Get a Vehicle History Check and Avoid Used Cars With Hidden Problems

What is a vehicle history check? This is a question that comes up quite often. They've been around for quite some time, but many people are still not sure exactly what they are. For those of you with some doubt, here is a brief overview.

When a vehicle is registered, or changes ownership, or gets into an accident or any number of other "events" from the time it was manufactured to the present time, this information is recorded. State DMVs, Auction Houses, Dealers, Government Agencies...they all keep certain records on vehicles.

Each car has its own unique fingerprint, called a VIN, or Vehicle Identification Number. It can be found on various places in the car. It is this VIN that is the key to all of the information available for the car, as each entity records their information using the VIN as the identifier (you can think of it as a Social Security Number for a car...no two cars have the same VIN).

So how do you check vehicle history? There are a number of companies that gather all of the information from the various entities and combine them to make one comprehensive report that includes all of the information in one place.

One of the most reputable ones is called AutoCheck, which is a division of Experian, one of the big three credit agencies. They gather all of the information from over 175 different sources to create vehicle history check reports on millions of different cars.

There are others who do something similar, but they stand out as an industry leader.

So how do you, the used car buyer, check vehicle history? Well, it's quite simple actually. When you find a car you like, or one you are considering, you ask the owner or dealer or whoever you are potentially buying from to give you the vehicle's VIN. It's a 17-character combination of numbers and letters.

Make sure you take it down exactly as it appears on the title card or on the vehicle. If any number or letter is wrong, you won't be able to generate a report on the car.

Once you have the VIN, you can enter it below and get the ball rolling. You will be provided with some basic information, and you can decide if you want a single report, i.e. check only one car, or a multiple car report, which allows you to check a number of different cars. This option make sense as the first one you check might not be the best, and you may want to check a number of others before you buy.

So that's what the vehicle history check is all about. If you're ready to get yours, just enter the first VIN in the box below: