Cars from the United States of America are in great demand. They are actively crossing the ocean. And some businessmen try to make money on this, and not always honestly. It is only worth noting that:
- every sixth car sold is broken;
- one in three is with twisted runs;
- 0.8 million cars are stolen in the States every year.
For these reasons, before buying, it is important to find out how to check a car from America by VIN code.
Search engines
The first thing that must be done at once to study from all sides the American car by VIN code is to put it in a search engine, for example, in Google. Paradoxically, this method is actually quite effective, although it does not always give results. Usually, photos of different times appear on request.
CARFAX
Perhaps it is unacceptable to bypass this option. The fact is that this is the largest database on cars, and the official one, which is used all over the world, including the Americans themselves.
Among the features of the resource are the following:
- It is quite simple to check the history of American cars. The information is usually provided in English.
- The most extensive database. If the vehicle has entered the USA or Canada for at least a short time, then it will be in CARFAX. Moreover, we are talking not only about American-made cars, but also European and Asian ones. These brands are also actively imported to the American continent, and, subsequently, they are safely transported back to Europe, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Georgia.
- The report on the request is striking in its completeness. The customer receives information about the configuration, owners at different times, traffic accidents and much more, up to a color change. Perhaps other services do not provide more detailed information.
- The project is dynamic, the data in the database is updated promptly. For this reason, checking the history of cars from the United States will be relevant even if some events occurred just before they were sent to Europe. There are cases when, according to reports from some resources, the car is in excellent condition, but in fact the buyer receives an actual pile of metal. With CARFAX, this is almost completely excluded.
The service is paid here, the amount is about $ 4-5, depending on the payment method. Compared to the cost of a vehicle, this is generally a trifle within the statistical margin of error, which the average person will not even think about. However, this small amount, in principle, can not be paid. Such cars are rarely bought independently, without assistants in the person of specialized companies. If you have contacted an intermediary, you have every right to demand to check the American car according to the VIN code on this particular resource, and provide a full report for review, and to do this even before concluding a purchase or delivery agreement. And don't even doubt, they will definitely come to meet you because the competition in the automotive market is too high.
AutoCheck
It is another very powerful resource from the same series. The depth of the report is similar to the previous one. It is believed that it is more focused on the Canadian market. But "Americans" are widely and comprehensively represented in it.
There are cars in the database since 1981. After that date, the numbers became strictly 17-character long. Before that, they were shorter or longer. It is clear that it will not be possible to enter such data online into the form because the system will not accept it. Hence the conclusion: the only case when these two services will not help is the purchase of an old, one might say, rare car. In this case, other sources of information will be required.
Copart
Usually, the three above mentioned methods are quite enough to check almost any car imported from the USA or Canada. However, it makes sense to look at other offers that allow you to check the VIN code of a car from the USA and get valuable information on it.
This platform provides photos during different periods of operation. For an attentive buyer, this is a fairly informative source. For example, you can see if the body was repainted after an unregistered accident, whether any design changes were made.
Manheim
In the vast majority of cases, motor vehicles are purchased at automobile auctions. All information on them in general and the cars offered for sale are entered into the Manheim database.
Most often, cars in the USA and Canada are purchased through car auctions, so this platform is very useful. A simple example can be given. You order a car from America. The seller assures that it was purchased at a well-known auction at such and such a cost. If you check a car purchased from the USA using the VIN code on the Manheim resource, you can confirm or deny the information of the intermediary. In case of fraud, it makes sense to think about the expediency of continuing cooperation with such a car supplier. There is a high probability that they will try to sell you a low-quality product.
In conclusion, it is necessary to say the following. There are free and paid resources for checking cars from America. The first of them are widespread. Every self-respecting vehicle sales platform considers it its duty to offer its visitors a similar service. This is great, it must be used without fail. But it is not necessary to count on the fact that you will receive absolutely reliable and, most importantly, complete information.
In fairness, we note that all these free "checks" use the same services mentioned above, they just don't bother much with the result.
The final conclusion: free services are good as a base for collecting information about a car, but you should not ignore paid platforms.