If you are thinking of buying a car it is important to check it out and make sure the vehicle is not stolen. It is usually best to research a vehicle before purchasing it, if possible, by obtaining its vehicle identification number (VIN). For cars and light trucks built after 1981 the motor vehicle's VIN can normally be found on dashboards and the driver's side door jamb stickers. Once you have this you can use online research and information tools to find out about the car's history.

With the many ways in which to buy a car, dealerships, used car lots, private parties, online auctions (i.e. Ebay), online sites such as AutoTrader, etc, you do indeed need to be careful and check out a car fully before purchasing it. By doing a car history search and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) check you should be able to find out who has owned the car, make sure it does not have a branded title and hopefully find out the car is not stolen.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated exclusively to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through information analysis, investigations, training and public awareness. The NICB partners with insurers and law enforcement agencies to facilitate the identification, detection and prosecution of insurance criminals.

The NICB has a service called the VIN Check. This service is 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 previously declared total loss vehicle by cooperating NICB members. To perform a search a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is required. A maximum of 5 VIN Check searches can be conducted within a 24 hour period.

Many motorists have found online sites that offer vehicle history reports for a small fee helpful when researching a car. These types of reports can be ordered from a number of Internet companies. The first company to offer this service was CarFax that started this service by fax but now is mostly used over the Internet. If you order a report from Carfax, you receive a vehicle history report that is broken into nine categories: report summary, vehicle specifications, accident check, mileage accuracy check, lemon check, ownership check, recall check, and warranty check and vehicle history details.

With CarFax you can get a single report or if you are shopping for a used car you can buy an unlimited amount of reports for 30 days. Each vehicle report includes the 9 items listed above as well as a free safety and reliability report which includes crash test results, safety recalls, reliability ratings as well as warranty information on the automobile in question.

There is also the Consumer Guide site which gives you vehicle history information and much more. With the Consumer Guide's complete vehicle search you can receive information on an auto's history safety ratings, common trouble spots, average repair costs, accident, repair, and odometer history. These reports can uncover hidden accident damage, odometer history and false readings, car theft reports, flood damage, lemon history, safety ratings and recall information. With this service you can get a single vehicle history or unlimited (30 days in which you can pull reports) that comes with title guard.

Other Internet vehicle history sites, such as Autocheck, give similar reports so you will need to check out which site you believe will give you the best information and then order the history of the car that you would like to purchase.

If you do not want to pay to run a vehicle history report than another option might be to call law enforcement or your local Department of Motor Vehicles with the VIN information and see if they can make certain this vehicle you want to buy has not been reported as stolen and give you other advice on how to check out the car before purchasing it.