Page Sections - There's no VIN Decoder for used cars made before 1981 | Some car accidents won't appear in CARFAX history reports | Driving Records

Thousands of cars were damaged when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center.  These cars were salvaged, rebuilt, sold at car auctions and have their titles rebuilt.  One way to catch these cars is by running a CARFAX 30 Day Unlimited Vehicle History Reports option on every used car VIN number before you buy. The CARFAX unlimited Vehicle History Reports Package includes the free Safety And Reliability Report, giving you tons of useful information on your car such as crash tests, VIN decoder, safety recalls, reliability ratings all in one report from JD Power, NHTSA, IIHS and Polk. All states are vulnerable to the scams that arise out of mass vehicle ruins.

There's no VIN Decoder for used cars made before 1981

Not even CARFAX can get you a car history report for cars before 1981, because the VIN did not become a standard until then, and every car manufacturer had their own format, so you're out of luck. There is no VIN decoder for this. But for late models years, the VIN decoder section of a CARFAX report can help you tell if the seller is lying about the model, for example, calling it an EX, when the VIN decoder shows it to be an LX.

What a CARFAX Used Car History Report gives you

CARFAX Vehicle History Reports search over 2.7 billion records from 5,300 sources, state DMV’s, auto auctions, manufacturers, car dealers and repair shops. A CARFAX Vehicle History Report on a used car VIN Number is your tool in preventing you from getting ripped off on a used car.  A car history report reveals more about that used car than the seller is willing to tell you. What a CARFAX Vehicle History Report tells you:

• Number of previous owners, when it was sold, what states it was sold in. Awesome!
• Police accident reports if available for your VIN Number
• Major accident data, including total loss, rebuilt wrecks, salvage titles & airbag deployment
• Odometer rollback check, truth in mileage consistency check
• VIN Number Decoder shows year, model, engine, place of manufacture, standard equipment
• Lemon check on VIN number tells you if the car has been turned in under lemon law
• If the car was flooded, totaled by insurance, has a salvage title or sold at an auction
• Open recalls on your car, remaining coverage on the vehicle's warranty
• Service records from GE fleet, more
• Indication if vehicle has been certified pre-owned, leased, car rental, fleet or government vehicle
• Date when dealer took delivery. Use this to haggle a lower price, it's sitting on the lot for months.

Dealers sometimes show you a CARFAX Vehicle History Report from before they bought or traded the vehicle. Always run the CARFAX Vehicle History Report during negotiations to see when the dealer bough that car.  The VIN Decoder feature verifies your car is what the dealer claims it is.

Some car accidents won't appear in CARFAX history reports

Some municipalities don't supply accident report data, and some accidents below $1000 are not reported. Nothing is fool proof. That's why I stress so much that you still need a mechanic look at the car on a lift to find accident damage not reported by the car history report. Vehicle history reports are only as accurate as the data from their sources.

VIN Numbers and where to find them

Many visitors tell me they ran a CARFAX vehicle history report and found the used car they almost bought was a rebuilt wreck. One visitor told me his CARFAX history report saved him $7500.  You can find the VIN# on the a plate on the dashboard by looking through the windshield.  Some cars also have the 17 digit VIN# printed on stickers on the drivers side door, trunk, other doors.  Then you can run a CARFAX Vehicle History Report  to see if it has a rebuilt title. My friend showed me a CARFAX report on a used Lexus RX300 that had been wrecked, another one showed me a CARFAX report on a Honda Odyssey minivan showing it was sold at a salvage auction.

Where can you get a VIN decoder?

Many people ask where they can get a VIN decoder. The VIN decoder is very expensive, and some car fan pages have a VIN decoder for a VIN only on one particular car.  But one good benefit of the CARFAX Vehicle History Reports  is their vin search includes a VIN decoder on the car including the model, options, year, engine size and type, drive train info, country of manufacture, EPA gas mileage, etc. This gives you the car title facts that you'll need, and that car's past history prior to making that car title transfer.

Driving Records

Driving Records are state driver's license reports containing details about a driver's history including accidents and violations.  Each state maintains records of their registered drivers' activities occurring only in that state.

Driving records can be obtained by insurance companies to determine your rates as well as by companies during their employment screening procedures when hiring.  Some employers may even require that you submit your driving record along with your employment application.  A single typo on your driving record can cost you hundreds of dollars in insurance rates.  It can even cost you a job.

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