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Louisiana license plate lookup

Enter a Louisiana plate to find the car and its VIN. In a state where water damage has its own title brand, the VIN is your way into the car’s history.

By Tayron Bram

Updated October 2026 · 4 min read

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Plate search opens soon. Until then, enter the VIN: it’s on the dashboard by the windshield and on the driver’s door frame.

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Letters and numbers, no I, O or Q. It decodes as soon as all 17 are in.

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On this page
  1. What a Louisiana plate lookup shows
  2. Who issues plates and titles in Louisiana
  3. Getting a Louisiana title history
  4. Louisiana title brands to watch for
  5. Before you buy a car with Louisiana plates

What a Louisiana plate lookup shows

Our free tool finds the vehicle on a Louisiana 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 the VIN. Plate results come from a commercial vehicle-data provider.

The owner’s name and address aren’t part of it. The federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721) protects personal information in motor vehicle records, and the state may release it only for the permissible uses in that law.

Who issues plates and titles in Louisiana

Titles, registrations and plates come from the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), part of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Its online services, including renewals and plate cancellations, run through Express Lane.

When a private seller files the online Notice of Vehicle Transfer, the OMV says regular automobile plates should be destroyed by the seller, or surrendered at a local motor vehicle office or mailed to the OMV in Baton Rouge. Truck and trailer plates may stay with the vehicle and pass to the new owner, and special prestige plates may be kept by the seller. If you cancel a plate online, it must still come off the car and be destroyed, and the OMV asks you to cancel the plate before you cancel the insurance.

Getting a Louisiana title history

Under OMV Policy 64.01, a title history is the record of ownership transfers on a vehicle, for one transfer or back to its first Louisiana title. You apply on the Title History Request (DPSMV1958) and mail it with a money order to the OMV’s Document Management Unit in Baton Rouge. The policy lists $10 per vehicle and $2 per page for certified records; state and law enforcement agencies pay nothing.

The applicant must be the vehicle’s owner on record. Personal information isn’t released to any private citizen other than the current owner, unless the owner consents in writing or the request falls within the DPPA’s permissible uses.

Louisiana title brands to watch for

The OMV keeps permanent brands on a vehicle record. The ones a buyer meets most:

  • Salvage: the car is in wrecked or salvaged condition and can’t be registered until it is reconstructed.
  • Reconstructed: a salvage car rebuilt for road use. The word is printed on the title and stays on every later record.
  • Water damaged: under La. R.S. 32:707, a car whose power train, computer or electrical system took water damage, without meeting the salvage criteria, gets a branded title. The brand stays on later records.
  • Hail damage: cosmetic hail damage equal to 75% or more.
  • Certificate of destruction: issued once the car was declared a total loss. The OMV can’t process any further transaction on that record.

A history report adds the brands and total losses recorded in other states. Read our flood damage check and salvage title check before you trust a clean title.

0 of 17

Letters and numbers, no I, O or Q. It’s on the dashboard by the windshield, on the driver’s door frame, and on the title.

Before you buy a car with Louisiana plates

  • Run the plate before the seller takes it off, then match the VIN to the dashboard, the driver’s door label and the title.
  • Look on the face of the title for Reconstructed, Water Damaged or Hail Damage.
  • Check under carpets and in the trunk for silt or rust, and smell for mildew.
  • Run a history report for brands, insurer total losses and odometer readings from every state. See odometer rollback check.
  • Decode the VIN with our VIN decoder, and compare report options on pricing.

A CARFAX report is $8.99 with us and an AutoCheck report $7.99.

Questions

Can I find the owner of a Louisiana plate?

No. Our lookup shows the vehicle and VIN. OMV policy releases personal information only to the current owner, with the owner’s written consent, or for uses the DPPA permits.

What happens to my plate when I sell a car in Louisiana?

For a regular automobile plate, the OMV says to destroy it after filing the Notice of Vehicle Transfer, or surrender it at a motor vehicle office or by mail. Truck and trailer plates may stay with the vehicle.

How much is a Louisiana title history?

OMV Policy 64.01 lists $10 per vehicle, plus $2 per page for certified records, requested on form DPSMV1958.

What does a reconstructed title mean in Louisiana?

The car was salvage and has been rebuilt for road use. The word Reconstructed is printed on the title and stays on every later record.

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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.

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