Every car keeps a record. Read it before you pay for it. Enter the 17-character VIN. We decode the car and count the accident, title, odometer, recall and sales records we hold - free. The full report is one payment, no account.
Every figure here is counted in our own database and rounded down - never estimated. VIN records and models come from the decoder catalog imported on August 20, 2026, covering model years 1990–2017 (317,331 full spec records). “Record sources per report” counts the 6 kinds of record a paid report draws on: official title and brand records · state DMV titles and registrations · auction results · dealer listings · insurance and damage records · NHTSA safety recalls. VINs checked, reports delivered and build time will appear here once the sample is large enough to mean anything. Last updated October 16, 2026.
The free preview
The preview decodes the car and counts the records in every section. If a car has nothing on file, you'll know - and you won't pay for an empty report.
2.5 L 4-cylinder · Automatic · Front-wheel drive · Sedan
Inside the full report
Same layout for every car, so you can compare two reports side by side. Pick a section to see how it reads.
Every accident, collision and damage record we hold, with the date, the place, what was hit, how badly, and whether airbags deployed. Police reports and insurer claims are listed separately, so you can see who reported what. If a repair estimate was filed, the amount is shown.
Insurers · police reports · state DMVsSeverity and airbag status as reported by the source. A record does not always mean structural damage - compare with the auction photos.
The current title status and every brand ever applied, even if a later title in another state dropped it: salvage, rebuilt, flood, fire, hail, lemon, junk and not-actual-mileage. Each brand names the state and the date it was issued.
Title registry · state DMVs · insurersBrands are checked against every state, not only the one on the current title.
Every recorded reading in date order - title transfers, state inspections, service visits, sale listings. If a later reading is lower than an earlier one, the report flags it in amber and names both records. Under federal law a rollback is fraud, not a repair.
Title registry · state inspections · dealer listingsReadings come from title transfers, inspections and listings. Two flagged readings in a row mean a rollback, not a typo.
Open safety recalls for this exact VIN, with the NHTSA campaign number, the defect in plain words and whether a remedy is available yet. Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer, whoever owns the car - take the campaign number with you.
NHTSARecall status is matched to the VIN, not the model - a recall that was already fixed on this car shows as repaired.
Active theft reports, recovered-theft records and liens that were recorded but never released. A lien means a lender can still repossess the car; an active theft record means you cannot register it. Either one will stop a title transfer at the DMV.
NICB · police · lenders via the title registryAn unreleased lien would be flagged in amber with the lender's name and the date it was recorded.
Past dealer listings and auction lots with the asking or hammer price, the mileage at the time and the photos taken that day. Auction photos often show damage before it was repaired - compare them with the car in front of you.
Dealer listings · salvage and wholesale auctionsPhotos open at full size in the report. The 2022 auction mileage is the one the 2023 listing fell below.
Each owner in order, how long they kept the car, the state it was registered in and the type of use: personal, lease, rental, fleet or taxi. Short ownership spells and frequent state changes are worth a question to the seller.
State DMVs via the title registry · registrationsNo rental, fleet or taxi use on file.
What comparable cars - same year, model, trim and similar mileage - sold or were listed for in the last 90 days, shown as a range with the median. You see where the asking price sits before you start negotiating.
Listing and auction data · last 90 daysAbove the median is room to negotiate, not a red flag. A price far below the range is worth a question.
Why check before you buy
a year is what odometer fraud costs American car buyers
NHTSAvehicles are sold in the US every year with a false odometer reading
NHTSAevery car sold new in the US since then carries a 17-character VIN, so its records can be traced
49 CFR Part 565How it works
Type or paste the 17 characters. We check the format as you go, so a typo never costs you a report.
See the decoded car and how many records sit in each section. Walk away if there's nothing worth paying for.
Pay once with Apple Pay, Google Pay or card. The report opens on screen and arrives as a PDF by email.
Official data
PriorMile reports are built on official title records - the national title database of title, brand, odometer and salvage records that state DMVs, insurers and salvage yards report into - supplied by a licensed data provider; we add NHTSA recalls, NICB theft records, insurance and auction data.
What we check
One VIN, one report - but each type of record answers a different question. These pages explain what each check reads, where the data comes from and what a finding looks like.
Salvage, rebuilt, junk and flood brands, moves from state to state, and the title-washing pattern that hides them.
Every odometer reading on file, in order, and the drops that mean a rollback rather than a typo.
Insurance total-loss records and salvage-auction listings, which often show damage before a brand reaches the paperwork.
Liens and finance records recorded against the VIN, which can follow the car to its next owner.
Theft and recovery records reported against the VIN, and what to do when one shows up.
The free preview names the categories of record on file and counts them, so you know what a report would contain before you buy one.
Only have a license plate? Look up the VIN free for US plates, or read it off the car. How to find the VIN on the car →
Pricing
Most people look at more than one car. Packs never expire and work for any VIN.
For comparing a shortlist. Use them this week or next year.
Get 3 reportsFor small dealers and trade-in appraisals. Invoice and team access on request.
Get 10 reportsPrices in USD - the same everywhere, confirmed before you pay. Reports stay in your inbox and online for 90 days.
Before you pay
We publish no testimonials - not one. Everything below can be checked on this site before you spend anything.
Summary verdict, the decoded vehicle and its specs, title history and brands, accidents and damage, odometer readings with rollback detection, open NHTSA recalls, theft records and liens, past sales and auction lots with photos, the ownership timeline and a market-value range. Online and as a PDF you keep.
In the sample reports published on this site, every odometer reading is checked against the one before it. A reading that goes backwards is flagged as a rollback, each one found is listed with its dates and mileage, and the report closes with the verdict “attention”.
The free preview counts the records in every section before you pay. When a VIN has nothing on file the purchase is blocked - we do not sell an empty report, so there is nothing to refund. There are no automatic refunds: if a report you paid for is wrong on our side, write to support within 14 days and we re-run it or refund it after review.
The report is built as soon as payment is confirmed - usually in seconds. You get it online and as a PDF, and the link stays live for 90 days.
Guides
Why digital odometers made fraud easier, the telltale patterns in the mileage history, and the physical checks that back them up.
A step-by-step checklist - find and verify the VIN, run the history, and match the records against the car and the seller's story.
Which sections matter most, what an amber flag means, and the three things to check before you call the seller.
Questions
Anything else - write to support@priormile.com. A person replies during US business hours.
The vehicle identification number is the 17-character code given to every car built since 1981. Look at the driver-side corner of the dashboard through the windshield, the sticker in the driver's door jamb, the title, the registration card, or the insurance card. It never contains the letters I, O or Q, so if you read one, it's a 1 or a 0.
For US plates, yes: enter the plate and the state that issued it, we return the VIN registered to it, and you run the same free preview on that VIN. We return the VIN and nothing else - not the owner and not the registration record. Plates from other countries are not supported, and because a plate can be transferred or reissued, a lookup can come back empty or point at a car the plate used to be on.
It should not happen: the free preview shows the record count for every section before you pay, and when every section is zero the purchase is blocked - there is nothing to sell you. VIN decoding and the recall check stay free. If a paid report still comes back empty, write to support and we sort it out case by case.
Four cases: a report with an error on our side that we cannot fix by re-running it; a paid report that came back with no history records at all; a double charge, or a charge for an order that failed; and an untouched pack within 14 days of purchase. There is no automatic refund and no money-back guarantee for a report you simply did not like - write to support within 14 days with your order number, and a person reads it and decides. Approved refunds are the full price, back to the original payment method. Everything else is prevented earlier: when the free preview holds no records for a VIN, the purchase is blocked.
Title, brand, odometer and salvage data comes from official title records - the national title database that state DMVs, insurers and salvage yards report into - through our licensed data provider. Recall data comes from NHTSA and theft records from NICB. The report is not a government document and it does not replace a pre-purchase inspection - but the title, brand, odometer and salvage records are the same ones the state DMVs themselves report.
Coverage is strongest for cars titled in the United States and Canada, including cars later exported to Europe, the Gulf states, Poland and CIS countries. Records exist for cars built from 1981, when the 17-character VIN became standard, and are deepest from the early 2000s on. For a car first registered outside North America we can usually decode the VIN and show open recalls, but history records will be thin - the free preview tells you how many we hold before you pay.
VIN decoder by make
Year, model, engine, body and plant - free and instant. Pick the make to start, or type any VIN above.
All makes →Also: motorcycles, scooters and ATVs
Free preview · Full report $14.99 · No account