6 Reasons to Run a Vehicle History Report Before Buying a Used Car

Most people are not aware of the word vehicle history, especially the ones who are buying a vehicle for the very first time in their life. They don’t know what will be the consequences of getting an illegal or troubling car. Furthermore, there is also a mentality that checking the vehicle history is not that important. Therefore, it is essential to let people know that it is concerned with your safety and reputation. You could end up getting involved in a mess if the vehicle is a disaster in itself. You will not only lose your money but will also have to make police visits.

EpicVin protects you against frauds and getting an unsafe vehicle. Go to their website and check out the vehicle history that you are planning to buy. So if the vehicle has ever been used in any criminal activities, it will be in their database. Thus, you will know whether it is safe to buy the vehicle or not.

So here are some of the reasons to run a vehicle history report and how it will benefit you.

Source: CarGurus

1) Prevents your involvement in the Blame game

Even if the vehicle is not illegal or has been used in illicit activities, several other issues exist. For example, there might be some problems with the engine or the doors. So if you fail to check every part of the vehicle before buying, the seller won’t take responsibility for it. He will blame it on you and you will do the same. So the blame game will start and you will suffer from losses.

Of course, the seller is looking for his profit. So why would he tell you about the faults beforehand? It will only decrease the market value of the vehicle. And not everyone is good enough to show complete sincerity towards the buyers. So it is ultimately your responsibility to check everything related to the vehicle before paying the money. The seller makes the agreement that you have checked everything about the vehicle. Furthermore, the contract will also state that you are willing to pay the mentioned price. So if after signing the contract, you claim that something was wrong with it before purchasing, no one can help you.

Source: YouTube

2) As-Is Agreements

The agreement that you sign while purchasing the vehicle clearly states that it has no warranty. Furthermore, used cars and bikes never come along with a warranty. Even if you go to the police or file the case, you would never get a refund. Furthermore, some of the cars and bikes have previously met an accident. So if you later find out that the car was in an accident, you won’t get a refund even then. So it is purely your responsibility to read the agreement before signing it. Moreover, you have to get a history report from a reliable source to know if anything is wrong.

3) Odometer Rollback

To increase the price of the car, some of the sellers roll back the odometer. Mileage data of every vehicle is recorded and thus, if the odometer has tampered with, you will know it from the report. According to federal law, it is illegal to tamper with the odometer. So if the seller has done so, he will be obliged to answer the law. Thus, you will be safe from getting scammed.

Digitalization has brought a lot of ease to the world, it has made it easy for cheaters to use different tactics. Thus, such people digitize the mileage to their desired value and scam people. So if you want to prevent such frauds, you have to run the history report.

Source: WFLA

4) Know about previous accidents

History reports of cars tell you about the previous accidents. The report contains everything related to the car. Even if the airbags have been deployed, even this will be mentioned in the report. So if you learn about the car getting involved in the accident, you can ask for a lowering price. Thus, through careful investigation, you can actually get the vehicle in a significantly lower price than the ones offered before.

5) Multiple owner details

If the vehicle that you are buying has been previously purchased and sold many times, you can know about all the owners’ details. Furthermore, it will also show the time for how long an owner kept the car. So you can know if anything is wrong with it. For example, the owner came to know about a fault and he sold it. So if a car has been sold multiple times and every owner kept it for a short time, there might be something wrong with it.

If multiple owners kept the vehicle for a short time period, you could ask the dealer to tell you the fault. Furthermore, you can also ask him to lower the price if you really want to buy it. Otherwise, if you don’t want to get involved in such a thing, you can look for other dealers. No one is stupid enough to sell his item after a short time of use.

Source: Inside Higher Ed

6) Know about red flag issues

Red flag issues involve a lack of proper maintenance and oil change problems etc. The data of the vehicles involve such things also. So if you get the history report, you can know that the previous owners have taken great care of the car or not. If the previous owners were good enough, the car would be in good condition. But if the maintenance was not timely and oil was not changed on time, the car would have some serious issues.

The amazing thing about learning about red flag issues is that you can make the seller lower the price. If the vehicle has not been maintained efficiently in the past, the engine will have some problems. Timely oil change makes the parts effective and healthy for a longer time. But if the oil change was not timely, the parts might get rust issues. Thus, you won’t have to pay a much higher price.