Buy an AutoCheck report

What you receive

You get the AutoCheck report for the VIN as Experian produces it, in your account and by email. Experian says its records come from state motor vehicle agencies, auctions, insurers and other sources. Expect these parts:

• The score box: the AutoCheck Score and, next to it, the range for similar cars.
• Title and problem checks: brands such as salvage, rebuilt, flood or lemon, and odometer problems such as a rollback or a broken odometer.
• Accidents: Experian says police-reported accident information is available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• Auction events: sales at auction and, where announced, structural or frame damage.
• Use and ownership: the number of owners and whether the car was used as a taxi, police car, rental or fleet vehicle, plus theft and repossession records.
• Storm areas: whether the car was registered in a FEMA storm damage area at the time of a major storm.

The AutoCheck report costs $7.99 here. On autocheck.com, a single report is $29.99.

Checking several cars? A pack brings each AutoCheck report to $5.29, and the reports never expire.

Ordering, in short

1. Enter the VIN and check the free decode: the year, make and model must match the car.
2. Tick AutoCheck, and CARFAX too if you want both.
3. Pay by card or crypto. Your email is enough; no account needed.
4. The report usually arrives instantly or in seconds after payment confirmation. If it can’t be produced, its cost goes back to your account automatically.

The full walk-through, including refunds, is in how to buy a VIN report.

How to read the score

The score runs from 1 to 100, but the number means little on its own. Experian’s own guidance is to read it next to the score range: the band where comparable cars of the same age and class usually fall.

• Above the range: this car’s history looks better than most similar cars on the factors the score counts.
• Inside the range: a typical history for its age and class.
• Below the range: something pulls it down. Scroll to the details to find out what.

That’s why an older car scoring 84 can have a better history than a newer one scoring 89: what counts is where each sits against its own range. Experian lists what moves the score, including age, mileage, the number of owners compared with what’s typical, accidents, title brands, odometer problems, frame or water damage, theft, repossession and taxi or police use.

For worked examples and every factor the score weighs, see what the AutoCheck Score means.

When to pair it with CARFAX

AutoCheck and CARFAX are built from different sets of records, so one can hold an event the other misses. Read both when:

• The car is expensive enough that a missed accident would cost more than a second report.
• AutoCheck shows a gap of years with no events, and you want service visits to fill it: service records are a strength of CARFAX.
• The car went through dealer auctions or fleet use, and you want both companies’ view of those years.
• The two reports are your evidence when you negotiate, and you want them to agree.

Both reports for the same VIN cost $12.99 as a bundle.

For a car sold at Copart or IAAI, add the auction report as well: it shows the lot photos, which neither history report has.