Illinois license plate lookup

What an Illinois plate lookup shows

Our free tool finds the vehicle registered to an Illinois plate, gives you its VIN and decodes it: year, make, model, engine and any open safety recalls. You can then order a history report on that VIN. Plate results come from a commercial vehicle-data provider.

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

Who issues plates and titles in Illinois

Titles and registrations come from the Illinois Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department. The office is clear that plates belong to the registered owner, not the vehicle. A seller removes them before handing the car over and can transfer them to another vehicle they own; they can’t pass them to the buyer. Driving with someone else’s plates is illegal.

In a private sale, the buyer has 20 days to get the title put in their name. A Temporary Registration Permit (TRP) can cover the car while the application is processed. It is issued by Secretary of State facilities, licensed dealers, remittance agents and currency exchanges, and is displayed where the rear plate goes.

Getting an Illinois title or registration record

Record searches go to the Secretary of State’s Record Inquiry Section on the Information Request Form (VSD 375). You can ask for a title search or a registration search, plain or certified, and the form has a DPPA section where you state your permissible use. The form can’t be used to get a duplicate title; that takes an Application for Vehicle Transaction(s) (VSD 190).

Illinois title brands and documents

A wrecked car that can be repaired moves on a salvage certificate, not a title. It gets a title again only after the owner applies for a rebuilt vehicle and the car passes an inspection by the Secretary of State Department of Police. The paperwork for that inspection lists every used essential part by the VIN of the car it came from.

Illinois also screens cars last titled in a declared flood area for up to 12 months after the disaster. A car listed as flooded gets a salvage certificate branded flood. The full rules, and their limits, are in our Illinois VIN check guide and the flood damage check.

Checks before buying a car with Illinois plates

• Run the plate while it’s on the car, then match the VIN to the dashboard, the driver’s door label and the title.
• Expect the seller to take the plates off. Plan for a TRP or your own transferred plates to drive home.
• If the seller hands you a salvage certificate rather than a title, the car can’t be registered until it passes the rebuilt inspection.
• Run a history report for brands from other states, insurer total losses and mileage. See salvage title check and odometer rollback check.
• Confirm engine and trim with the VIN decoder, and compare report options on pricing.

With us, a CARFAX report is $8.99 and an AutoCheck report is $7.99.