Check a vehicle
NHTSA VIN Decoder. The government’s own decoder. Factory build data for any 1981 or newer VIN: make, model, year, engine, plant. No history of any kind.
NHTSA Recalls by VIN. Open, unrepaired safety recalls on a specific vehicle, fed by the manufacturers. Completed recalls and campaigns older than 15 years are not shown.
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings. Crash-test and rollover ratings by make, model and year.
NICB VINCheck. Free check against the theft and salvage records of participating insurers. Five lookups a day from one internet connection. Not every insurer participates, so a clean result is not proof of a clean car.
NMVTIS approved providers. The federal title database, run by the Department of Justice. The site does not sell reports itself; it lists the approved providers, who charge a small fee for title brands, the latest odometer reading and total-loss history.
NMVTIS brand glossary. What each title brand means, and why the same word can mean different things in different states.
Florida Motor Vehicle Information Check. Florida’s free lookup by VIN or title number: title issue date, odometer reading and date, and lien status for vehicles titled in Florida. Other states will be added as their guides are published.
Rules and rights
FTC: Buying a Used Car From a Dealer. The federal Used Car Rule in plain English: the Buyers Guide every dealer must display, what “as is” means, warranties, add-ons and payment.
FTC: Financing or Leasing a Car. Direct lending versus dealer financing, why the total cost matters more than the monthly payment, add-ons, and what to check before you sign.
FTC: Auto Warranties and Auto Service Contracts. The difference between a warranty and the service contract dealers sell as an “extended warranty”, your right to use any repair shop without losing coverage, and the warranty-expiry scam calls.
NHTSA: Odometer Fraud. How to spot a rollback, what the federal disclosure law requires, and where to report a case. Includes the exemption: no written mileage disclosure is required for vehicles 20 years old or older, or model year 2010 and older.
Report a problem
ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC’s complaint form for dealers, private sellers and scams. The FTC does not resolve individual complaints, but the reports feed its enforcement cases.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The FBI’s complaint desk for crime that happened online: fake listings, fake escrow services, wire transfers to a seller who never delivered. File there in addition to a local police report.
State consumer protection offices. One link per state to the office that takes complaints against businesses, usually the attorney general’s consumer division.
On this site
Free VIN Check. Our own tool: build data, recall campaigns, complaint counts and crash-test ratings from the NHTSA databases above, on one screen.
Editorial Standards. How we research, source and correct what we publish.