Stolen Car Check Apps - Why Do You Need Them?

Getting ready to buy a new car is always a reason for excitement, but at the same time, it can be a real stress trigger for people. Not knowing how honest the seller is about the performance, not having enough experience with buying cars in general or the risk of paying more than the car is worth are all legit concerns. But did you ever think that you could end up buying a stolen car in the process? Luckily, there are ways of checking if the car you are about to buy has been stolen or not.

Stolen vehicles are part of official stolen car databases that you can personally access. Also, thee are special stolen car check apps that have been specially designed for the sole purpose of telling you if a vehicle is stolen.

To come to your help, here are a few features you should always look for in an app that can perform a VIN check.

What Do Stolen Vehicle Check Apps Do?

Without a doubt, buying a car that has been reported stolen could get you into a lot of trouble. Just picture you are traveling across the country on a business trip and the police stop you for a routine check only to learn that the vehicle you have recently purchased is, in fact, reported stolen. Before you can tell the officer that the car has been recently bought from someone else (that you do not personally know), you will be asked to go down to the station and do some explaining. Can you imagine going through something more embarrassing or stressful?

Knowing exactly what kind of car you are about to buy and its origins is a must. It is impossible to turn into the rightful owner of a car that has been stolen, so in case the police discover you were aware of the fact that the car was stolen at the time you bought it, you will get into trouble.

To steer clear from the problem, you can use a stolen car checker app that allows you to check various databases of stolen vehicles created by state police departments. You can also find apps that allow you to check the state of a car in various databases from Europe and other continents. Some apps will go as far as to allow you to perform your check from over 3 million reported stolen cars. The great news is that most of these apps are completely free of charge, so you truly have no real reason why you should not use them.

Why Do You Need A VIN Check

VIN is the abbreviation for Vehicle Identification Number which is a unique number each car has and which cannot be altered as easily as a registration plate number. The VIN consists of a code made of 17 characters representing a serial number that corresponds to only a single car. The code is unique for each of the vehicles that have been sold around the globe in the last four decades or so. You can find it on the door panel the insurance card, the windshield or other locations inside your vehicle.

Keep in mind it may be a while until a car that has been stolen will actually show up in a stolen car database. Some of these databases only store the data for stolen cars for about half a year to a year. This may mean that a car you might want to buy could show up as not stolen when in fact it might have been in fact stolen.

The stolen car apps you can find online are only able to display information that can be found in the official police databases at the time of the search. Nonetheless, this does not mean that a completely free VIN check is not useful in the market to buy a second-hand car from someone you know nothing about. Buying a car is oftentimes a strenuous process and given a large number of crooks who sell stolen cars that reach unsuspecting drivers, it is important to be prepared to know the risks.

700,000 Cars Are Stolen In The US Every Year

Official FBI data speaks of more than 700,000 vehicles falling victim to car thieves. That's around 230 cars per 100k people. You might expect expensive sports cars to be on top of the most stolen cars – but you would be wrong. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, SUVs together with pickup trucks and a few Dodge models are some fo the favorite cars that crooks tend to steal in the US every year. Whether you own one of them or you plan on buying one, you are already at a higher risk of theft. Add the risk of buying a car that has been stolen and you could consider yourself one of the least lucky drivers.

Steer Clear From The Stolen Car Risk

Some thieves sell car parts, others get the car information they need off of a similar vehicle and try to pass the stolen car off for the legit car. They rely on false VINs and go ahead and change the numbers in all places where the VIN is present. Using a reliable car dealer is a good way of staying away from the risk of buying stolen cars. Getting in touch with a trustworthy car mechanic and asking him to take a look at the VIN numbers and anything else that might seem off is another solution. It is also possible to use the National Insurance Crime Bureau database to come across any stolen car information you suspect you may come across.

Remember to periodically inspect the state of the locks and the car alarm and fix any small fault that could make your car more vulnerable in the hands of potential thieves. The 24/7 Locksmiths Near Me service is here to assist you 24/7.