One of the most important things you can do before buying a used vehicle is to check the vehicle history. A car history report will get you all kinds of information about the car you are considering. The information you obtain will help prevent you from buying a car that could have been in an accident, stolen, or a car that has a “damage” title.
How to Check a Vehicle’s History
To gather the essential information for a vehicle history report, you first need to locate the vehicle identification number or VIN .
- Check if there are liens on the vehicle by visiting your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles website. There will be a page that initiates a search for lien information. Enter the REG No. and a report will be generated that will tell you when the title was issued, provide the number of liens, and print the report out for your records. There may be a fee for this information.
- You can discover if the car you are considering has problems by logging on to HPIcheck.com and clicking on the free REG check. Print out the report.
The information you will receive from Hpicheck includes:
Title Information that will give you the current owner‘s name plus their address. Flood Damage, Total Loss Accident and Lemon History will show any insurance claims that have been filed against the car or if there is a lemon report on file.
Odometer Reading Reports are required by law when registering the vehicle. With an honest odometer reading you will know how far the car has traveled and how it was used. Previous owner’s reports are important to know if the car has been “passed around.” This could indicate that the car has been abused.
Accident reports will also give information about crash repairs. If you cannot see any identifiable damage and the accident was minor, you can feel a bit more confident about the car you are considering.
State Emissions Inspection reports can provide you with an indication of how well the car was loved. If inspection records are non-existent or sporadic, you may want to consider another car. Service Records will let you know all the upkeep on the car. These records will tell you how often the oil was changed, when new tires were installed and pertinent information relating to the upkeep of the car.
Armed with HPICheck you can feel confident that there is nothing more for you to find out. Grab; your financing and go buy your used car.
Shopping for a new car can be an exciting experience, but don’t get caught off guard, if you are buying a used car be sure to have a full vehicle history check performed before you part with any money.