A VIN check can help you avoid scams and ensure your vehicle is in good shape. It is useful when selling a vehicle as data shows 35% off sellers providing a history report get their asking price and sell their vehicles faster. When buying a used car, always run a history report when dealing with a private seller or dealer to ensure you know what the vehicle has been through. Enter your VIN and get up to date information by running a vin check today. Here are 4 red flags that we’ve highlighted that come up as costly mistakes if a vehicle hasn’t thoroughly been checked.

– Has the car previously been written off? All this means is that it was decided that the repairs off the car would cost more than what the vehicle is worth. If a car has been written off or issued a salvage title, there’s a good chance it has some invisible damage or shoddy repairs that should be verified. Many of these vehicles are exported to overseas markets.

– Is the car still under finance? If the car is still under finance, the seller should warn the buyer. If you have only found out through the history report, contact the seller immediately to get proof that the vehicle has been paid off. We have seen numerous cases where customers purchase a vehicle with a loan/lien only to have it reclaimed by the financial lender even if the previous owner had the debt under their name, costing the customer thousands of dollars.

– Has the odometer been rolled back? This is one of the easiest ways to see if the seller is trying to rip you off. If our vehicle report shows inconsistencies with the mileage, then it would be in your best interest to walk away from the transaction.

– Is it poorly maintained? If the car has a very poor history, then its a long way from good as new and will likely not be as reliable as other options out there. Always have options and purchase the additional report package to run several vehicles and choose the one that has the most reliable history.