Copart VIN report: what the auction record shows

What a Copart lot record contains

Copart is an online vehicle auction. Most of what it sells comes from other sellers, and Copart itself says most of its vehicles carry salvage titles. Each vehicle gets a lot number and a lot details page. Copart’s help center lists what that page includes, when the information is available:

• Photos. Copart takes 10 images of each vehicle from several angles, with extra shots of the cargo area or loose parts when they apply. Some lots add an undercarriage photo or a recording of the engine running.
• Primary and secondary damage. Short codes such as FRONT END, REAR END, SIDE, HAIL, WATER/FLOOD, ROLLOVER or FRAME DAMAGE REPORTED. Copart says neither code should be read as more important than the other.
• Title type. The title the car was sold on, such as clean, salvage or rebuilt.
• Odometer and its status. The reading plus one of four labels: ACTUAL, NOT ACTUAL, EXEMPT, or EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS (the odometer passed its maximum and started again at zero).
• Keys. Whether Copart had the keys.
• Highlights. Icons such as Run & Drive or Engine Start Program (see below).
• Estimated retail value. The seller’s figure for what the car was worth before the damage. Copart doesn’t vouch for it.
• Sale details. The Copart location, the sale date and time, and vehicle data such as body style, engine, transmission, drive and fuel.

Run & Drive is not a road test

Copart checks a car when it arrives at the yard. Run & Drive means that at that moment it started (on its own or with a jump box), could be put in gear and moved forward. Engine Start Program means only that the engine started and ran at idle. Neither label says the car is roadworthy, and Copart warns that either can stop being true before pickup: batteries die and damaged cars deteriorate.

Why it matters for a rebuilt or imported car

A car sold at a salvage auction can be repaired and sold again, in the US or abroad. By then the dents are gone, and the history may come down to one line in an ad. The lot photos show the car before the repair: which side was hit, whether the airbags went off, whether water reached the cabin.

Use the record to ask better questions:

• Does the damage in the photos match what the seller told you?
• Was the impact near the pillars, the suspension or the frame? Ask your mechanic to look there first.
• Does today’s odometer reading make sense next to the reading and status recorded at the sale?
• Was the car sold on a salvage title? If its title is clean now, read about title washing.
• A WATER/FLOOD code or a waterline in the photos? See the flood damage check.

How to look up a VIN’s Copart history

1. Read the full 17-character VIN on the car and on its title, not only in the ad. See what is a VIN.
2. Search that VIN on copart.com. The search box accepts a VIN, which works well for cars coming up for sale.
3. For a car sold in the past, the listing may be hard or impossible to find on the auction site. An auction history report keeps the photos and the details recorded at the sale.
4. Check IAA too, because a car can pass through more than one auction. See the IAAI VIN report.
5. Add a full history report for title events, accidents and odometer readings outside the auction.

What the record won’t tell you

A lot record is a snapshot of one day. It doesn’t show how the car was repaired, which parts were used, or what happened after it left the yard. Copart sells vehicles as is and recommends inspecting before you bid. Before you buy a repaired car, have a mechanic you choose inspect it, and compare what you see with the auction photos. See rebuilt title check.