Question 1

What does a vehicle history report show?

Accepted Answer

Records tied to the 17-character VIN: the current state of title and title history, title brands such as salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk and lemon, odometer readings recorded at title transfers, insurer total-loss and salvage records, theft records and, on the premium reports, reported accidents, dealer service visits, auction sales, ownership count and prior use as a rental, fleet, taxi or police vehicle. What it shows depends on which provider you buy from and which sources report to it.

Question 2

What does a vehicle history report not show?

Accepted Answer

The car's condition today. No report knows about a cash repair, an accident that was never claimed or reported, hidden rust, a bent frame that was straightened, or how well a rebuild was done. Carfax says in its own disclaimer that it only has the history reported to it, and NMVTIS says a clean report means nothing was reported, not that nothing happened. A pre-purchase inspection by a mechanic covers the half a report cannot.

Question 3

Is a vehicle history report accurate?

Accepted Answer

Accurate to what was reported. Title brands, odometer readings at titling and total-loss records come from state agencies and insurers that are required by federal law to report to NMVTIS, so those are reliable when present. Accident and service records depend on whether a shop, insurer or auction sent the data. Two providers can disagree on the same car because they license different feeds.

Question 4

Can two reports on the same car say different things?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is normal. Every provider has the NMVTIS core if it is approved to sell it, but the accident, service and auction layers are proprietary: the strength of Carfax is its dealer service feeds, AutoCheck (Experian) leans on auction announcements, and the budget providers add auction photos and sales listings. For an expensive car where the history matters, some buyers run two.

Question 5

Which free checks are worth running before paying for a report?

Accepted Answer

Two official ones. NHTSA shows unrepaired safety recalls for the VIN. The NICB VINCheck shows whether a participating insurer has reported the car stolen and not recovered, or declared it a salvage or flood total loss, with a limit of 5 lookups per 24 hours (checked September 15, 2026). Add a free VIN decode to confirm the listing matches the car. None of these is a title history.

Question 6

What is NMVTIS?

Accepted Answer

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, a federal database run under the US Department of Justice. State motor vehicle titling agencies, insurance carriers, auto recyclers and junk and salvage yards are required by federal law to report to it, and all fifty states participated in fiscal 2023. It exists to stop stolen cars being retitled, to stop title brands being washed away by moving a car between states, and to keep unsafe vehicles off the road.

Question 7

What is in an NMVTIS vehicle history report?

Accepted Answer

Five things, deliberately: the current state of title and the last title date; the brand history applied by any state; the odometer reading reported when the car was titled; total-loss history; and salvage history. The DOJ says an NMVTIS report is intentionally shorter than a private report and that repair histories and recall information are not intended to be in it. A "clean" NMVTIS report, in the DOJ's words, is a good thing.

Question 8

Who can sell me an NMVTIS report?

Accepted Answer

Only an approved NMVTIS data provider. On September 15, 2026 the Department of Justice list of providers approved for the public was: Bumper.com, Carsforsale.com, Carvertical.com, Checkthatvin.com, Clearvin.com, EpicVin.com, GoodCar.com, Titlecheck.us, Vinaudit.com, Vindata.com, VinReport, Vinsmart.com. Carfax (California, commercial customers only), Experian (AutoCheck), OneAIB, add123, Vitu and Yassi are listed for commercial customers only, and the DOJ states plainly that consumers cannot receive NMVTIS reports from Carfax, DMVDesk or Experian.

Question 9

Does a Carfax or AutoCheck report include NMVTIS data?

Accepted Answer

Not as a consumer NMVTIS report. Both show title brands and odometer readings from their own state and industry sources, which overlap heavily with what NMVTIS holds, but neither is approved to sell the federal record to the public. If you want the NMVTIS record itself, buy it from an approved consumer provider; it is the cheapest report on the market.

Question 10

What is title washing, and does NMVTIS stop it?

Accepted Answer

Title washing is moving a branded car to a state that does not carry the brand forward, or does not brand that kind of damage, so the new paper title comes out clean. NMVTIS is designed to stop it: participating states query the system before issuing a title, and the brand history from every state stays attached to the VIN. That is why the report is worth buying even when the title in the seller's hand looks clean.

Question 11

What is a cloned vehicle?

Accepted Answer

A stolen car wearing a legitimate VIN plate copied from another car of the same make, model and year, so it appears to have a valid VIN. The DOJ glossary defines it exactly that way. The defense is the physical check: the VIN on the dashboard, the door-jamb sticker and the title must all match, and the decoded specification must match the car in front of you.

Question 12

What is a title brand?

Accepted Answer

In the DOJ's definition, a designation placed on a vehicle ownership document that identifies an event affecting the value or safety of the vehicle, such as junk, salvage or flood. States apply brands; NMVTIS maps each state's brands to a common set and keeps the history from every state. A brand does not come off when the car is repaired or moves state.

Question 13

What is a salvage title?

Accepted Answer

The brand a state applies after an insurer declares the car a total loss, usually because the repair cost exceeded the state's threshold as a share of the car's value; the threshold varies by state. A car with an active salvage brand generally cannot be registered or driven for normal road use until it has been repaired and passed a state inspection, at which point it becomes rebuilt.

Question 14

What is a rebuilt title?

Accepted Answer

A salvage car that has been repaired and passed a state inspection, so it can be titled, registered and insured again. Some states call it reconstructed. The inspection confirms the car is roadworthy and the parts are not stolen; it does not certify the quality of the repair. The brand is permanent, most lenders will not finance a rebuilt title, and many insurers limit coverage.

Question 15

What is a flood title, and why is it treated as worse?

Accepted Answer

A brand applied when the car was damaged by submersion or standing water. Flood cars can look perfect and fail months later, because water sits in wiring harnesses and control modules, including airbag sensors, and corrodes them. After Hurricane Katrina the DOJ documented flooded cars being trucked to states that do not brand flood damage, dried out and sold; that episode is part of why NMVTIS exists.

Question 16

What is a lemon law buyback brand?

Accepted Answer

A brand showing the manufacturer repurchased the car under a state lemon law after repeated failures to fix a defect. The defect may or may not have been resolved before resale. It is one of the brands Carfax lists as "flood or lemon title" and one of the items eBay says an AutoCheck report will show.

Question 17

What is a junk title?

Accepted Answer

A brand meaning the car was certified as fit only for parts or scrap. Junk and salvage yards must report these cars to NMVTIS if they handle five or more a year. A junk-branded VIN should not return to the road; if one is offered to you as a running car, that is the whole story.

Question 18

What does "clean title" actually mean?

Accepted Answer

Only that the current title document carries no brand. It does not mean the car has never been in an accident, never been a total loss in a state that did not brand it, or never had its odometer tampered with. A clean title is where the check starts, not where it ends; the brand history across every state is what the NMVTIS report adds.

Question 19

How much does a Carfax report cost?

Accepted Answer

$49.99 for one report, $69.99 for two ($34.99 each) or $119.99 for four ($30.00 each), as shown on Carfax's own purchase page on September 15, 2026. Every Carfax used-car listing includes a free report, dealers often link one, and a private seller may already have one.

Question 20

How much does an AutoCheck report cost?

Accepted Answer

$29.99 for a single report with 21 days of data updates, or $59.99 for five reports over 21 days, both one-time with no recurring charge, from AutoCheck's own product feed on September 15, 2026. Many eBay Motors listings include an AutoCheck report free in the Vehicle History Report tab.

Question 21

How much does Bumper cost?

Accepted Answer

$27.99 a month for up to 50 reports, $54.58 for three months, or a 7-day trial at $1.00 ($5.00 with PDF download) that then bills $27.99 a month until cancelled. A single one-time report is $31.99. All read from Bumper's checkout on September 15, 2026. Bumper is NMVTIS-approved.

Question 22

How much does EpicVIN cost?

Accepted Answer

$24.99 for one report, $29.99 for four or $86.34 for sixteen, one-time; or a 3-day trial at $1 (up to 5 reports a day) that then bills $49.99 a month plus tax until cancelled. From EpicVIN's US price page on September 15, 2026. EpicVIN is NMVTIS-approved.

Question 23

How much do VinAudit and ClearVin cost?

Accepted Answer

VinAudit: $9.99 for one, $19.99 for five, $29.99 for ten. ClearVin: $17.99 for one, $23.98 for two, $28.99 for five. Both are on the DOJ list of approved NMVTIS providers, both were read from the provider's own site on September 15, 2026, and neither includes dealer maintenance records.

Question 24

What is the cheapest vehicle history report?

Accepted Answer

Free for part of it (NHTSA recalls, NICB theft and total-loss). Among paid reports we could verify on the provider's own site, VinAudit at $9.99 is the cheapest single NMVTIS-approved report and EpicVIN's four for $29.99 is the cheapest per car. The $1 offers from Bumper and EpicVIN are trials that convert to $27.99 and $49.99 a month. The full comparison, with the honest pick for each buyer, is on our best vehicle history report page.

Question 25

Is CarWorthIt a vehicle history report?

Accepted Answer

No. CarWorthIt is not an NMVTIS provider and holds no title, brand, accident, theft, odometer or lien records. It answers a different question: what the car is worth. The free report decodes the VIN using NHTSA data and shows the specification, open recalls, crash-test ratings and running costs; the paid reports add a local-market valuation and the original factory build record. For the history, use an approved NMVTIS provider, Carfax or AutoCheck, then use CarWorthIt for the price.

Question 26

What does the $2.99 Valuation contain?

Accepted Answer

What that exact VIN is worth at its real mileage in your ZIP code, priced against comparable cars actually listed for sale near you: the local average and the low-to-high range, plus a verdict on whether the seller's asking price is fair, cheap or too much. It includes everything in the free report. It does not include any history data.

Question 27

What does the $6.99 Worth It report contain?

Accepted Answer

Everything in the Valuation, plus the original factory build record for that VIN: what it cost new (MSRP), the dealer invoice price when new, the factory-fitted options, the full standard equipment list, the original factory warranty terms, and total depreciation since new. This is the tier that also runs the VIN-level recall check. It is not a vehicle history report.

Question 28

What does the $9.99 Negotiation Bundle contain?

Accepted Answer

Everything in both other reports, plus your opening offer, a target price and a walk-away price for the car in front of you, each derived from what comparable cars are listed at near you, your case for paying less with every claim sourced, what the seller is likely to argue back, the order to have the conversation in, and the checks to make before any money moves. The tiers stack: upgrading from the Valuation to the bundle costs $7.00, not $9.99 again.

Question 29

Is there a subscription, and what is the refund policy?

Accepted Answer

No subscription: you pay once for one report, there is no account and nothing to cancel. Refunds: if we cannot find comparable cars near you, we tell you plainly and refund you, with no conditions; if a report fails to generate or is materially defective, we fix it or refund it. Once a report has been produced and shown to you we have paid for the underlying data, so we do not refund it because you did not like what it said about the car. Email support@carworthit.com.

Question 30

How fast is the report, and do I get a PDF?

Accepted Answer

The free report appears in seconds; a paid report is shown in your browser as soon as Stripe confirms the payment, and the link is emailed to you from reports@carworthit.com so you can open it later on another device. The report is a web page that stays current at that link rather than a PDF attachment; use your browser's print function if you want a paper or PDF copy.

Vehicle history report FAQ

What a vehicle history report shows