5 Carfax Alternatives [March 2021]

Heather March 22, 2021

When buying a car, you want to know the history of the vehicle—especially with a used vehicle, or one that you’re buying from an individual seller. Most people have heard of Carfax, where you can get a full vehicle history report about a vehicle you’re considering purchasing, before making the deal.

Carfax is by far the most well known vehicle history reporting service, and as such it carries a higher cost than the alternatives. It costs $39.99 to obtain a full Carfax report (or $59.99 for a two reports, $99.99 for three reports.) Carfax does offer a free initial VIN check, to determine if a car is stolen or salvaged.

When you’re buying a car, you’re already about to dish out some hard-earned cash. Here are five less expensive, but still very helpful, cost-friendly Carfax alternatives for you to consider. (One is even free!)

5 Carfax Alternatives To Use In 2021

1. VINCheck

VINCheck is a free service available online and completed through the National Insurance Crime Bureau to protect buyers from buying a stolen (non-recovered) or salvaged vehicle. Obviously, you will need the VIN (vehicle identification number) of the automobile you want to check, and you can do up to five searches per twenty-four-hour window from the same IP address (if you run out of searches, you can always head over to the library and use their computers).

This service is found on the NICB website, under “How We Help” at the beginning of the top menu. Click it, and scroll down to “VINCheck,” and click it as well. You’ll find yourself on the page shown above, where you’ll input the VIN of the auto you’re interested in. Shortly after that, you’ll have the information you need—and that’s it!

2. CheckThatVIN.com

The VIN-checking service provided by CheckThatVIN.com costs a small fee of $3.50 for each VIN checked. It’s available online and they also have an app for the iPhone through the Apple App Store. They use an advanced search tool that accesses the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). This check includes the title history, odometer readings, and determines whether the vehicle’s listed as junk, salvaged, or a flood automobile. CheckThatVIN seems pretty comprehensive for the price.

3. instaVIN Reports

This service is available online as a direct CarFax competitor. The instaVin Reports service offers a full report—which includes a full history and title report—for $25.00 for a single vehicle vehicle checked, with discounts for more vehicles (such as 10 vehicles for $100.00.) It uses the Department of Motor Vehicles, police records, auction records, state records, federal records, and insurance records to give you even more data and better vehicle reports. InstaVIN reports is a great budget alternative to paying for a CarFax report—check out their website.

4. titlecheck.us

The vehicle research provided by titlecheck.us is $9.95 per report. They also use the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. By using the NMVTIS, it protects you as a buyer from purchasing a car that perhaps was recorded as a total loss or salvaged vehicle elsewhere, that someone is trying to re-sell for a profit to you now. You can go to the titlecheck.us website and do a VIN search on your potential auto purchase. They only have an online tool available, no mobile app.

5. vinsmart

This VIN-checking site is another Carfax alternative that’s available, either on your desktop, the Apple App Store, or Google Play. Also a partner with the NMVTIS, vinsmart says they include a “plus factor” with every vehicle history report they provide.

The plus factors they list are included with the report price of $8.95: provided recall alerts, making sure the title is clean with an in-depth scan, providing a value vehicle report, offering volume discounts, and giving you credits that never expire. So, if you need to buy another car down the line, they encourage you to purchase reports in volume to get a discount—and your credits won’t expire, so you’re protected by purchasing ahead of time. Visit the vinsmart website and check things out.

How Can I Get A Free Carfax Report In 2021?

If you’re set on using Carfax to get a report for your car but still want to save some cash, you’re in luck! Carfax is the biggest and most reliable place to get a report on your vehicle in 2019, so it makes sense that some buyers prefer sticking with their service.

Though you do have to pay for a Carfax report if you’re just entering a vehicle’s VIN on the website (no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it) you can get a free report if you’re shopping for a vehicle through Carfax, since every vehicle they sell comes with a free report. You can view the report directly on the website without having to make any commitments to a vehicle.

Here’s how it’s done!

How To Get A Free Carfax Report

First, go to Carfax.com and click the big green Find a Used Car button on the homepage. From there, enter the make and model vehicle you want, followed by your zip code. After that, Carfax will bring you to a list of all of the available vehicles in your area matching that description.

To view a report for one of these vehicles (for free!) select it from the list. This will open a new tab for that vehicle. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page until you see a box labeled CARFAX Snapshot. This will display some immediate information from the Carfax report, which may be all that you’re looking for. To view the full report, click the blue View FREE CARFAX Report button right below that box. This will open up yet another tab that contains the complete Carfax report.