A car is a major purchase and making that choice can cause anxiety. You may be wondering if you can afford it, what type of car you should buy, and a dozen other things. If you are buying a car, the last thing you want is for it to break down or turn out to be a lemon car.
Therefore, when buying a used car, it’s quite important that you run a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number ) check to see the car’s history. Just get the VIN for a car that you’re considering buying and either run a check on a car yourself or you can request the report from the used car dealer. Note that, since 1981, car manufacturers have started using a standard 17 character code, which does not use the letters I, O, or Q. Before then, different manufacturers used their own code formats for VINs so cars older than 1981 can be tricky to get history on.
If you run a VIN check, you can find out about accidents, repairs, and other vital information that you should know before you purchase a car, such as whether the used car was branded a lemon under the lemon law. A number of services can run this check, although your dealer should be able to acquire it. If you are not purchasing from a dealer, you will still want to ask the owner for a report or at least the VIN so you can run your own check. If you want to run a check on your car, there are a number of services you can use, and many of them are free. Here are some links to sites you should check out:
You do not want to purchase a used car and end up being stuck with a lemon. Obtaining a VIN check will not completely eradicate this risk, but it will definitely decrease your risk.
