Everything You Need to Know About a Vehicle History Report

A vehicle history report can offer peace of mind for used car buyers. While private sellers on sites like Facebook Marketplace may not provide one, trusted dealerships and car retailers should.

It can reveal important information, including unreported accidents, airbag deployment and severe structural damage. It can also list any open manufacturer recalls that need to be addressed.

Car accidents that happen without warning can cause physical injury, damage to property, or emotional stress. If such accidents occur, it's crucial to gather the relevant details about the incident. The Kostenvoranschlag is a great method to do this. This document serves as an official record of the event and has numerous benefits for those who were affected.

Accident History

A cursory glance at a car can tell you whether it has dents, dings or scratches, but it doesn’t necessarily give you a clear idea of the vehicle's history. A vehicle history report provides a more detailed view, including accident information, and can tell you whether the damage sustained was severe enough to require structural repair or airbag deployment.

Many different sources contribute to the vehicle history report. These include insurance companies, motor vehicle departments, law enforcement agencies, repair shops and mechanics. The NMVTIS database also includes data from junkyards and salvage yards, as well as odometer readings. This helps you identify rolled back odometers, which is a red flag for fraud.

The best vehicle history reports, such as Carfax and AutoCheck, offer buyback guarantees if the information they contain is incorrect or incomplete. However, mistakes do happen, and it's important to always have the car you're considering inspected by a professional before buying. This will help you ensure any repairs are a good investment, and will also protect your safety.

Recalls

Vehicle manufacturers issue recalls on their vehicles when a defect is discovered. These recalls are reflected in vehicle history reports from Carfax, AutoCheck and other services that require a VIN to pull up records. Some sellers may even purchase these reports themselves to put buyers at ease.

Using the 17-character VIN, these services pull information from state motor vehicle departments, insurance agencies, collision repair shops and law enforcement to note major incidents in the car’s life. They also check to see if the vehicle has had multiple owners, whether it was leased or used as a taxi and if it passed any safety inspections. Other sections of the report include a verification of mileage (which could flag an odometer rollback scam) and if the vehicle has been branded as a lemon or had a salvage title due to flood or fire damage. These reports will not tell you how well a vehicle drives or any mechanical wear and tear, so you should always take it for a test drive first.

Previous Owners

Generally, the more owners a car has had, the more likely it is to have mechanical problems. A history report will typically indicate if the vehicle has changed hands frequently and why.

To obtain a history report, you'll need to know the 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN), which is like the car's Social Security number. Upon providing the VIN, vehicle history companies such as Carfax and AutoCheck will search their databases to build a list of key items about the car's past.

One of the most important things a report will show is if a vehicle has been in any serious accidents. Typically, accident data is collected from government motor vehicle departments, repair shops and law enforcement agencies to determine if there was any major structural damage or airbag deployments. It will also tell you if the car was ever used as part of a fleet or rental vehicle. Consumers often are wary of these vehicles, fearing they may have been abused and not properly serviced or maintained.

Mileage

A vehicle history report can include a summary of a vehicle’s mileage records, which can show signs of odometer tampering. Odometers are legally required to be kept accurate, so a large discrepancy between the reported mileage and the actual odometer reading could indicate that the car’s odometer has been rolled back.

A good vehicle history report will also list any accidents the vehicle has been in. The two biggest providers of vehicle history reports, Carfax and AutoCheck, use a variety of sources to pull information from a vehicle’s 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN), including state motor vehicles, salvage yards and wrecking companies.

These reports can provide volumes of useful vehicle information. Some can confirm good news about a vehicle, while others can raise red flags that might save you money in the long run.