How our stolen vehicle check works
Buying a stolen car usually ends badly for the buyer: the vehicle can be seized and returned to its owner or insurer, and the money paid to the seller is hard to recover. A VIN check before you pay is the cheapest protection you have.
Our report runs the VIN through the theft check of a U.S. commercial vehicle data provider. The result reads either "No Theft Records Found" or "Possible Theft Records Found". When the provider lists details, such as the make, plate, color, location and date of the record, the report shows them.
The same report also shows where the VIN has surfaced over time: salvage auction sales (Copart and IAAI records), recorded sales and online dealer or private listings, each with dates, locations and odometer readings. That trail is useful in a theft check. A car that was listed in one state last month and is now offered cheaply in another, with a different story, deserves questions.
What our check cannot tell you
We want to be plain about this, because it matters more here than anywhere else:
- We do not query police systems such as NCIC in the U.S. or CPIC in Canada, and we do not receive NICB data. A clean result from us is not a police clearance.
- Theft data reaches every database with delays. A car stolen last week may not show anywhere yet.
- A stolen car can carry a VIN copied from a legitimate one ("VIN cloning"). The VIN check then shows the history of the real car, not the one in front of you. Only a physical check of the VIN plates and labels can catch that.
That is why we recommend running the free official checks below as well, and treating any theft hit, from any source, as something only the police can confirm.
Free official stolen vehicle checks
- United States: NICB VINCheck (nicb.org/vincheck). Free, limited to five searches per 24 hours per IP address. It shows vehicles reported stolen and not recovered, or declared salvage, by NICB member insurers. NICB says it does not query law enforcement records and asks you to confirm any theft hit with NICB or local police before acting.
- Canada: CPIC stolen vehicle search (cpic-cipc.ca). The RCMP-run Canadian Police Information Centre offers a free search by VIN for cars, trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trailers, ATVs and more. If you get a positive result, contact your local police to confirm it.
- Local police. Many departments will check a VIN on their non-emergency line, and some cities run online "find my car" searches for towed and recovered vehicles.
How to check the car itself
- Find the VIN on the dashboard (through the windshield, driver's side) and on the label in the driver's door jamb. They must match each other and the title or registration.
- Look for scratched, re-riveted or glued VIN plates, and a door label that is missing or looks new on an older car.
- Decode the VIN and compare the year, make, model and engine with the car. A decoded V6 in a car with a four-cylinder engine is a warning sign.
- Ask for the title in the seller's name, with ID. Walk away from "lost title", "title in transit" or pressure to pay in cash today.
If a theft record shows up
Do not confront the seller and do not hand over money. Write down the VIN, the seller's details and where the car is, and contact local police. In the U.S. you can also contact NICB. A "possible theft" record can be an old record for a recovered car, so let the police confirm the status before you draw conclusions.
Free preview vs. full report
| Free preview | Full report ($9.99) | |
|---|---|---|
| Theft records | Not shown (in the full report) | Result plus record details when listed |
| Auction records | Number of records | Sale date, location, damage, title type, photos |
| Sales and listings | Number of records | Dates, prices, odometer readings, seller and city |
| Vehicle | Year, make and model | Full VIN decode to compare with the car |
The preview is free and needs no account: enter the VIN and you see the year, make and model and how many auction and damage, listing and sales records we found. The salvage title, theft and recall results are only in the full report. The full report costs $9.99 (USD) for a single VIN, with lower per-report prices in packs and monthly plans. Report credits never expire, and a purchased report stays in your account with a PDF download.