Vehicle History
Vehicle History Reports
What the records say before you hand over the money
A used car's paperwork tells a story its paint doesn't. A clean title in one state can be a salvage title in another. An odometer can be rolled back. A lien can follow the car to you.
A vehicle history report pulls those records together from one number — the 17-digit VIN.
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What a report can show you
Title and brand history — salvage, junk, flood, rebuilt, lemon, and reported title history
Odometer records — reported mileage over time, so rollbacks and inconsistencies surface
Insurance total loss events — reported by insurers across all 50 states
Theft, lien, impound and export records
Auction history — sale dates, prices, and photographs where available
Open safety recalls from NHTSA
Market value data to sanity-check the asking price
Where the data comes from
We point buyers to ClearVin, an approved NMVTIS data provider.
NMVTIS — the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System — is a federal database run by the U.S. Department of Justice. State DMVs, insurance carriers, and junk and salvage yards are required to report into it. It exists specifically to stop title fraud and keep unsafe cars from being quietly resold across state lines.
Not every history report reaches that data. NMVTIS records are only available through approved providers, and ClearVin is one of them.
What a report will not tell you
ClearVin reports do not include maintenance or service records, and they only show what was reported. Damage that was never reported may not appear.
A report is not a substitute for an inspection. Run the VIN, then have the car inspected. The two answer different questions — one covers the paperwork, the other covers the metal.
When to run one
Before you put down a deposit. Before you drive to see a car three hours away. Before you accept a price based on a seller's description of the car's past.
Sellers benefit too: a clean report shown upfront removes the buyer's biggest objection before it's raised.