Free VIN check reports including specs
Searching for VIN check reports including safety items? We have some tips for you and also some suggestions. Don’t let the dealer tell you they’ve inspected the car for you. Take the vehicle to a qualified mechanic that routinely does automotive diagnostic work. Surveys show it is rare that the premium you pay will equal the amount of a paid repair claim down the line unless you choose a model known to have a troubled reliability history.
Check CO2 emissions, as it affects the duty you pay. Buyers of the most polluting cars pay the most road tax. But choose a car (such as the emission-free hybrid Toyota Prius) that produces less than 100g of CO2/km and you’ll pay nothing at all. An average family-type car, like a Volkswagen Golf, will set you back 30 a year. See a full list of Vehicle Excise Duty rates plus how to calculate yours.
A vehicle identification number, or VIN, identifies your car. It’s made up of individual numbers and letters with special significance, and provides information about your vehicle. Each VIN is unique to the vehicle. Determine where exactly the car was manufactured. The eleventh digit tells which plant actually assembled the car. This digit is specific to each manufacturer. Decode the remaining numbers. The rest of the numbers provide the production or serial number of the car and is what makes the VIN unique to that specific car. To find out this manufacturer-specific information, you can check their website for a decoding sheet or ask a service repair shop if you can see one. Read more details at https://vindecoded.com/.
Unless you’re buying the car from a close friend or family member who can vouch for its history, plan to get a vehicle history report. This is an essential early step. If the car you’re looking at has a bad history report, the sooner you know the better.VINdecoded and Carfax are the two best-known sources for vehicle history reports, which can reveal vital information about the car, including whether the odometer has been rolled back or if it has a salvage title, which means it has been declared a total loss by the insurance company. You’ll use the car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) to get this information, and in some cases, all you need is the license plate number.