What data we cover
We believe in being clear about exactly what our data can and can't tell you. Here is what CarVinVin checks for free, what the paid US history report adds, and what is still not covered.
What we cover for free
- VIN decode — make, model, year, engine, body and factory, from the US NHTSA vPIC database.
- Safety recalls — official open recalls and free-repair guidance from US NHTSA.
- Owner complaints and investigations — per model, from US NHTSA, behind our problems and reliability pages.
- EU CO2 emissions — official WLTP figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA).
- OBD-II fault codes and VIN structure (WMI) — standardized reference data.
What the paid US history report adds
- US title brands and total-loss records — salvage, flood, junk, rebuilt — supplied by ClearVin, an Approved NMVTIS Data Provider.
- Odometer history with a rollback check against the recorded readings.
- Salvage-auction records with damage photos, where the car went through a US auction.
- Lien, theft and ownership records where available, plus a plain-language AI risk summary and a 10-question chat in your own language.
What we don't cover yet
- Registration, roadworthiness (MOT/TÜV) and service history from outside the United States — we cover US records, not national records from other countries.
- Police or insurer accident reports — we carry US title brands and salvage-auction damage, not a national accident feed — and dealer service history from any market.
- Anything at all for a car with no US record. If ClearVin has no US record for that VIN, you pay nothing — we refund you in full, automatically.
Why, and what's next
Our free decode and recall data is US NHTSA, so US-market cars read in the most detail — wherever that car is parked today; cars built for other markets may decode only in part. The paid report is US data too — it is the right check for an American car, and the wrong one for a car that has never been to the United States. We will always tell you where a number comes from.