How to Check a Car’s Owner Online

Are you planning to buy a second-hand vehicle? Check its background, including previous owners, online. A quick inquiry will reveal key events in the ownership history. You will see if the purchase is safe and if the seller is being truthful. 

What Is This Number?

Since 1981, every vehicle in the United States has been given a unique identifier with the same structure. This sequence includes 17 characters, both letters, and numerals. You will never find O, I, or Q, as they resemble numbers and can be confusing. No two cars or motorbikes have the same VIN, which allows you to check previous owners online. 

Different manufacturers place VINs on different vehicle parts. Commonly, you can find it on the door on the driver’s side or in the windshield-dashboard area. VINs are stamped on non-removable elements. 

By entering the number on special sites, you can generate different reports. For example, a decoder will tell you about the specs, fuel type, type of engine, etc. Meanwhile, a history report will show important past events, such as accidents, theft, or repossessions. An owner lookup is just one of the options.

Why The Check Is Possible

DMV keeps a record of all VINs and vehicle owners. These two databases are connected, which is why the code reveals the ownership history. Enter the identifier on a lookup site, and the report will be delivered in seconds. 

What You Won’t See

Note that to find the name of an owner, you need solid grounds. In the United States, only police, courts, and other state agencies are authorized to conduct unlimited checks of VINs. If you want to know the name for the following reasons, you have to involve the police. They will run the number through The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS).

• You keep seeing a suspicious car park near your home.
• The owner is sending you threats.
• Someone is stalking or waylaying you.
• The owner keeps parking their vehicle on your territory.
• You have been a victim of a hit-and-run accident.

No reputable lookup site will promise to give private details. It will not provide the names or addresses of previous owners. This is illegal under The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. However, you will still get information describing them. 

What You Will See

If no names or addresses will be revealed, what can you find out? Actually, the range of information is fairly broad. By running a check, you can see:

• the number of owners throughout the car’s lifetime;
• how these people treated the vehicle;
• states where ownership was registered;
• businesses that used the vehicle.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, there are still important insights to gain. You may find out that the car was owned by an insurance company, that it was salvaged, or even stolen. These details are instantly available once you enter the identifier and click the “Check” button.