In our ceaseless quest to provide you with the most helpful tips and tricks in the known universe, we frequently refresh old stories with more accurate information. Nothing lasts forever, after all, and life hacks are no exception.
So when we found this hack in 2013, we had to know it wasn’t going to last long.
Reddit user oinkinstein
revealed this tip
for running the vehicle history report.
First, get the VIN for the car
Then search for
dealer autocheck inurl:vin
Click on the first search result (right now it leads to an autoexact.com site, but this trick works with other sites as well)
Replace the VIN in the URL with your own. Note that if there’s any other information after the VIN, such as an id=####, just replace the VIN and keep the other info intact.
Voilà! You’ll get the AutoCheck report from Experian with the basic details of the car, along with any reported accidents, title issues, the last reported odometer reading, and the full history of the car. Good to know when you’re used car shopping.
Lo and behold, this trick has since stopped working. RIP, trick.
So what to do? Well, you could pay, of course, by ordering an AutoCheck or CarFax report. Which is what chumps do. Here are some free options, which we discovered courtesy of Clark.com:
NICB
The National Insurance Crime Bureau sounds like a place that will call you demanding that you hand over your social security number or they’ll sic “the sheriff” on you, but it is a real place! A real place that will provide a free, if relatively skimpy, service: Here, you can find out if the car you’re interested in buying has been reported stolen or has been in an accident. That’s it, though. That’s all you’re going to get out of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
VehicleHistory
Now we’re talking: VehicleHistory can provide you with a much more detailed report, including price analysis, cost to own, recall history and selling history.
iSeeCars
With iSeeCars, you’re going to get a comprehensive report culling 200 data points including price history, projected depreciation, dealer scorecard, best time to buy and sell, and more. So much more. 196 more points, to be exact.
This article was originally published on 6/12/13. It was updated with accurate if less-sexy information on 5/20/19.