Buying Used Cars: 4 Things to Look at in a Vehicle History Report

You probably know that you need to pull out a vehicle’s history report while shopping for used cars in Greenville, SC. But once you have the report, what do you look for in it? As expected, you will have loads of data that will tell you almost everything about the used car you are about to buy. But you may not realise that you are looking at a red flag if you don’t know what exactly to look for. To simplify vehicle history reports for you, here is a list of 4 things that you should try to read from the report. Beyond that, the data is just public records that service providers include to make the report look comprehensive.

1. Has the car been in an accident or faced any other damage?

Used cars with an accident history may carry all sorts of demons. So do vehicles that have faced other sorts of damages. But some of them are fixable and hence it is important to know from the history report the type of damage the vehicle has seen in its past. If the car was totaled and rebuilt or if the car had flood damage, you should stay away. But minor dents or hail damage do not cause much harm that an expert cannot fix.

2. Is the title clean?

Greenville used cars with clean titles should obviously be your choice. Hence, this is the first aspect you must look at when you have the vehicle history report in your hand. A used car can also carry a salvage title, rebuilt title, flood damage title, or fire damage title. And such a car should not be in the lot in the first place. Yet, some dealerships trade in such vehicles and you need to know what you are buying by looking under the title section in the history report.

3. Was there a recall and has it been fixed?

It is not uncommon for manufacturers to recall a particular model to get a glitch fixed. And if the previous owner had gone through the process, it will show in the vehicle’s history report. For this, check online first to verify if the model you are about to buy had any recalls. Then, look in the history report to check if it had been fixed. Often, vehicle owners stay oblivious to recalls or manufacturers cannot track owners due to the car changing hands and the problem stays on for no one’s fault.

4. How many owners did the used car have before you?

Today, it is not uncommon for used car dealerships in Greenville, SC to have used cars that had 2-3 owners before you. Although popular opinion suggests that you buy a used car that just had one owner, finding such a car now is impossible given the modern trend to change cars every 5 years. Look at the ownership history but do not be too strict about it. As long as you are buying from a reputed dealer with a flat warranty, the number of owners before you will not matter.