How It Works

From a 17-digit number to a report you can hand to your mechanic — here is exactly what happens, and what you need before you start.

Step 1 — Find the VIN

The Vehicle Identification Number is a unique 17-character code stamped on every road vehicle built since 1981. You will find it in at least one of these places:

• On a small plate at the base of the windshield, driver's side — visible from outside the car.
• On the sticker inside the driver's door jamb, where the door latches.
• On the vehicle's title, registration document or insurance card.
• In the online listing — most reputable sellers publish it, and a seller who refuses to share the VIN has told you something already.

A VIN never contains the letters I, O or Q. They were left out precisely because they are easy to confuse with 1 and 0. If you think you see one, it is a digit.

Step 2 — Choose your package

Match the depth of the check to what the vehicle is costing you.

See the full comparison if you are undecided.

Step 3 — Fill in the order form

We ask for three things: your name, the email address the report should go to, and the 17-digit VIN. The form validates the VIN format as you type and will not let you submit a code of the wrong length or with an impossible character. You can also add a phone number and a note — for example, if you want us to pay particular attention to import records.

Check the VIN twice before you submit. Reports are generated for the exact code you give us, so one wrong character returns a report for a different vehicle.

Step 4 — Pay securely

Checkout is encrypted and handled by our payment provider. Full card details never reach us. There is no account to create, nothing to cancel, and nothing that renews.

Step 5 — Receive your report

Orders are processed around the clock. Your report arrives by email as a PDF: a plain-English summary on page one, then the dated record detail. Silver orders are processed on priority; Gold orders go to the front of the queue and include a written review of the findings.

If your report has not arrived when you expected it, check your spam folder first, then email us with your order number and we will resend it.

Step 6 — Use it

Forward the PDF to your mechanic before the inspection so they know where to look. Take it to the negotiation — documented, dated records move a price in a way that hearsay never does. And if the report turns up a salvage brand or an odometer rollback on a car being sold as clean, you have just saved yourself far more than the report cost.

What if no records come back?

If our sources return no usable record for the VIN you submitted, we refund your order in full. Note that this is different from a report that comes back clean — a clean history is a real and useful result, and it is not a failed search.