Buy with your eyes open.
Plain-English answers to the questions used-vehicle buyers ask most — written from the official data we use every day, with no owner details, ever.
🔎VIN basics
How to read a VIN (the 17 characters explained)
What each part of a Vehicle Identification Number means, and where to find your VIN.
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📜Titles & damage
Is a salvage title bad? What it means before you buy
What a salvage or rebuilt title means, the real risks, and when a salvage car can still be worth it.
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📜Titles & damage
Flood car warning signs: how to spot water damage
Telltale signs a used car was flooded — and how to check the title history.
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🔢Plates
VIN vs license plate: what each one can (and can't) tell you
The difference between a VIN and a license plate lookup, and why neither reveals the owner.
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🚤Boats
How to check a used boat before you buy
Using the HIN and U.S. Coast Guard records to research a used boat or yacht.
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🚤Boats
What is a HIN? The boat Hull Identification Number explained
What a Hull Identification Number is, where to find it, and how to decode a boat's HIN.
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⚡Electric cars
What does MPGe mean? Electric-car efficiency explained
MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) explained — how to compare an EV's efficiency to a gas car.
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🚨Recalls
How to check a car for safety recalls
How to look up NHTSA safety recalls for a car, how to confirm whether the repair has been done, and what to do if it has not.
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Got a VIN in hand?
Run a VIN search →
The decode, recalls, known problems and a fair-price range cost nothing — no account needed.