used car, you can get a totally free VIN check through a variety of services. We do however recommend that you buy the original carfax report, as the free options may be missing some crucial information. We can recommend, if you have a big list of vehicles to check out and don’t want to buy a carfax report for all of them, then use the free options. Once you have decided on the car you want to buy then get a paid carfax report for your peace of mind. Of course, you can also get a cheap carfax report at a discounted price when using our website.
If you’re shopping for a car online, such as through Craigslist or eBay, where there’s no dealership, a VIN inspection is especially important.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), VehicleHistory.com and iSeeCars.com offer free vehicle history reports.
Simply put your car’s VIN into these sites and they’ll look it up for you and provide you with the information you need on the car.
There are a lot of ways to find out information about a car with its VIN number. You can even do this with your own car if you want to know its history before you owned it.
Vehicle identification numbers usually tell you whether the car has been registered in a particular state as well as if anyone has filed an insurance claim on the car as a result of an accident.
HERE ARE SOME PLACES YOU CAN GET FREE VIN CHECKS!
There are several services you can utilize for free VIN checks before purchasing used cars.
Checking the VIN is especially important when you buy a car on Craigslist or eBay and there is no dealership nearby at which you can get free access to paid sites such as CARFAX, AutoCheck, and autoDNA.com.
iSeeCars.com, National Insurance Crime Bureau and VehicleHistory.com all offer free vehicle history reports.
Just enter the VIN digits and these sites will search for the car and provide information about it.
#1 VEHICLE HISTORY REPORTS FROM VEHICLEHISTORY.COM
Vehicle History offers free VIN lookups that include other data, such as fuel economy or cost to own analysis, in addition to VIN data.
A free VIN lookup includes other things like:
- Selling history
- Current recall info
- The expiration date of manufacturer warranties.
- When should you buy a specific make and model?
To get your free VIN report through VehicleHistory, enter your car’s VIN number under the “Research” tab on the homepage. Then, click “View Report.”
#2 NATIONAL INSURANCE CRIME BUREAU (VINCHECK.INFO)
You can check if your vehicle’s VIN has previously been: towed, impounded, stolen, or used in an accident on the National Insurance Crime Bureau website.
- It was reported stolen or lost
- Salvaged
- The car was declared totaled as a result of an accident.
The VIN check is the easiest free service available so far, and five searches are allowed per day on each IP address.
For your report, enter the VIN number of your vehicle on the website under “Look Up a VIN.” You have to agree to the terms, and conditions and reassure yourself you aren’t a machine before you can click “Search VIN.”
#3 ISEECARS.COM
Another robust free VIN check service that iSeeCars offers is a report that includes 200 data points, such as:
- Price analysis
- Price history
- Depreciation projections
- There are certain times of the year when it is best to buy and sell.
iSeeCars offers free VIN checks for the cars you enter on their website. Enter your VIN# there and click “Analyze.”
Vehicle identification numbers (VINs) detect whether a vehicle has been registered in another state and identify its type of title.
VIN DECODING: HOW TO DO IT?
The VIN (vehicle identification number) length can be either 17 characters or 11 characters. All motor vehicles have an exclusive VIN.
Despite VINs seeming meaningless, there are some key factors needed to decode them.
- Your VIN carries the country of origin as its first character.
- A second and third character tells you the division and manufacturer.
- The fourth through eighth characters indicate the type of vehicle, its safety, and safety features.
- Nine characters represent the manufacturer’s security code.
- The 10th character on the serial number will tell us the model year of our vehicle.
- The 11th character is the assembly plant identifier.
- Those characters correspond to the serial number of the plant or vehicle.
You are likely looking for a free VIN report because you are looking to purchase a used car. Buying used is an excellent way to save money. It comes with its own set of pitfalls, though.
Before you buy a used car, check out a free vehicle history report.
BEFORE YOU PURCHASE THE VEHICLE, HAVE A MECHANIC INSPECT IT.
While it’s possible that the car’s free VIN check comes back clean and doesn’t contain any accidents, the car has obviously had major repairs.
Invest in these sites as a tool to help you with your purchase, but keep in mind the free information may have things missing or they may not be accurate 100%.
There is no legal requirement that the seller to be honest about the condition of the car, whether they are listed by a private seller or a licensed dealer. Worse yet, used cars are being sold as-is by private traders and dealers alike without a written warranty.
If you leave a deposit on the vehicle, you should get written assurance from the seller that you will receive the deposit back if the car does not check out.
In the end, you need to hire a good technician to do a thorough vehicle inspection on a car before you buy it!
FINAL THOUGHT
The websites mentioned here offer free VIN checks for those who desire to buy a used vehicle. The VIN may be subject to vehicle inspection by all three at the same time.
Data on the free VIN reports you receive should be the same across providers. You should pause before you purchase any vehicle if no match appears. That’s a possible sign that the vehicle’s VIN has been falsified, so it’s best to make sure.
Since buying a used car is a big financial purchase, you should always opt to get a paid vehicle history report such as carfax. Carfax is the leader in the industry however AutoCheck comes in as a close second in terms of availability of information and reliability.
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