How to find out car sales history
Buying a second hand car? Find out why you need to and how to check its sales history before parting with your money.
When you’re in the market for a new car, knowing your sales history is crucial. Some people go to the dealership knowing exactly what they want and have done their research. But others don’t even know where to begin or how to find out if a used car was ever involved in an accident.
In this article, we’ll walk through a few ways you can do some investigative work before you buy so that you can be sure that any used car will pass muster with your mechanic and hopefully last as long as possible!
Understanding the importance of car sales history
Knowing the vehicle’s history is important for several reasons. First, it can save you money. If there are problems with the car that aren’t obvious, these could cost thousands to fix once they’re discovered later on down the road.
Second, knowing a vehicle’s history helps ensure that it wasn’t used in illegal activities or by criminals (like human trafficking). This is especially true if one wants to purchase an older model car from someone who doesn’t live nearby they may not know exactly what was going on while they owned it!
Thirdly and this applies especially if purchasing online if something goes wrong after purchasing the said vehicle then having access to sales records will make things easier when trying to resolve those issues with manufacturers etcetera.
Where to begin: Researching car sales history
If you’re looking to buy a used car, one of the most important things to do is to look up the car by vin and research its history. Not only will this help ensure that it’s safe for you and your family, but it can also help save money on repairs in the future. Many sites on the internet offer free vehicle reports from a variety of sources, including dealerships and private sellers.
These sites provide information such as whether or not there were accidents involving this vehicle (and if so how severe) if the odometer has been rolled back, when major repairs were last performed on the car, and more!
Unveiling the secrets: Decoding VIN numbers
Did you know that every car has a VIN? The VIN, or vehicle identification number, is 17 characters long and is usually located on the driver’s side door jamb or under the hood. The first five characters represent who manufactured your car – Ford, Toyota, Honda, and so on – and the next two digits represent its model (for example F-150 or Corolla). The remaining 11 characters represent both sequential serial numbers for each manufacturer as well as unique identifiers specific to each car model.
Most people don’t understand how to read these codes because they’ve never been taught how to decode them correctly. But deciphering these codes is not difficult if you know what they mean and you can learn more about the car by entering the code into a Vin numbers decoder.
Spotting red flags: Signs of a shady sales history
When you’re looking for a car with a good sales history, it’s important to know what red flags to look out for. A salvage title can mean that the vehicle was damaged beyond repair and then rebuilt. If the rebuilt title is not current (i.e., if it expired more than three years ago), this could indicate that the vehicle has been involved in several accidents or other serious problems since its last rebuild.
A rebuilt title should also be considered suspicious if it were issued after less than 2 years of ownership by the original owner, as this may indicate that the previous owner didn’t pay off their loan before selling or trading in their car which isn’t exactly something we’d want our finances tied up with!
Check its sales history before buying a car
Now that you know how to research a car sales history, it’s time to get started! As we’ve discussed, there are many different ways to do this. You can start by looking up the vehicle’s VIN and doing some research on that information.
If this doesn’t yield any results or raise red flags about its history, try searching for other sources such as websites or forums where people discuss their experiences with similar cars (or even dealerships). In short: don’t be afraid of getting your hands dirty!
