Free Autocheck Hack per Lifehacker

[nofear365]

Pretty cool article. Checked it myself and it works.

Per http://lifehacker.com/get-a-free-vehicle-history-report-before-you-buy-a-car-512856477

To check out a used car's history before you buy it, you can order an AutoCheck (http://www.autocheck.com/consumers/gatewayAction.do?siteID=0) or CarFax (http://www.carfax.com/entry.cfx)report for $30 or $40 or use this hidden search technique to get a free report.
Reddit user oinkinstein revealed this tip for running the vehicle history report.


First, get the VIN for the car
Then search for dealer autocheck inurl:vin
Click on the first search result (right now it leads to an autoexact.com site, but this trick works with other sites as well)
Replace the VIN in the URL with your own. Note that if there's any other information after the VIN, such as an id=####, just replace the VIN and keep the other info intact.

VoilÃ*! You'll get the AutoCheck report from Experian with the basic details of the car, along with any reported accidents, title issues, the last reported odometer reading, and the full history of the car. Good to know when you're used car shopping

[Mark D]

Works.

Here's and easier way to do it. click this link

http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t8bd005261&Id=5122742

In the address bar change vin=scedt26t8bd005261 to your VIN.

[Dangermouse]

Can't imagine that this will stay open for long.

[Delorean02378]

Yep, worked for me too. Thanks for sharing.

[NightFlyer]

AWESOME :thumbup:

[Josh]

Nice! I can definitely confirm my angle drive has been broken for 13 years, haha.

[Roman Legion]

Alternatively, you can list a car for sale on ebay and get up to 6 free VIN checks. I found that out when I put my car up for sale. I'm going to try your way to check my motorcycle's VIN, I'll let you know how that turns out.

[Roman Legion]

Mark D's way worked with my motorcycle, apparently all checks out on it, only event in blue was a duplicate title, which I'm not sure is actually a bad thing. Thanks for sharing Mark, your way was way more simple!

[refugeefromcalif]

Works.

Here's and easier way to do it. click this link

http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t8bd005261&Id=5122742

In the address bar change vin=scedt26t8bd005261 to your VIN.

This worked Great for me! Thanks for the link.

What the hell. Here's the link to my car, http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t6bd006599&Id=5122742

George

(Wow! My mileage is now over 4x's More then what was last reported)... :evilgrin:

[DeLorean03]

Boom shakka lakka!

http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t1bd003299&Id=5122742

Last odometer check was 1995 :O ..... it had 37400 miles. It now has 95k :driving1:

[Bitsyncmaster]

Worked on my car. Interesting only shows first owner in 1999. I'm the second owner (don't think so).

[Farrar]

Looks like my car had a broken angle drive at some point. And I'm guessing the "fleet" thing refers to when it was owned by the Charlotte Motor Speedway...

http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t9bd002613&Id=5122742

[LEVY]

Can't imagine that this will stay open for long.

Been around for years, it works until autocheck change login credentials for the owner of that account.

LEVY

[Soundkillr]

Ew! I scored an 80! Yea. :)

[Mark D]

Worked on my car. Interesting only shows first owner in 1999. I'm the second owner (don't think so).

Yeah when I ran my VIN it didn't show any records prior to 2001 when the PO of my car purchased it. I have dug up history dating before that through other sources but have no history from 1981 thru the late 90's, Privacy laws in most states prevent you from getting information from the DMV which might still exist. Computerized records only go back to the early 90's and before that everything was on paper.

All I know about my car is that the PO purchased it from a dealership in 2001 and was completely original with no updates. Prior to that I have no idea. Kind of a bummer really.

[Jeremy Popp]

Boom shakka lakka!

http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t1bd003299&Id=5122742

Last odometer check was 1995 :O ..... it had 37400 miles. It now has 95k :driving1:

So did your car originally come from Ohio? If so, it finally made it's way back home. I like how it lists the Class of our cars as "Ultra Luxury" :hysterical:

[Dangermouse]

I have run a bunch of these lately and it seems that mid-90s is about as early as the records go back. Or at least the ones they computerized. Cars that have been stuck in a barn, or exported prior to that date don't even have a record at all.

It may depend on the individual states also.

[Ryan S.]

http://www.autoexact.com/autocheck.aspx?vin=scedt26t6bd002567&Id=5122742#section-vehicle-glossary

mine is so off. Someone added another digit to mileage or PO drove 100,000 miles in 3 months!!! And I think I am the third owner . I am glad that I didn't have to pay for this.

[Dangermouse]

Been around for years, it works until autocheck change login credentials for the owner of that account.

LEVY

Loophole closed.

Looks like the dealer must provide a listing of all VINs in its inventory. All others are 404'd

[nofear365]

Anyone know of another way to get a free vin check? I found some vin numbers of a few cars I used to own. I would love to see where they ended up.

[Mark D]

That particular dealer closed their loophole, but in general there are still plenty of other sites out there that still work.

This link for example still works. Just copy/paste in your own VIN as before:

http://www.govw.com/AutoCheckReport.php?vin=scedt26t8bd005261&sid=10624AZ

[refugeefromcalif]

Worked for mine just fine. :)

George

[MML]

Nothing for scedt26t6bd005436, but as far as I know the car left the US at the start of the 90s...

[Dangermouse]

Nothing for scedt26t6bd005436, but as far as I know the car left the US at the start of the 90s...

If it left before the computerization of DMV records (mid nineties depending on State) you are not going to find anything.

[MML]

If it left before the computerization of DMV records (mid nineties depending on State) you are not going to find anything.

:frown:

[Mike C.]

When I sold my truck a few months back, I signed up for a carfax account to print out the history for the new buyer, and decided to take a look at the vins for my old cars, including my 1st car, which was an 84 trans am.

Oddly enough, apparently I am still the legal owner of the vehicle.

Back in 95, I had traded it to a Ford dealership for my 94 Ranger Splash. It was non-running because it would over-heat, and the dealership gave me a flat 1k for the car, sight unseen, and would arrange for a tow truck to come get the car. After going through the pain of financing my first car, I picked up my truck a week later.

Guess what was still sitting in my driveway? The trans am.

After 5 days, I called the dealership to find out when they were picking up the car, and the salesman had forgotten all about it and said he'd call me back to arrange a pick up. Still nothing. I started getting paranoid and finally arranged to have the car dropped off at the dealership, because i didn't want them to say I was trying to fudge the deal, because I really liked my truck. So I had it picked up.

Fast forward, the last activity showing on the carfax was when I registered the trans am.

When you log into the FL DMV site to renew tags, it gives a list of all the cars you currently own. Guess what is still listed underneath my DL number... Yep. 1984 pontiac trans am. Gone are the Delorean, chrysler, ranger, ram, focus, formula, and other trans ams.... remaining still is the 84. Im sure it's parted out, but how fun would it be to just get a title copy printed for the 25.00 lost title fee and go get my car back... LMAO. Im sure it's scrap, but its just funny that it's still in my name after all these years.

[Roman Legion]

When I sold my truck a few months back, I signed up for a carfax account to print out the history for the new buyer, and decided to take a look at the vins for my old cars, including my 1st car, which was an 84 trans am.

Oddly enough, apparently I am still the legal owner of the vehicle.

Back in 95, I had traded it to a Ford dealership for my 94 Ranger Splash. It was non-running because it would over-heat, and the dealership gave me a flat 1k for the car, sight unseen, and would arrange for a tow truck to come get the car. After going through the pain of financing my first car, I picked up my truck a week later.

Guess what was still sitting in my driveway? The trans am.

After 5 days, I called the dealership to find out when they were picking up the car, and the salesman had forgotten all about it and said he'd call me back to arrange a pick up. Still nothing. I started getting paranoid and finally arranged to have the car dropped off at the dealership, because i didn't want them to say I was trying to fudge the deal, because I really liked my truck. So I had it picked up.

Fast forward, the last activity showing on the carfax was when I registered the trans am.

When you log into the FL DMV site to renew tags, it gives a list of all the cars you currently own. Guess what is still listed underneath my DL number... Yep. 1984 pontiac trans am. Gone are the Delorean, chrysler, ranger, ram, focus, formula, and other trans ams.... remaining still is the 84. Im sure it's parted out, but how fun would it be to just get a title copy printed for the 25.00 lost title fee and go get my car back... LMAO. Im sure it's scrap, but its just funny that it's still in my name after all these years.

Would be awesome to get it back for a mere $25 in fees..lol

[eagle-co94]

Just checked all of my fleet and found some neat info...like my current car apparently isn't listed as an odometer rollback, simple as an incorrect reading entry. Not that it matters anyways as it's still a flood car.:read:

Like Mike, I sold a car to someone last year and it's apparently still listed in my name. I was sure it was going to be parted out, but now I'm pretty sure it was. Sadly though the VIN for my '70 Malibu didn't come up so I'm sure that car is sitting in my garage right now as Harbor Freight jackstands, engine stand and engine hoist.

[Chris 16409]

Just checked out an MR2 I'm thinking about buying. This little trick worked perfectly.

[rdarlington]

Definitely doesn't work for me. I get a page with a menu at the top and no content where I'd expect to see it.

[Dangermouse]

Just checked out an MR2 I'm thinking about buying. This little trick worked perfectly.

Which one?