How to Avoid Buying a Dodgy Car

If you are not already totally disheartened by the amount of pitfalls of buying a second hand car, fear not - there are some proceedures in place which will hopefully stop them.

How to prevent bad stuff happening

While the registration plates can be easily changed, the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) cannot. All cars have to be assigned a unique VIN number when they are manufactured in the factory. They are typically made up of numbers and letters and are 17 digits long.

Finding your VIN

Look up “Vehicle Identification Number” or “chassis Number” in the owner’s manual of the car you are interested in. That should tell you where it is located. The VIN can be put in different places on different cars but here are a few common places to look. When you have found the VIN, give this to the History Check Company and they will be able to tell if it has been stolen.