It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to research a VIN (vehicle identification number) before buying a car. The VIN is to a car what a birth certificate or Social Security Number is to a person. It is 100% unique and effectively, it is the thing that identifies a specific vehicle. And while you can find a car value by VIN number, that is really just a secondary purpose.
Why You Need to Perform a VIN Check:
Whenever you want to buy a used car, you should conduct a VIN check. This will provide you with lots of important information about the vehicle that you are planning to buy. It will indicate its make and model, year of manufacturing, and body type. It will demonstrate how many previous owners the vehicle has had, whether it was ever stolen and/or involved in an accident, whether it was operated as a taxi or rental vehicle, and whether it has been listed as a lemon car.
This is also how you can find the car value by VIN number. While it is important to use the VIN to check whether the car hasn’t been stolen or altered, it will also tell you a lot about the vehicle’s value. For instance, the Kelley Blue Book may give you a value for a vehicle of that particular make, model, and year, but it does not consider the drop in value it has as a result of it having operated as a taxi. That is how you can get the car value by VIN number, and it is hugely important.
How to Find a VIN Number:
You will be happy to know that it is easy to find a car’s VIN number. Yet, as easy as it is to find, it is practically impossible to take it off. The VIN number is found on the side dash on the driver’s side at the front of your car. It is also found in the door post on the driver’s side. Those are not elements of a vehicle that can be replaced, unlike things such as registration number or exterior and interior. The result is that you will always be able to identify the car and make sure that it is what the seller says it is. The VIN number may also be listed on registration cards, vehicle titles, and insurance policies. Thus, you can cross-reference using those databases.
Whether you want to buy or sell a car, you may want to complete a VIN search. It gives you all the information you could possibly need about a certain vehicle. As a seller, having that information on hand will save prospective buyers a great deal of time, making it more likely for them to decide on the deal there and then. It can help you to confirm the value of a vehicle, by demonstrating that it has not been in any situations that could have resulted in a decline in value. Essentially, you may be able to prove that the Kelley Blue Book is right.
