Works with EU and US VINs
Check a used car by its VIN
Scan or type the 17-character VIN. VinScan decodes it, checks recalls, complaints, crash ratings and fuel economy in free official sources, and takes you straight to the official registry checks. Every section shows where its data came from and when.
- Source and date on every section
- No owner data — ever
- Camera scanning stays on your phone
How it works
From VIN to report in three steps
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Step 1
Scan or type the VIN
Point your phone at the VIN barcode on the door pillar or at the plate behind the windscreen — or just type the 17 characters. Images are read on your device and never uploaded.
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Step 2
We decode it
For US-market cars we decode make, model, year, engine and plant offline from NHTSA’s database. For EU-market cars we show the most probable model, clearly labelled with how sure we are.
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Step 3
We check free sources
Recalls, complaints, crash ratings and fuel economy load into your report automatically. Where an official site allows only manual checks, you get a direct link to it.
What we check
Free, official data — and honest about its limits
Where a source allows automated access, its result is in your report. Where it doesn’t, we link you to the official site. We never bypass CAPTCHAs or copy data we are not allowed to.
In your report automatically
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VIN decoding
Free sourceMake, model, model year, engine, body and plant, decoded offline from NHTSA’s vPIC database — plus check-digit and typo hints for North American VINs.
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Probable model for EU cars
Free sourceMany European VINs don’t encode the model or year. We estimate the most probable model, engine and years from Finland’s open vehicle register — always marked as probable, never as fact.
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Recalls
Free sourceRecall campaigns for the make, model and year from NHTSA and Transport Canada. They apply to the model, not proof that this exact car is affected.
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Owner complaints
Free sourceProblems owners reported to NHTSA for the same model and year — a good hint of what to inspect.
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Crash test ratings
Free sourceNHTSA 5-star safety ratings for the model, where it was tested.
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Fuel economy and CO₂
Free sourceConsumption, CO₂ emissions and electric range from the US EPA for US-market models.
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Mileage evidence
Free sourceOdometer readings from public inspection records where a free official source has them, such as UK MOT tests or the Dutch RDW register.
Links to official sites you check yourself
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Stolen-vehicle checks
Link to official siteTheft and total-loss databases such as NICB VINCheck and national registers don’t allow automated checks. We link you to the official page and you run the check yourself.
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National registry checks
Link to official siteCSDD in Latvia and the Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish and other registries protect lookups or forbid copying. We open the official page for you, so you see the answer straight from the source.
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Open recalls for this exact car
Link to official siteWhether a recall was actually fixed on a specific VIN is shown by NHTSA and the manufacturers on pages that need a person. We link to them.
What VinScan never does
- Look up, store or show owner names, addresses or any other owner data.
- Present a guessed value as a fact — confidence is always shown.
- Solve CAPTCHAs or get around a website’s protection.
Data sources: NHTSA (vPIC, recalls, complaints, NCAP ratings), Transport Canada, US EPA fueleconomy.gov and Traficom open data (CC BY 4.0). Each report lists the sources it used.
Plans
Plans decide how many reports you can run
VinScan is a non-commercial project: there are no prices and no payments. Each plan sets which report types you can run and how many.
Plans are assigned by an administrator. To change your plan, contact an administrator.
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Free
Every new account- Basic
- Unlimited
- Standard
- 5 per day
- Full
- 2 per week
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Tester
- Basic
- Unlimited
- Standard
- Unlimited
- Full
- 20 per day
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Pack 20
- Basic
- Unlimited
- Standard
- Unlimited
- Full
- 20 in total
Without an account
You can try VinScan without signing up:
- Basic 3 per day
- Standard 1 per day
What the report types contain
- Basic
- VIN decoding: make, model, year, engine and where the car was built.
- Standard
- Basic plus recalls, complaints, safety ratings, fuel economy and history-check links.
- Full
- Standard plus registry and inspection history where available and a buyer checklist.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with European VINs? Why is the model year sometimes “probable”?
Yes. European VINs often have no check digit and no reliable model-year character, so VinScan never treats that as an error. We show the most probable year and model with a confidence label. The exact year is on the registration certificate (date of first registration).
Why are some checks only links?
Some official sites — the Latvian CSDD, stolen-vehicle databases and other registries — protect their lookups with CAPTCHAs or forbid automated copying in their terms. We respect that: VinScan opens the official page — with the VIN filled in where the site supports it, otherwise one tap to copy — and you check it yourself.
Do the recalls apply to my car?
Recall and complaint data are model-level: they cover the make, model and year, not one specific vehicle. Use the link to the official recall check to see whether a recall is still open for this exact VIN.
What happens to the VIN I enter? Is a VIN personal data?
Under EU law a VIN can be personal data, so we keep as little as we can: the VIN and its report, a one-way hash of your IP address (never the address itself) and, if you have an account, your account details. Reports run without an account are deleted after 90 days. We never collect owner data and use no trackers or analytics.
Does the scanner upload photos of my car?
No. Barcode scanning and text recognition run in your browser. Camera images and photos never leave your device; only the VIN you confirm is sent.
Is a VinScan report a guarantee?
No. The data comes from public sources and can be incomplete or out of date. It is not a title, accident or odometer guarantee — always have the car inspected and check its documents before you buy.
What does it cost?
Nothing. VinScan is a non-commercial project for internal testing and uses free sources only. Plans only set how many reports of each type you can run; an administrator assigns them.
Looking at a used car?
Check the VIN before you hand over any money. It only takes a moment.