How to check the history of a vehicle from the USA?
The United States is the fourth most popular country from which Poles import cars. Importing a car from the USA allows you to save a lot, but you can also lose if you do not check the history of the car exactly. How to check a car from the USA? Is it possible to check a car from the USA for free? The overwhelming majority of cars imported from the USA are bought at various auctions. Services specializing in the sale of vehicles from, for example, banks or insurance companies sell tens of thousands of cars a year. With such a volume, errors cannot be avoided. In addition, sellers often do not give the full history of the car. Therefore, it is worth knowing how you can independently check what happened to the car before it went under the hammer.
Checking the car by VIN
If we are thinking about checking cars from the USA or motorcycle, then of course you will need a VIN number. With it, you can get basic information, check that the vehicle complies with the manufacturer's specifications, resulting from the VIN. You will learn the parameters of the vehicle, learn more about the mileage of the car, the replacement of the odometer and much more. The history of the car is traceable, but it is necessary to take into account that not all inspections and repairs will be in it. This is especially true for older year-olds.
Vehicle history for free — is it possible?
There are many places on the network that offer the opportunity to check the history of the vehicle. Each of us would like to meet her for free. Is it possible? What do free set-top boxes offer? We took a magnifying glass of a specific car from a randomly selected auction. His yearbook is young enough that we should be able to trace his history.
Unfortunately, sites claiming to be free set-top boxes are overwhelmingly just pretending to be free. Of the pages found under the slogan “vin usa for free” gave us the most information EpicWin. We learned the mileage, which was consistent with the information contained in the auction house's offer, as well as the last sale price of this particular piece. Information about the car's past was limited only to how much damage it had had and how many service actions it had. For concrete, of course, you have to pay extra.
Where is the best place to check the VIN number of a car from the USA?
When asking where best to check the VIN of a car from the USA, the first answer will usually be Carfax. It is a website that offers the possibility to check the history of the vehicle based on data from more than 112 thousand entities cooperating with the company. At the same time, Carfax from the very beginning leaves no illusion that you have to pay for information. After entering the VIN number, you will only know the make, model, vintage and engine variant of the car.
The second place is special site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which deals with road safety and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Here you will find out if any service action is provided for the car that has not been performed. It's not much, but always another pebble for the garden.
If not Carfax, what?
It is impossible to hide that a free check of a car from the USA for its history borders on a miracle, therefore, sooner or later you will have to buy a paid vehicle history report. Is there a better solution than Carfax? It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally, but it is always useful to have a comparison of data. The Federal Trade Commission (TFC) comes to the rescue, which special website lists trustworthy paid services. In addition to Carfax, there is also AutoCheck and VIN Audit.
How to check the title history?
The VIN number is one thing, but the second important issue is the title. If you want to register a car from the USA, you must have a title document, i.e. a document of ownership of the vehicle, issued by the DMV. Based on the history of changes in the title, you will find out if the car has had any damage before, as well as whether it is suitable for repair and reuse, how many owners it had, if it has ever been the subject of a pledge, theft or if it has not been affected by a flood or other cataclysm.
Without this document, you will not register the car. You will also not do this if the car is designed for parts only or marked as unrepairable. If the car had a “Salvage title” in the past, it means that it was damaged by 75 to 90 percent. It's the equivalent of our total damage. As a rule, Americans do not repair such cars, but this is a big country, so there is certainly no shortage of ingenious owners.
Checking the history of the vehicle in the auction site
We checked the auction sites for offering a vehicle history check service. Of all the most popular players, only in two cases buyers can count on background verification of the car with the help of the auction organizer.
For example, Copart offers two types of reports:
- AutoCheck — each report includes information about car damage in the past, confirmation of vehicle mileage and information about possible odometer replacements, data on whether the car was financed or rented.
- EpicVIN — vehicle history report and report on previous owners and vehicle statuses based on data from the DMV.
Auction House Mannheim offers a comprehensive check of the history of the car, including the history of changes of owners, as well as previously made repairs.
Vehicle history is important, but not the most important
When buying a used car, we usually take into account the fact that it has less or more adventures behind it. The older the car, the greater the chance that it was involved in a collision or accident. In addition to the history of the vehicle itself, its condition at the time of purchase is also important. If, for example, the car has had a collision or accident in the past, but the damage was eliminated according to the manufacturer's technology, it is often even possible to extend the warranty in such cases in the salon.
Summary
Importing a car from the USA is a good way to dream four wheels. Before buying, it is worth checking the history of the vehicle. But remember that history is not about driving. Therefore, in parallel, order a report from a third-party company that will inspect the vehicle for possible repairs and past adventures. So you will have a complete picture of what condition the car is in, what its past is, check the compliance of the VIN number with the actual state and make a purchase decision. Remember that skipping a single oil change or possible collisions repaired according to art do not have to disqualify the car.
