Alternatives to AutoCheck, by what you need it for

First, what does AutoCheck give you?

Experian builds AutoCheck from motor vehicle agencies, auctions, insurers and other sources. Its distinctive parts are the AutoCheck Score, a 1 to 100 rating read against a range for similar cars, its auction data, which Experian says comes from most US auction houses and often includes structural damage announcements, and police-reported accidents for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. If one of those is what you’re after, look for a substitute for that part.

If you want: a second opinion on accidents and owners

Use CARFAX. It’s the other full history report, built from its own set of sources, and it lists service and maintenance visits reported to CARFAX. If AutoCheck is unavailable or you already have one, CARFAX is the closest like-for-like check. Our CARFAX vs AutoCheck page compares the two section by section.

A CARFAX report costs $8.99 here.

If you want: what happened at auction

Use the auction record, for Copart and IAAI cars. AutoCheck can tell you a car was sold at auction and what was announced. For a salvage car sold at Copart or IAAI, the auction record goes further: the lot photos, the recorded damage, the title it was sold on and the odometer status. It doesn’t cover dealer auctions such as Manheim, and we don’t sell reports for those.

Our auction report costs $7.99. See auction VIN reports for what it shows.

If you want: title brands and total losses

Use an NMVTIS title report. The federal title database covers five items by design: the current title, brand history, the odometer reading at titling, total-loss history and salvage history. Providers approved by the Department of Justice sell these reports, each at its own price. It’s a narrower check than AutoCheck: no accidents beyond total losses, no service, no score. Our AutoCheck vs VinAudit page compares AutoCheck with one NMVTIS provider in detail.

If you want: theft and salvage, for free

Use [NICB VINCheck](https://www.nicb.org/vincheck). It searches theft and salvage records from participating insurers, up to five searches per IP address in 24 hours. NICB itself says it isn’t a full history report, so treat a clean result as one check passed, not as a clean history.

If you want: the score

There’s no direct substitute. The AutoCheck Score is Experian’s own model, and no other report produces it. You can get close by reading the factors it weighs yourself, in any full report:

• Mileage for the age. Divide the odometer reading by the car’s age and compare with similar cars for sale.
• Owners. More owners than usual for its age is a reason to ask why.
• Use. Rental, fleet, taxi or police use often means harder miles.
• Events. Any accident, title brand, frame or water damage, theft or repossession weighs more than everything above.

If the score is what you need, for example to compare a shortlist of similar cars quickly, the report itself is $7.99 here.

What no report replaces

Every option above reads records. None of them looks at the car. Have a mechanic you choose inspect it, and ask them to start wherever the reports point.