Why a Vehicle History Report is Important for Your Next Used Car Purchase

You've heard the story of the guy who got a great deal on a used car only to find that the horn mysteriously honked at random moments. As time passed, the honking grew more frequent. It was eventually discovered that the car had spent some time at the bottom of the ocean. A clean up job and new seats gave it a nice "used" car smell, but the salt water corrosion of the wiring and other mechanisms soon began to show.

It just goes to prove that you can look under the hood of a used car all you want, but simply looking won't tell you all you need to know about that used car before you purchase it. Fortunately, all you need is the 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) and the mysteries of your potential used car purchase will be revealed to you.

Vehicle history reports are generally available for any automobile made in 1981 or later.

What a vehicle history report can tell you
about your next used car purchase:

• Has the car been in an accident? How many times have the airbags been deployed? What were the losses or damages from each accident?
• Has the car been damaged by floods, fire, hail or other natural disasters?
• Has the car been junked, salvaged, rebuilt or stolen?
• Has the odometer been tampered with? Has it been rolled back to make you believe that the car has fewer miles on it?
• How many owners has the car had? Has the car been used as a rental or lease vehicle? Has it been in service as a taxi, or simply a family car as reported by the seller?
• Has the car been inspected recently? If your state has emission laws, for instance, what was the car's score?
• Has the car ever been reported as a lemon? Are there recall notices on the vehicle?

Not only does the vehicle history report contain valuable information about the used car you might purchase, it may provide you with just the information you need to negotiate a proper deal for your next vehicle purchase. To get a good idea of the market value for any new or used car, check the long-time standard for pricing vehicles, the Kelley Blue Book.

There are many reputable websites where you can order a vehicle history report. If you are shopping for used cars, you can save money by purchasing multiple reports at once or purchasing unlimited report options for a series of days. At DMV.org, for instance, you can order unlimited vehicle history reports for up to 60 days at a time. At the popular CarFax.com you can order 10 reports for only five dollars more than a single report.

Vehicle history reports can also be found at sites like AutoCheck.com, Auto Lemon, and Car Detective.