Check the car you’re looking at
Enter the VIN to decode it for free, with its open recalls. Then pick the reports you want, if any.
Letters and numbers, no I, O or Q. It decodes as soon as all 17 are in.
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Key takeaways
- Read the 17-character VIN off the car itself, not only from the ad: one wrong character gets you another car’s history, or none.
- Check the free decode before you pay. If the year, make and model aren’t the car in the listing, stop there: you’ve paid nothing.
- You don’t need an account. The email you give at checkout becomes your account once the payment is confirmed.
- If a report can’t be produced, its cost goes back to your account automatically, and you can ask within 30 days for a refund to your card or crypto wallet.
- A history report is not an inspection: have a mechanic you choose look at the car before you pay.
On this page
Before you start: get the VIN right
A report is tied to one VIN, so one wrong character gets you the history of a different car or no history at all. Read the 17 characters off the car, at the base of the windshield or on the driver’s door frame, not only from the ad. Check that the title shows the same number. On a phone, the camera scanner reads the barcode, and if there isn’t one it can read the characters from a photo. The photo isn’t stored.
Step by step
- Enter the VIN. Type it or scan it in the VIN box on any page.
- Check the free decode. We look up the VIN in the U.S. government’s vehicle database and show the year, make, model and engine. If that isn’t the car in the listing, stop here: you’ve paid nothing.
- Choose your reports. Tick CARFAX, AutoCheck, the auction report, or several. Two reports for the same VIN can cost less as a bundle.
- Give your email. No account is needed. The email you enter becomes your account, created only once the payment is confirmed. The link we send is how you sign in.
- Pay. By card on our hosted checkout page at checkout.smartvincheck.com, or in crypto through NOWPayments.
- Read the report. We order it as soon as the payment is confirmed. It appears in your account and arrives by email, with the PDF attached when there is one.
What it costs
A CARFAX report is $8.99.
An AutoCheck report is $7.99.
A Copart or IAAI auction report is $7.99.
CARFAX and AutoCheck together for one VIN are $12.99.
The pricing page shows every price, including packs for several cars, before you start.
How long delivery takes
Most reports arrive instantly or in seconds after the payment is confirmed. A crypto payment is confirmed when the network confirms the transaction, which depends on the coin and how busy the network is. You can close the page while you wait: the report goes to your account and your inbox either way.
If a report can’t be produced
Sometimes the supplier has no report for a VIN, for example a car that was never sold in the US or Canada. When that happens:
- Its cost goes back to your account automatically, as a report credit or the exact amount to your balance, and we email you to say so.
- You can use that credit on another VIN, or ask us within 30 days to refund it to your card or crypto wallet.
- Credits and balance never expire.
A report that was delivered isn’t refundable, unless it’s for a different VIN than the one you ordered or the file is broken. The refund policy has the details.
After you’ve bought
- Your reports stay in your account, grouped by car, so you can open them again on the lot or at the mechanic’s.
- On the car’s page, the report consultant can read every report you own for it in plain language: red flags with their source, questions for the seller, and what a mechanic should check. It’s included at no extra cost. It’s written by AI and can make mistakes, and it always recommends an inspection.
- Reports are in English. The site and our emails are in English, Spanish, French, Arabic and German.
Buying for many cars
If you check cars every week, a pack lowers the price of each report and never expires, and a prepaid balance earns a volume discount. Signed-in buyers can also paste up to 50 VINs at once and pay from their credits and balance, never more than the estimate shown. See dealer pricing.
Questions
Do I need an account to buy?
No. Enter your email at checkout. Your account is created when the payment is confirmed, and the emailed link signs you in.
Can I buy a report for a car outside the US or Canada?
You can try, but CARFAX and AutoCheck cover vehicles sold in the US and Canada. If no report can be produced, the cost goes back to your account.
Who do I contact if something goes wrong?
Write to contact@smartvincheck.com. We usually reply within a few hours.
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About the author
Tayron Bram
Data Validation Officer
Tayron Bram is the Data Validation Officer at Smart VIN Check, with 41 years of experience in used-car sales, auto auctions and vehicle data. Tayron has checked thousands of vehicle history reports and worked with dealers importing cars from the US. At Smart VIN Check, Tayron checks that every fact in our guides matches its source, from state title rules to NMVTIS and NHTSA records, and goes back to those sources when they change. Before a guide is published, Tayron reads it the way a buyer would, looking for anything unclear, out of date or not backed by a source. Tayron also keeps the prices we quote from other sellers current, so the comparisons on our pages stay accurate.
More from Tayron BramRelated
Sources
- NHTSA vPIC VIN decoder (U.S. Department of Transportation), the data behind our free decodechecked October 2026
- Federal Trade Commission: Buying a used car from a dealerchecked October 2026