InstaVIN: Your Greatest Ally When Shopping For A Used Car

Buyer Guide

It’s incredibly convenient to sit down, open up your Internet browser and submit a search “used cars for sale”. As soon as you hit “enter” you’ll have a plethora of relevant search results right in front of you.  If you don’t know exactly what type of vehicle you’re looking for, the choices can be overwhelming!

Once you finally make the decision of what car you want to buy, you’ll need to consider more than just the color, the make, the model, and the year.  It may look great in the pictures that are posted online, however, you won’t really know what it looks like and how it drives until you see it with your own eyes.

No matter where you go to buy a used car, you should thoroughly inspect the vehicle before you purchase it.  Failing to do so could put you at risk of purchasing a vehicle with mechanical flaws – which could put you and any passenger is in danger.

There are some individuals choose to buy a used vehicle from a seller that is located in a different city/state… so an inspection isn’t always possible – that is, unless they travel to the actual location to check out the vehicle in person.

Other than getting an inspection from a certified mechanic and test driving the car, what steps can you take to make sure that it will be reliable and worth investing in?

It turns out that one of the most important steps you need to take can be handled in any location, even if you are thousands of miles away from the seller.  Downloading a VIN Check or a vehicle history and title report will save you a lot of time, and maybe even an expensive trip.  By accessing details about a vehicle’s past, you can find out whether it will be a worthwhile purchase.

There are several vehicle history report providers out there – CARFAX® and AutoCheck® to name a couple.  Each company offers similar information at different price points. If you want to spend anywhere from $25.00 to $49.00 per report, either of these companies will work.  However, if you don’t want to spend that much, you can obtain a vehicle history report from a company called instaVIN.  For only $6.99, an instaVIN vehicle history report you will give you instant access to:

  • Over 4 million junk, salvage, and insurance total loss records
  • Active theft data
  • Impound and towing events
  • Any accidents
  • Odometer reading
  • and much more!

instaVIN obtains most of their vehicle history data from the NMVTIS (National Motor Vehicle Title Information System) – which is considered to be the most reliable and updated source when it comes to vehicle incident data.  Companies such as CARFAX® and AutoCheck® do not have access to this system- so their data may not be as updated. Keep this in mind when you decide to download a vehicle history report.

For more information on why you should use instaVIN to your advantage when used car shopping, visit their website today!