12 Reasons To Do A Car VIN Check Before You Buy That Car

One of the most important checks you should carry out when buying your tokunbo or some Nigerian used cars is a VIN check. The VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a 17 character alpha-numeric code that is unique for each vehicle.. and it can be used to check the entire history record that has been reported on each car.

Some of the information you can get through VIN checks are:

1. To check if the car has been involved in an accident
2. To check nature and extent of any accident that may have occured
3. To check if it is a flooded car
4. To ascertain the last reported mileage and determine if the odometer has been rolled back
5. To know if the car has been recalled and the type of recall 
6. It shows the number of owners. I am sure you won't want to buy a 2010 car that has been used by 10 people.
7. It would be nice to know if the airbags of the car you are buying ever deployed especially if the deployed just before exporting it to Nigeria. 
8. The VIN tells the type of title document the car had before export. If it had a clean title, salvage title, rebuilt title, parts only title (dismantled title), non-repairable title etc. 
9. Are you buying a car that was stolen before export! The VIN report can help you clarify.
10. It tells the location the car was used. Whether USA, Canada, European countries etc.. as well as the state or province. 
11. It tells you the year of purchase and if it was used as a personal or business vehicle.
12. It gives the service history of the car e.g oil change, tyre replacement, brake check etc..

Note: The importance of VIN checks cannot be overemphasized but to not rely solely on it as some VINs may have been altered and some records may have been omitted or not reported.