How to get a Carfax report for free

Dealer listings

Many dealers subscribe to Carfax, and plenty of them attach a free report to every car they list. Look for a Carfax link or badge on the dealer's own website and on the big listing sites. Carfax's own used-car listings include a free report for the cars on them too.

This is the most common way people read a Carfax report for free, but it has limits. It only covers cars a dealer has listed, you can't run it on a VIN of your choice, and it disappears when the listing does. If a dealer's listing has no report, ask for it. Most will send it, and a dealer who won't is telling you something.

Ask the seller

Private sellers sometimes buy a report before listing, precisely because buyers ask. It costs nothing to request it. When you get one, check that the VIN matches the plate on the windshield, and look at the date it was run. A report is a snapshot: anything that happened after that date isn't on it.

Your own car: myCARFAX

myCARFAX is Carfax's free service for owners. Add your car and it shows the service records Carfax has on file and alerts you to open recalls. It's useful for keeping track of maintenance, but it covers cars you own, not the one you're thinking of buying, and it isn't the full history report.

Free checks that aren't Carfax

These won't replace a history report, but each one answers a real question for free:

• NICB VINCheck. The National Insurance Crime Bureau's free lookup shows whether a car has been reported stolen and not recovered, or declared a total loss by a participating insurer.
• Recall check. Our free recall check lists the safety recalls NHTSA has issued for the model, from public government data.
• VIN decoder. A VIN decoder confirms the year, make, model and engine, which catches listings that misdescribe the car.
• VIN validator. The VIN validator checks the VIN's check digit, so you know you've copied it right before you pay for anything.

None of them shows accidents, title brands from other states, odometer readings over the years or the number of owners. That's the part you pay a history report for.

Start free, pay when you're serious

You don't need a full report for every car you look at. Use the free steps to rule cars out first:

1. Decode the VIN. If the listing says one trim and the VIN decodes to another, the seller is mistaken or isn't being straight with you.
2. Check recalls. Open safety recalls are normally fixed free at a franchised dealer, and it's better to know before you buy.
3. Look for a report someone already paid for. Check the listing for a Carfax link, or ask the seller.
4. Buy the report before you make an offer. Read it at home with time to look things up, not on the seller's driveway.
5. Match the VIN on the car. The VIN on the dashboard, the driver's door frame and the title should all match the report. If they don't, read about VIN cloning before going further.

Free reports to avoid

Search for “free Carfax report” and you'll find sites promising one for any VIN. Most of them follow one of these patterns:

• The free trial. You enter a card for a “free” report and the trial turns into a monthly charge. The report is often from a different data source, not Carfax.
• The teaser. The site says it found records for your VIN, shows blurred details, and asks you to pay to unlock them. A teaser like that can be produced from the VIN alone, without checking anything.
• The details grab. Before the “free” report, the site asks for your name, phone number and address “to verify” you. What arrives is the year, make and model you could have decoded for free, and your details are now on someone's list.
• The scare. A warning that “serious problems” were found, with the details held back until you pay. A legitimate report doesn't work that way.
• The passed-around PDF. An old or edited report, sometimes for a different car.

Never enter a card for something described as free. A real Carfax report has Carfax's layout, the VIN, the vehicle and the date it was run. Our sample report shows what one looks like, page by page.

Myths about free Carfax reports

• “A clean report means nothing happened.” It means nothing was reported. A crash paid for in cash and fixed at a shop that doesn't report to Carfax won't be on it.
• “A plate number gets you a free report.” A plate, like a VIN, only identifies the car. The full history still costs money unless someone has already bought it.
• “Free history sites show the same thing.” They use other data sources, so they can miss what a Carfax report shows, and the reverse. See Carfax vs AutoCheck for how two paid reports differ.
• “The report replaces an inspection.” The report tells you the car's past. A mechanic tells you its condition today: brakes, suspension, leaks. You want both before you buy.

When it's worth paying

If you're about to hand over thousands for a car and no one will show you its history, a report is cheap insurance. These are the signs to stop looking for a free one:

• The seller: won't give you the VIN before you meet, rushes you to decide, has a title that's missing or “in the mail”, or isn't the person named on it.
• The price: well below similar cars nearby, with no clear reason.
• The car: paint that doesn't match from panel to panel, uneven gaps between panels, a musty smell or water marks inside (see flood damage), or a VIN plate or sticker that looks tampered with.
• The sale: any private sale, where there's no dealer to go back to if something was hidden.

Free checks can be enough when a dealer has already linked the report, or when you're only confirming a listing describes the car correctly.

Here a report is $7.99 for one. If you're comparing several cars, the 20-pack brings it down to $3.50 a report, unused credits never expire, and a report that can't be produced refunds its credit automatically.

For every price in one place, see how much a Carfax report costs.