Frequently asked questions
Short answers about the VIN check, the report and payment. Anything else - write to support@priormile.com.
The VIN check and the report
What is a VIN and where do I find it?
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.
Can I check a car by license plate?
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.
What does the free preview show?
The decoded vehicle (year, make, model, engine, body, plant) and the number of records we hold in each history section - title records and brands, accidents, odometer readings, recalls, theft records, sales and auction listings, and previous owners - plus a market-value range where we have one. Dates, places, amounts and photos are in the paid report.
How long does it take?
The preview is instant. After payment the full report is assembled in about 60 seconds and the email with the PDF follows a minute or two later.
Do I need an account?
No. You pay once and the report opens on screen; a copy goes to your email as a PDF with a link that works for 90 days. If you buy a pack, the same email link opens your remaining reports - no password.
Coverage and data
Is the report official?
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.
Which countries and years are covered?
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.
Do you cover motorcycles, scooters and ATVs?
Motorcycles, scooters and ATVs have VINs and we cover them - they sit in the same title and theft databases as cars. The history that exists for them is usually thinner than a car's, and photos are often absent. The free preview counts the records we hold for that exact VIN before you pay, so you can see what you would be paying for.
What if you have no records for my VIN?
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.
What do you do with my data?
We store the VINs you check, your order and the email address the report is sent to, for as long as the Privacy Policy says. We do not sell personal data and we do not load third-party trackers without your consent. Details, including how to request deletion, are in the Privacy Policy.
Payment, access and refunds
What is the refund policy?
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.
How can I pay, and in which currency?
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay. We sell in US dollars only - the same price everywhere, shown before you pay, with any VAT confirmed on the checkout page. Businesses in the EU can enter a VAT ID for a reverse-charge invoice.
Do packs expire?
No. A 3- or 10-report pack is a balance of reports you can spend on any VINs, now or later. Reports you have opened stay available for 90 days each.