Buying a used vehicle is a great ‘value for money’ proposition provided you have mastered the art of cherry picking. Unfortunately, most used vehicle buyers are novice with little to no idea of used vehicles. In such a scenario, the only options left are – relying on a mechanic who you can trust or looking up the vehicle history report to assess the vehicle’s overall condition. Finding an expert mechanic is not that easy, and even if you do, we would still recommend you to perform a vehicle history check. Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the fields you must check in a vehicle history report.
1. VIN
The VIN is a unique code made up of 17 numbers and alphabets. Each character (or a combination of characters) in the VIN represents some information pertaining to the vehicle, such as the make and model of the vehicle, its year of registration, the country where the vehicle was manufactured, and more. Make sure that all this information matches with the vehicle, or what the seller informed you about the vehicle.
2. Accident History
Check the vehicle history report to ensure that the car hasn’t gone through any major accident. In case the car was involved in a major collision, find out what were the exact repairs it underwent. It is important to find out about the repairs because unless the car went through a high standard repair, it won’t be too safe for anyone to drive it.
3. Ownership
“Too many hands spoil the broth.” If a car has been bought and sold by too many people, that too in a very short span of time, then you must steer away from it. Reason being that many of them got rid of the car because of some problem that they all faced with it. Too many owners also means that everybody would have had a different style of maintaining the vehicle, and therefore, chances are that the car wouldn’t have a consistent maintenance history.
4. Title
When on a prowl for buying a used car, it is a must to get a title check done. A title check will help you ascertain the exact condition of the car. It also helps you ensure that the person selling you the car is the actual owner or the person legally authorized to sell the car. In some cases a title check also helps to find out if the car was damaged in a flood or was recalled by the manufacturer.
5. Yearly Registrations
A VIN check can help you find out about the annual registration history of a vehicle. If the car wasn’t registered for any year or more, then chances are that the car was off the road because of an unethical change of ownership or any damage that wasn’t reported to the insurance company or other authorities.
Last Few Words
If you are looking for a used car, then you must look up the above-mentioned things mentioned in this post to avoid buying a lemon. To get instant access to a vehicle’s specifications and history review, run a VIN lookup from ClearVIN, a partner associate of the National Motor Vehicle Titling Information System (NMVITS). It provides accurate information about any vehicle. Alternatively, you are free to perform a license plate lookup. To get in touch with us, simply call +1 (844) 268-5991 or fill out our contact form, and we will take it up from there.
1 comment
I liaterlly jumped out of my chair and danced after reading this!