Dear Oppo, please spread the word.

"mkbruin, Atlas VP" (mkbruin)
12/29/2016 at 10:04 • Filed to: None

The National Insurance Crime Bureau offers a FREE vin check service. Sure, it won’t tell you how many dealer-completed oil changes have occurred; however, if your primary concern is accident/salvage/theft history, NICB is the agency where Carfax and Autocheck (or similar) source the insurance-reported data.

https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck

DISCUSSION (8)

Funktheduck > mkbruin, Atlas VP
12/29/2016 at 10:09

I tried this on my truck. I just got an error. The vin is too short.

Dave the car guy , still here > mkbruin, Atlas VP
12/29/2016 at 10:18

Another free service is by the NHTSA. They have a site where you can check vehicles for open recalls. I use it at work from time to time, beats calling another service department and bugging someone.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues

Stapleface > mkbruin, Atlas VP
12/29/2016 at 10:24

Nice, thanks for this. I’ll have to bookmark this.

facw > Dave the car guy , still here
12/29/2016 at 10:27

But can I trust it? It says my car received a second LATCH/ISOFIX guide as part of a recall, but looking at the single unit in my trunk, this is clearly not true. Luckily, I’ve never had to put even a single car seat in, so I think I’m ok with one.

Dave the car guy , still here > facw
12/29/2016 at 10:45

I’ve never seen an error yet. Its supposed to list recalls that are still open. If they were done the dealership completing the work reports the info to the manufacturer who lets the government know the recall is complete. Since there has to be follow through by more than one party I would think there could be errors.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > mkbruin, Atlas VP
12/29/2016 at 21:46

It only seems to check for theft reports and total-loss write-offs. It told me the MJ’s vin (only one handy) isn’t in either database. I think that’s a good thing, although considering it’s a Canadian truck and always has been, I don’t know if that means anything.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Dave the car guy , still here
12/29/2016 at 21:59

I’ve ised this one. My MJ has an outstanding recall to replace the original compound (read two-pieces, press-fit together) brake rotors. Obviously 522,000km after it left the factory those are long gone, but in my mind that still means I’ve got a free set of rotors coming my way the next time I need them. And it’s not just my mind, a forum member is a tech at a Jeep dealer and he ran my vin and confirmed the recall was outstanding and if I brought it in they’d be obligated to perform the recall. He also said there were no records of it being serviced at a dealership since December 1991.

Dave the car guy , still here > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
12/29/2016 at 22:25

Its a decent resource. Just this week one of our sales managers was having one of our service guys call our Ford francise to ask if a truck we were selling had any recalls. I had the VIN in front of me and had the two open recalls printed before they could get through to a service adviser.