How To Get A Free VIN Search Up In Canada
When buying a new car, it pays to be careful. And one of the best ways to protect yourself from unscrupulous sellers is by getting a full picture of the car’s history. That’s why you need to know how to get a free VIN search up in Canada.
A VIN search will let you know the history of a car so you can make an informed purchase decision. Knowing whether your car has been in any accidents, how many owners it has had, and other important information about the vehicle can help you determine whether you’re getting a good deal or not. And while a good VIN search will normally cost you money, you can use our free VIN checker tool to see if a vehicle has issues, absolutely free.
Free VIN Checks In Canada
Every car sold in Canada has a Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN. You can find it on the dashboard of the vehicle visible from outside the car, or often inside the door jam on the driver’s side. This 17 digit number is unique to the vehicle and allows you to run checks on that specific vehicle to tell you more about the car’s history.
Can’t find the VIN? Not to worry as our website now offers vehicle checking by the Licence Plate number as well! Just use the tool below with either your VIN or licence plate.
Several different organizations maintain databases of cars that you can access with a VIN. However, usually, there is a charge for those services.
It is possible to get a free VIN search up in Canada, though. Here are some of the ways to do it.
Canadian Police Information Center
The Canadian Police Information Center allows you to check a car’s VIN on their website for free. All you need to do is enter the VIN and agree to the terms and conditions, and you’ll get the search results immediately. However, this service is only useful to tell you whether a car has been reported stolen or not. If it has, you should contact the police immediately. But if not, you won’t learn anything else about the car from this tool.
Insurance Bureau of Canada
This VIN search tool can verify a VIN and tell you the salvage history of an individual vehicle. It can tell you whether the vehicle has been in a fire, a flood, or has been flagged as irrepairable or salvaged.
This can be very useful, as sometimes, salvage vehicles are repaired and resold to unsuspecting customers. This tool can help you avoid buying a car that isn’t what it claims to be. However, it won’t tell you anything else about the car.
Transport Canada
This government agency doesn’t offer a free VIN search. However, you can search for a specific make and model of car to check if any safety recalls have been issued. This is a useful tool to make sure any car you’re interested in buying is safe to drive. Unfortunately, this is the only information you will get from this search. It doesn’t tell you anything about the car’s ownership history or the accident history of a specific car. Besides, any decent car history report will tell you about recalls.
SGI
Operated by the Government of Saskatchewan, SGI offers a free VIN search up in Canada that can tell you a wealth of useful information. It will tell you if the vehicle has been salvaged or rebuilt, and will also tell you the most recent registration date for a vehicle. It will also tell you if the vehicle has any history of damage claims.
It’s completely free to use and gives results instantly. However, it will only give you information that the Saskatchewan government has on its database. If you’re buying a vehicle registered outside of Saskatchewan, this tool won’t help. And even if you are buying within Saskatchewan, SGI can’t tell you anything about a vehicle’s history that happened outside the province. So if the vehicle got into an accident outside Saskatchewan, it won’t show up on this search.
ICBC
British Columbia’s provincial insurance service also provides a free VIN search up in Canada. It can also tell you a vehicle’s salvage status and its claims history. However, just like the SGI service mentioned above, this provincial search is limited to BC. Any damage paid for by other insurers won’t show up on the search, so if the vehicle has had an accident outside the province, you’re out of luck.
Vehiclecheck.ca
The most comprehensive way to get a VIN search up in Canada for free, is to use our VIN check tool. This will give you a vehicle report that will tell you everything you need to know about a car, from its salvage status to its insurance claims history. You’ll also find out about previous owners, any safety recalls, any odometer rollbacks, and get a full service history of the car. And the results are not limited to a specific province but will tell you about any accidents the car has been involved in.
To get started, just enter your VIN into our tool and learn everything you need to know.
Other Paid VIN Check Options
To get a full vehicle history report, there are also some paid options you can use. Probably the most famous is Carfax. This will give you access to the full car history. You’ll also get information on service records, emissions tests and more, all for a fee. There are other options as well such as AutoCheck. All of these services can be used to check out a vehicle before you buy it, but they come at a cost.
While a Carfax or AutoCheck will give you a lot of useful information, it won’t tell you anything that our vehicle history reports don’t. A Carfax report costs around $60, and if you’re checking up on multiple vehicles, it doesn’t take long for that cost to add up. That’s why the best course of action is to use our free VIN search tool to get all information you need without spending a fortune.
Always Check The VIN!
Using the VIN to check on a car’s history is an essential part of the process of buying a used car. There’s no better or easier way to protect yourself from some of the problems that can come from buying a used vehicle.
You certainly don’t want to buy a vehicle that has been salvaged, for instance. And you definitely don’t want to buy a stolen vehicle, either. But there are plenty of other issues with used cars that you should be aware of before parting with your hard-earned money. For instance, you’ll want to know if the vehicle has any liens issued against it that you might be liable for once you’ve made the purchase. It’s also helpful to know the service history of the vehicle so you can make a judgment as to how well it is being looked after. That way, you’ll have a better idea of any maintenance issues you might have to address once the car is yours.
A good vehicle history report will also tell you about any odometer rollbacks, airbag deployments, frame damage, and any safety recalls that have been issued for the car.
By taking the time to do a full VIN search, you’ll have all the information you need to make an informed decision about a used car purchase. So don’t skip this step; it’s well worth the effort! And if you’re looking for a comprehensive and reliable report, our free VIN check tool is your best bet. Give it a try today and get all the facts about any vehicle you’re thinking of buying. You won’t be disappointed!
