Are you thinking about buying a second-hand car in California? One of the most important things you can do when looking to buy a second-hand vehicle is doing background research on it. In California, vehicle owners require to have appropriate license plates on their vehicles. The rear plates should have up to date validation stickers. Failure to adhere to these rules may incur additional fees when one needs to renew their vehicle registration. Because of this law, it is easy for you to get all the information you need on a used vehicle before purchasing it in California. You can achieve this by running a simple free license plate check online.
Performing a license plate lookup will give you access to important information about a used vehicle. This can ensure you make an informed decision when deciding on the best second-hand car for your needs.
Where to find my California plate number?
Generally, you can easily your plate number easily by looking at the issued license plate attached to your car. However, there are instances you need to lookup car license plates without having access to the car physically, you can look it up at you car's California certificate of the title.
What infomation do I get from doing an online license plate lookup?
Salvage title Report
Looking up a license plate online allows you to know whether the vehicle you want to buy has even been in a severe road accident, a fire, or a flood. All these can make a car a write-off by insurance providers' standards. When this happens, a salvage report is issued on the vehicle. This serves as a warning to buyers in case the owner decides to salvage the car and repair it before selling it. It is always best to stay away from cars with a salvage report. They mostly end up being money pits because of the repairs and part replacements they require, and the resale value is very low.
Use and previous owners’ report
The beauty of online license plate searches is that it is hard for you to be duped by the seller. A simple online search will tell you how the vehicle has been put to use in the past. You will also get info on the number of people who have owned the vehicle in the past. Every time a vehicle changes ownerships, the information is registered in the vehicle’s records. You will get to know whether it was strictly a family vehicle or whether it has even been a taxi or even a lease car.
Accidents reports
Whenever a vehicle gets into a serious accident in California, owners are required to file a report with their insurers. This information is made available online for anyone looking up the license registration details on a vehicle. You can expect to find information on major accidents as most owners do not report minor accidents and prefer to pay for the repairs from their pockets. Too many accident reports can affect insurance costs in the future. If there is the report of a major accident involving the vehicle in question, ensure you go through it thoroughly before determining if the car is the right fit for you.
When buying a used car in California, always run a background check to ensure you are getting a good deal, and you also learn how best to handle your new vehicle.
Where do these data come from?
We rely on multiple sources to compile our license plate report. Many of our sources come from governmental entities such as the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). We also regularly check the car auction inventories to track various vehicle's condition.
Is it Legal for me do a reverse license plate search?
Yes, we are in compliant with the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), as we do not disclose information about the vehicle's owner personal details. Our license plate lookup does a reverse lookup to obtain the VIN number and query the vehicle history reports for it. Nothing in our report is personably identifiable to a particular individual.
Additionally, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows any individual the right to access to information collected by the government. There's no reason for you not to give our auto license plate lookup tool a try. It's totally legal and FREE!