Checking a used US car before you buy it
You cannot kick the tyres from here. You can still check what decides whether a car is worth buying.
Nearly every way a remote purchase goes wrong leaves a trace in a document, a number or a photograph, and all of them can be checked before you pay. There are four checks: the VIN, the title, the photos and an inspection. None of them needs you to be in America.
Start with the VIN
Every modern car has a 17-character vehicle identification number. It is on the dashboard by the windscreen, on the door pillar and on the title. Ask the seller for clear photos of all three. If they do not match, stop there. The VIN is also the car's identity in the UK: it is recorded on the V5C when we register it, so a wrong or altered number is a problem that follows the car to your driveway.
Then run it. Reports on the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) are sold through approved providers listed on the US Department of Justice's site. Here is what each check will and will not tell you.
- NMVTIS report
- Current title and its state, brands such as junk, salvage or flood, the latest odometer reading, and any total loss or salvage history. No repair or maintenance history, and not every state's data is complete.
- Commercial history report
- Often adds accident records, past listings and service visits. Use it alongside NMVTIS, not instead of it.
- Photo of the title
- Front and back. Shows the owner's name, any brand, and whether a lender is listed as lienholder.
- Independent inspection
- The physical car: rust, accident repair, flood damage, worn suspension, warning lights. The DOJ itself encourages one before you buy.
Read the title like a contract
In the US the certificate of title is the ownership document, and it is what US Customs asks to see before the car can leave the country. Three things have to be true.
- It is a clean title. No salvage, rebuilt, reconstructed, flood or junk brand. We import clean-title vehicles only, and there is a practical reason beyond our policy: a seriously damaged vehicle, meaning a write-off or its equivalent for an import, cannot be registered and taxed in the UK. Our guide to salvage and rebuilt titles explains the brands.
- It is in the seller's name. The person selling should be the owner on the title. If they are not, ask why before you ask anything else.
- There is no lien on it. A bank or finance company listed as lienholder still has a claim on the car. US Customs will not clear it for export without a letter from the lienholder, on its letterhead, describing the vehicle and its VIN and expressly allowing export. In practice we want the lien released before we collect.
A genuine seller will send a photo of the title without fuss. A seller who "will find it later" has told you something too.
Photos, then a second pair of eyes
A listing's glamour shots are the seller's choice of angle. Ask for the others: the underside, the engine bay, the VIN plates, the odometer and any warning lights on at start-up, in daylight and with the car as it stands.
Then book a mechanic or mobile pre-purchase inspection who works for you, not for the seller. The brief is short: rust, accident repair, flood damage, worn suspension, and anything that would need fixing before a UK test. A car under 10 years old takes an IVA. An older one takes an MOT, or past 40 years may be exempt. Our IVA or MOT guide covers both.
What you cannot see from here
A report and a few photos will not tell you how the car drives, whether the air conditioning blows cold, how the paint looks in real light, or what it smells like after a wet summer. An inspector can cover some of that. A plain-language inspection report is the next best thing to standing next to the car.
What we can add is the UK half of the picture. Lighting is the usual conversion work on a US car, and we know what that involves, which is why we would rather see the listing before you pay than after. Converting a US car sets out what changes.
Send us the listing before you pay.
Before any money moves
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Listing to us
We say whether we can bring it over and quote the whole job.
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Title photo
Front and back: clean, in the seller's name, no lien.
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VIN
The same 17 characters on the dashboard, the door pillar and the title.
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History
An NMVTIS report, plus a commercial history report.
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Inspection
A report with photos of the underside, engine bay, VIN plates and odometer.
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Payment
Traceable, to the owner on the title or the dealer you are buying from.
If any stop fails, you have lost an afternoon rather than a car. The wider buying advice, from dealers and private sellers to paying safely, is in buying a car in the USA. Once the car is yours, US export paperwork covers what happens to the title next, and are American cars worth importing shows how the landed price is made up.
Quick answers
Is a VIN history report enough on its own?
No. An NMVTIS report covers title, brands, the latest odometer reading and total loss history. It does not cover repair or maintenance history, and not every state's data is complete. Read it alongside a commercial history report and an inspection.
What does a lien mean for me?
Someone else still has a claim on the car. A car with an unreleased lien cannot be cleared for export without a letter from the lienholder expressly permitting it. We ask for the lien to be paid off and released before we collect.
Can I buy a car I have never seen?
Yes, many people do. The checks are the same ones you would do in person, done by someone else on your behalf: a history report, clear photos of the title and the car, and an independent inspection before any money moves.
Will you import a car that turns out to have a salvage or flood brand?
No. We only import clean-title vehicles. A salvage, rebuilt or flood brand means the car has been written off at some point, and we do not take those on. It is better to find that out from the report than from us after you have paid.
Should I send you the listing first?
Yes, before you pay. We will tell you whether it is a car we can bring over and quote the whole job, so you know the landed cost before you commit.