[PatrickMead#13]

Looking at buying a car today and was told by the local sherrifs deputy that they are not allowed to do it. Anyone have a hookup that might be able to help. Wanting to buy today if I can get it checked. Thank you for any assistance.

[c47]

try this link.
https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck
we use it to check bike motors we buy for micro sprint racing.

[Dick Monahan]

I used this one once and was happy with the result. There's a fee, but I forget how much.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/vin-check.html

[Jerry Shaw]

Right now, I'm driving the second vehicle in a row that I used autotrader.com and carfax to help me along in the process. Find a vehicle make and model that you like and use autotrader and cars.com to see who else has that exact same car for sale. And there will be more than you might think, if you put a 50 or 100 mile radius on your search. Some of the good ones will have a link to a free carfax report on that car. And while it won't tell you everything, it can let you know about major events for that vehicle, how many owners and the servicing patterns of each of the owners. My last car (03 Buick Regal) and my current car (08 Mercury Sable Premeir) were both two owner cars that had almost all of their scheduled and unscheduled service done at the same dealership. Either carfax or the Experian product contain useful information that's worth spending a little money on, to help you with a purchase as large as buying a car.

I was able to get 276,000 miles on the Buick before I traded it in (it was resold and is still running) and so far, so good with my Mercury.

Jerry

Jerry