Ontario VIN check

Ontario’s three brands: irreparable, salvage, rebuilt

Under section 199.1 of the Highway Traffic Act and Ontario Regulation 376/02, an insurer or a dealer who finds that a vehicle is a total loss has to report it, and the Registrar records the brand on the vehicle permit. A car branded irreparable or salvage may not be driven on a highway.

US brands carry over, and flood is the strictest

Section 7 of O. Reg. 376/02 maps brands from other places, including every US state and Mexico, onto Ontario’s. A US brand meaning the car may be repaired counts as salvage. A brand meaning it isn’t fit to repair, such as junk, scrap, dismantled or parts only, counts as irreparable.

What the UVIP tells you

Section 11.1 of the Highway Traffic Act makes anyone selling a used vehicle provide a Used Vehicle Information Package (UVIP). The package lists the vehicle description, its Ontario registration history with past owners and odometer readings, lien information, the average wholesale value, the last known condition status and whether it was reported wrecked. You can buy one yourself before the sale.

The UVIP is built from Ontario records. It won’t tell you what happened to the car in another province or a US state before it was registered here.

Buying from an OMVIC-registered dealer

Registered dealers don’t have to hand over a UVIP, but section 42 of Ontario Regulation 333/08 makes them state certain facts in the contract, including when:

• an insurer declared the car a total loss, or it was classified irreparable, salvage or rebuilt
• it was registered outside Ontario before, and where (unless it has Ontario permits covering the previous seven consecutive years)
• repairs after one incident cost more than $3,000
• it was damaged by fire, or by liquid that reached at least the interior floorboards
• it was a daily rental, taxi, limousine or police car, or was recovered after a theft
• the odometer is broken, replaced, rolled back or reads in miles

Where a US history report fits

Our CARFAX and AutoCheck reports cover a vehicle’s US history: title brands from any state, reported accidents, auction sales and odometer readings. They don’t include Canadian claims or registrations, so they are most useful for a car that was imported from the US. If the car was sold at Copart or IAAI, the auction report adds the lot photos and the damage recorded at the sale.

A US CARFAX report costs $14.99 here.

Checklist before you pay

1. Match the VIN on the dashboard, the driver’s door frame and the vehicle permit.
2. Get the UVIP from a private seller, or buy your own, and compare the owners, liens and condition status with what you were told.
3. If the Ontario history starts recently, the car probably came from elsewhere: run a US history report and look for salvage, flood, fire or non-repairable brands.
4. With a dealer, read the disclosure statements in the contract before you sign.
5. For a rebuilt car, ask to see the structural inspection paperwork and have a body shop check the repair.