New Hampshire license plate lookup

What you get from a New Hampshire plate

We turn the plate into a VIN and decode it: year, make, model, engine and open safety recalls. The plate match comes from a commercial vehicle-data provider. If the car looks right, you can order a history report on that VIN.

The owner’s name and address stay out of it. They are personal information under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721), and New Hampshire keeps personal information in its motor vehicle records confidential under RSA 260:14.

Who issues plates and titles in New Hampshire

Plates and titles come from the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles, part of the Department of Safety, but you start at your town or city clerk. Registration is a two-part process: the town or city fee first, then the state part, which many clerks can also complete as municipal agents (vehicle registrations). Title applications can be prepared only by town and city clerks, New Hampshire licensed dealers and lienholders, and the title arrives by mail within 40 to 50 days (apply for a title).

Plates follow the owner’s registration: you can move a registration and its plates from one of your vehicles to another through your clerk, and once you do, the old vehicle is no longer registered. A New Hampshire dealer gives you either a 20-day temporary plate, which shows the car passed inspection, or an “unsafe vehicle form” listing why it won’t pass (tips for buying used).

Cars of model year 1999 or older aren’t titled, except heavy trucks and truck tractors over 18,000 pounds and owners who ask. You buy one with a bill of sale plus proof of the VIN, such as an old title, a registration or a VIN verification form (exempt vehicles).

Getting a New Hampshire motor vehicle record

The DMV releases personal information only to permissible users, such as law enforcement, insurers, government agencies or the person the record is about, and screens every requester. The request form is the Motor Vehicle Records Request (DSMV 505). On its records page, the DMV explains that when the person named in a request hasn’t had their signature notarized, you must complete the form’s “Intended Use of Information” step (records and DSMV 505). Ask the DMV what a vehicle record costs before you send it.

Salvage, Rebuilt Vehicle and Recovered Theft titles

When an insurer declares a titled vehicle a total loss, it applies for a title branded Salvage. That car can’t be registered or titled again until it is rebuilt and passes a salvage inspection, by appointment through the Title Bureau. The inspector verifies the VIN and checks that the damage in the adjuster’s report was repaired. A salvage decal is then fixed to the car, and every later title reads Rebuilt Vehicle. A stolen car recovered intact gets a title marked Recovered Theft (salvage and rebuilt vehicles).

Because cars of model year 1999 or older have no New Hampshire title, there is no state title on which a salvage brand could appear. On those cars, a history report built from records in every state is how you look for an old total loss.

Checks before buying a car with New Hampshire plates

• Compare the VIN from the plate lookup with the dashboard, the door label and the title or bill of sale. Our guide to what a VIN is shows where to find each one.
• On a newer car, read the title for Salvage, Rebuilt Vehicle or Recovered Theft, and look for the salvage decal.
• On a title-exempt older car, get a bill of sale with the full VIN and run a history report before paying.
• Have a mechanic you choose look at the car; the DMV itself recommends it, including in private sales.
• Check total losses and the mileage record with a history report. See salvage title check and odometer rollback check.

A CARFAX report on a New Hampshire VIN is $8.99 with us. Other reports are on pricing.