VIN Decoders: How They Can Help You Identify a Vehicle’s History

Moneymagpie Team 20th Feb 2023 No Comments

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Just as people have Social Security numbers, vehicles are assigned unique Vehicle Identification Numbers. They are crucial if you are trying to track down the parts you need to rebuild or repair a car, truck, motorcycle, or even a boat (although watercraft owners refer to them as “hull identification numbers,” or HINs). VINs are used to track ownership and repair history of a vehicle, process insurance claims and maintain state registration records.

Using its vehicle identification number, you can find out whether a vehicle has been wrecked or stolen, had major recalls, or suffered hail or flooding damage. You can also check a vehicle’s service and registration histories, see when it was last inspected and how often it has been serviced over time, learn how many previous owners it has had and if someone previously reported odometer fraud.

What is a car’s history?
Do you know what the history of your car says?
Why vehicle history matters
How to check a car’s history

What is a car’s history?

A vehicle’s history is like a report of the car’s manufacturer, owners, titles and other records. This report tells a potential buyer about the car’s journey through the years.

Do you know what the history of your car says?

A car’s history is important information for anyone looking to buy a used vehicle. Here are some details about a car’s history that will help you make a more informed decision when buying one. Visit EpicVin website for more valuable information https://epicvin.com/vin-decoder.

History of accidents

When a car is involved in an accident, the owner reports the damage to the relevant authorities. The police and other government agencies keep track of these reports, which show up on a car’s history.

Title Report

A title proves ownership of property. A signed, sealed and delivered title effectively transfers property ownership from one person to another.

A car’s title history shows how many times the title has been transferred.

If a vehicle’s title has been changed several times, there may be better purchases. This is because it is difficult to determine the condition of a car and how it was used if more than one owner has owned such a car.

A car’s history report will also show whether the vehicle has a salvage title or other title problems. Before you buy, learn how to avoid problems associated with these titles.

Vehicle Recalls

When a car is deemed to be defective and highly likely to cause road accidents, the relevant road safety authority will instruct the car manufacturer to recall and fix the affected vehicles.

If you want to check if a specific car has been recalled, you can run its VIN through a free online VIN lookup tool.

If you want to learn more about VIN, we have an article that can help. Read the post to find out what VIN is, why it’s important, and how to use it.

Mileage Report

When you buy a car, you get it serviced regularly. The mechanic records the mileage on a report that goes into the car’s history. You can check this report to ensure that what you buy is really worth the money you are about to spend.

If you notice that your dashboard mileage doesn’t match up with the mileage reported by your car’s history report, it might be an indication that the odometer has been tampered with.

Why vehicle history matters

A car’s history report provides potential buyers with valuable information about the vehicle. Did the car belong to a taxi service or rental agency? How many times has it been resold and repaired?

A vehicle history report can keep you from getting scammed. When you know a car’s history, you know what it is worth first-hand. A vehicle with 100,000 miles on it and faulty brakes changed two years ago will sell for a different price than a car with only 10,000 miles on it.

Before purchasing a car, it is best to conduct research. First, check for inconsistencies in the car’s history. Then compare prices of different cars, identify possible problems with each of them, and make sure you can handle any future issues that might arise.

It can be challenging to tell whether a car is good or bad by looking at the body, but you can learn many things about the vehicle by looking at its history.

How to check a car’s history

When buying a used car, it’s always a good idea to check the vehicle’s history using an online VIN decoder tool. You can check VIN for free here with EpicVin–the best VIN decoder tool on the web today.

EpicVIN provides a free basic VIN check. Car buyers and agents use this service to check the vehicle identification number (VIN) and find out the history of cars they want.

Visit the EpicVin website to decode the VIN in less than a minute.

Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.

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