Arkansas license plate lookup

What the Arkansas plate lookup tells you

The free lookup matches an Arkansas plate to the car’s VIN and decodes it: year, make, model, engine and open safety recalls. You can then buy a history report on that VIN. We get plate matches from a commercial vehicle-data provider.

It won’t tell you who owns the car. Names and addresses in state vehicle records are protected by the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721), which lets the state release them only for specific permissible uses.

Who issues plates and titles in Arkansas

The Office of Motor Vehicle at the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) runs the state’s registration, title and lien laws and keeps the state repository of registration, title and lien records. Plates and registrations are handled at state revenue offices and online through MyDMV.

DFA says that if you’ve recently bought a vehicle you must register it within 60 days, and its MyDMV service lets you register it, apply for the title, transfer your license plate from your previous vehicle and pay sales tax online. A seller may also file a Notice of Transfer of Ownership with the Office of Motor Vehicle; under Ark. Code Ann. § 27-14-911, a seller who has made a genuine sale and handed over the car isn’t liable for how the buyer drives it.

Arkansas title, registration and lien records

DFA offers an online Vehicle Title, Registration & Lien Record Search by VIN or title number, for motor vehicles only, behind an account login. For boat or RV records, or anything the search doesn’t cover, contact a revenue office or the Office of Motor Vehicle.

Whatever route you use, personal details about an owner are released only under the DPPA’s permissible uses, such as to a court, an insurer, a government agency or a business verifying what the owner told it. Being interested in buying the car isn’t one of them.

Salvage and rebuilt brands in Arkansas

The Arkansas Attorney General explains that a car is a salvage vehicle if it has been submerged in water above dashboard level, or has damage equal to or more than 70% of its average retail value. The law doesn’t cover vehicles more than seven model years old at the time of the damage. The title is branded SALVAGE, and after repair the brand changes to REBUILT.

The person who rebuilds the car signs an Affidavit of Reconstruction listing each part repaired or replaced and the VIN of the vehicle it came from. When a salvage car is offered for sale, the seller must stick a Buyer’s Notification to a side window that names the brand and describes the damage, repairs and replaced parts. If a seller fails to disclose a salvage vehicle, the Attorney General says the buyer can cancel and get a full refund. See salvage title check and flood damage check.

Checks before you buy a car with Arkansas plates

• Make sure the VIN from the plate lookup matches the dashboard, the door label and the title.
• Look for the Buyer’s Notification in a side window and read the damage description. Ask for a copy of the Affidavit of Reconstruction on a rebuilt car.
• A car older than seven model years when it was damaged may carry no Arkansas salvage brand, so check its history for insurer total losses.
• Run a history report for brands from other states and odometer readings. See odometer rollback check.
• Confirm the engine and trim with the VIN decoder and compare reports on pricing.

An AutoCheck report on an Arkansas car is $7.99 here.