VINCheck® Lookup | National Insurance Crime Bureau (2024)

FAQs

Is there a truly free VIN check? ›

About VINCheck

NICB's VINCheck is a free lookup service provided to the public to assist in determining if a vehicle may have a record of an insurance theft claim, and has not been recovered, or has ever been reported as a salvage vehicle by participating NICB member insurance companies.

NICB's VINCheck is a free service provided to the public to assist in determining if a vehicle has been reported as stolen, but not recovered, or has been reported as a salvage vehicle by cooperating NICB member insurance companies. To perform a search, a vehicle identification number (VIN) is required.

Copy your license plate and vehicle information (VIN) numbers on a card and keep them with you. If your vehicle is stolen, the police will need this information to take a report; and, If your vehicle is stolen, report it to the police immediately.

On NHTSA.gov, you can query a particular vehicle's VIN to identify specific information encoded in the number. NHTSA's VIN decoder is publicly accessible at: https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/.

Research.com provides the most comprehensive free VIN report, offering extensive details about the vehicle's inspection and performance records, safety ratings, warranty, and more. It will also tell you when and where the vehicle has been listed for sale, as well as its sale price.

With a 110-year heritage, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is the nation's premier not-for-profit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting insurance fraud and crime.

You know, anybody can walk past your car and copy down the VIN number because it's right there in the windshield. Once they've copied your VIN number, they can apply for duplicate papers, and those papers can be used on another car that has been stolen or may have been reconstructed.

The NICB has not independently verified the information in the database and cannot, therefore, vouch for the accuracy of this information. There are many other vehicles that have been reported as stolen which are not included in this database.

Get the Vehicle's History

Visit the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) website, vehiclehistory.gov, to get a vehicle history report with title, insurance loss, and salvage information.

What information can someone get from a VIN number? ›

A VIN is crucial for car owners, but it can be a liability if it ends up in the wrong hands. This identifier tells a criminal what plant assembled the car, the manufacturer's security code, the serial number and more.

The VIN serves as the car's fingerprint, as no two vehicles in operation have the same VIN. A VIN is composed of 17 characters (digits and capital letters) that act as a unique identifier for the vehicle. A VIN displays the car's unique features, specifications and manufacturer.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has a free VINcheck service to compare the car's VIN number against a database of known stolen vehicles. You can check up to five vehicles per day from a single IP address on the NICB website, so there is no reason not to run a quick search before buying a vehicle.

CarVertical vs.

Both Carfax and CarVertical offer the same basic service, but present information differently. Carfax lists every entry chronologically, regardless of whether it details a service or a crash, while CarVertical splits information by section before compiling a car's history in a timeline.

For public companies, you can look up the EIN on the SEC's website. Search the company's name, and pull up the most recent 10-Q or 10K. All non-profit EINs are public information, and you can find them in the IRS database. If none of these suggestions yield results, you likely won't be able to find the number for free.

A free CARFAX report is also available through many dealer websites. As you browse a dealer's used car inventory, look for links to free CARFAX Reports. If a link is unavailable, contact the dealer and ask them for the CARFAX Report. Free CARFAX Reports are available at many car dealerships in your area.

VinCheck.info is a free alternative that provides information about a vehicle's history, including title details and recalls.

Visit the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) website, vehiclehistory.gov, to get a vehicle history report with title, insurance loss, and salvage information.