How to Check a Used Car's History

A Carfax is step one. Here's the full seven-step pre-purchase check. Takes about half an hour, catches 95 percent of problems.

1. Run a Carfax

$9.99 through cheap Carfax reports. Reveals accidents, titles, odometer, service, ownership, recalls. If any top-three red flag hits, you're done.

2. Decode the VIN

Our free VIN decoder confirms the VIN matches the claimed year and make. Occasionally a listing has a typo. Fix it before running the Carfax.

3. Check NHTSA recalls

nhtsa.gov/recalls. Plug in the VIN. The Carfax shows open recalls, but NHTSA is the source. Open recalls get fixed free at any dealer.

4. NMVTIS

Confirms the title info Carfax shows. $2 to $5 from an approved provider. Overlaps with Carfax but worth it as a sanity check.

5. Mechanic inspection

$100 to $200 at a mechanic you chose, not the seller's. They check tires, brakes, suspension, fluids, frame, undercarriage. Catches what the Carfax can't.

6. Title ownership

The seller's name on the title must match their ID. If not, don't pay anyone who can't prove they own the car.

7. Test drive and document

30 minutes including highway. Photograph the odometer, dashboard, interior, and exterior at agreement. If anything changes before delivery, you have a baseline.

Run step one first. cheap Carfax report. If it flags a dealbreaker, you've saved yourself a trip.