{"id":374631,"date":"2026-07-15T21:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/374631\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T21:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:58:11","slug":"how-to-check-a-used-cars-history-and-avoid-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/374631\/","title":{"rendered":"How to check a used car\u2019s history and avoid scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Used car buyers in Texas face common scams that can cost thousands of dollars. Here\u2019s how to check a vehicle\u2019s history and stay safe.<\/p>\n

Get the vehicle identification number (VIN)<\/p>\n

The VIN is a 17-digit code on the lower-left corner of the dashboard. It\u2019s also on the car\u2019s title and other documents. You\u2019ll need this number to look up the car\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Use VINCheck<\/p>\n

Run the VIN through VINCheck<\/a>, a free tool from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. VINCheck can tell you:<\/p>\n

The vehicle\u2019s manufacturer, body style, trim, and engine type.
\nWhen it was built.
\nIf it was ever stolen, in an accident, or declared a total loss (salvage title).<\/p>\n

Watch for common used-car scams<\/p>\n

Be careful if:<\/p>\n

The price is much lower than similar vehicles.
\nThe seller uses pictures of a car they don\u2019t own.
\nThey ask you to use a fake, third-party \u201cescrow\u201d service or want payment by gift cards or wire transfers. These payments are hard to trace, and you might not get your money back.<\/p>\n

Have a question about insurance? Call the Texas Department of Insurance at 800-252-3439 or visit\u00a0 www.tdi.texas.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Used car buyers in Texas face common scams that can cost thousands of dollars. Here\u2019s how to check…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132530,132536,132535,132533,27,29,28,132531,132532,113955,84037,132534],"class_list":["post-374631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-car-sales-scams","tag-free-vin-lookup","tag-how-to-check-used-car-history","tag-nicb","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-used-car-scams","tag-used-truck-scams","tag-vehicle-identification-number","tag-vin","tag-vin-check"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}