The mileage of a used car is one of the main criteria for its selection. Odometer readings can be indirect evidence of the good or unsatisfactory technical condition of the vehicle, so assess the feasibility of the purchase begins with them. It should not be forgotten that current odometer readings may not always be genuine. We will tell you how to check the mileage by VIN-code, what is the identification number and what other information is available if it is available.

What is the VIN number

VIN number is a unique identifier of the car, which is assigned to it at the manufacturing plant. It consists of 17 digits, the contents of which can be both numbers and letters of the Latin alphabet.    

The code is divided into three groups: WMI, VDS, VIS. The first group is intended to identify the manufacturer, its geographical location. For this purpose, the first three digits are used. For example, in cars from the USA, the first digit will contain 1, and the letter Z in the first position will mean that the car comes from Italy. The second position is responsible for the brand of the car. For example, if here is the letter “N”, then the vehicle is manufactured by Nissan. The third position will tell about the body type.

The VDS-group will indicate the technical characteristics of the vehicle. These are six digits, the contents of which are the responsibility of the manufacturer. In this case, the latter is offered some freedom, but most often the eighth position defines the engine type, and the ninth position is necessary to control the authenticity of the license plate number.

The third group is VIS. Section of individual vehicle characteristics, which consists of eight digits. The tenth position will tell you the year of manufacture – it can be either a number or a letter. At different times, letters or numbers were used to indicate the year. Recently, the letters have been used again. 

What information is contained in the VIN report

Now for more details on how to check the mileage of a car by VIN number. Having a VIN number, we can get access to a large amount of information that has been collected since the car’s first owner. In order to check the car by VIN code you need to use one of the services for checking the number, for example, checkcar.vin. In this service is available to check cars from Germany, France, Sweden, Spain and other European countries, as well as the United States and Korea. After entering the VIN number into the appropriate form, on a free or paid basis, the system generates a report that contains comprehensive information about the car. 

This is technical and user information. Technical data is provided by the vehicle manufacturer, while user information is collected from a huge number of sources, including government services, insurance companies, service centers, etc. Basic information contained in the report:

  • Vehicle equipment (realized options, equipment and other).
  • Technical specifications and database of components (the ability to quickly find the necessary spare part in the catalog and order it).
  • Repair and maintenance standards. Describes what to do when various faults are detected.
  • The date of manufacture of the vehicle.
  • Involvement of the automobile in traffic accidents.
  • Status of the car (pledged, scrapped, stolen, etc.).
  • Car registrations.
  • Insurance claims, etc.

The free report contains only basic information, including country and year of manufacture, technical characteristics, equipment, registration, etc. To get the most complete report, we recommend using its paid version.  This is the answer to the question of how to check the mileage of the car by VIN-code. The information obtained in the report will give you the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive analysis, get data on the mileage, interference with the odometer, learn about the operating conditions of the car, etc.

Whether to check the VIN number of the car

Checking the VIN code has become a mandatory step in buying a car, especially when it comes to online auctions. The buyer always lacks information that could shed light on the operating conditions of the car, help to find out how regularly the vehicle was serviced, on the legal restrictions for the operation of the car.

“How to check the mileage of the car by VIN-code” – the most popular question in search engines, but having received the answer to it, you are unlikely to be able to make final conclusions about the advisability of buying a car. Checking by VIN-code gives much more possibilities. It allows to establish the facts of participation of the car in accidents, how carefully it was used, whether it is not in pledge. All this affects the technical condition of the car, the safety of traveling on it, the ability to freely operate the car without violating the laws. Therefore, checking the vehicle’s VIN code is a mandatory step, the benefit of which is comparable to expert advice.