Free VIN scanner apps

[Xist]

I was going through my tabs, still had the crazy girl's coupe ad open, and saw that it sold. I just found an AutoCheck report for it, so I tried to pull it back up just to see if the sale was already logged, and what the reported mileage was.

I can't find it!

Just like last week, all that I found for free were basic information and ads for paid reports.

It is awesome when you click a link for a free report and all that you get is a solicitation.

Did you know that CarFax's unlimited subscription is only good for 6 reports monthly?

I am pretty sure that "Unlimited" means at least seven!

I cannot find anything useful, except for a reference to a VIN barcode scanner app.

Wouldn't you rather wave your phone at the general direction of a VIN sticker than write down 15 characters?

I took a picture of the girl's VIN on my phone and then typed the code into VehicleHistory last week.

ISeeCars has over 500,000 downloads and is rated 4.4/5. It read the barcode off my laptop before I even thought that it was in focus. It read correctly and gave me hilarious suggestions like it having 166,874 miles (the owner claimed 150k, but the last registration was 208,000 2 years ago), and had an estimated market value of $3,632.

I love Hondas, but I wouldn't think that a mint Accord with 167,000 miles would be worth that much.

I can see Accords of that generation for sale nationwide through their site, but nothing within 200 miles.

Craigslist and Facebook have Accords of that generation within 200 miles.

It claims that the average 1999 Honda Accord was driven 7,580 miles per year.

Does anyone believe that?

It links to AutoCheck, says that the best months to buy a car like this are November and December and the worst are April and May, with June being almost as bad.

It links to Honda's site for owner's manuals.

So, it has some useful information. I would keep it just to save time grabbing VINs.

VINDecoded.com also has over 500,000 downloads and is rated 4.4. The camera is a little slower, but fine. It estimated 297,554 miles and a market value of $2,927, which are both high.

It links to CarFax and VinAudit.

Orto Vehicle History has over 100k downloads and is rated 4.3. I couldn't get the scanner to work, but I will try again on my car tomorrow. I copied and pasted it from another app and this one says that it has 201,016 miles, based on 1 car sold in the last 90 days, in average condition is worth $2,998.

It links to a $10 report.

CarCheck, 100k downloads and rated 4.2. It doesn't have a scanner. I pasted the VIN, it asked for an e-mail address, it had me approve a long agreement, and then tried to bill me $17.

Nope!

One star!

The last one that I am trying [for now]:

Vin Decoder, 4.2 stars, and over 50k downloads. It is as fast as ISeeCars, but all that it did was capture and interpret the code. I don't know that the others offered useful information, except for links to CarFax, etc.

If I am going to keep one of these so far, it would be this. Small, light, and quick!

Are there any functions that you would like in a VIN scanner? Do you have a favorite VIN search site?

I want to see one that links to AutoTempest or at least Facebook and Craigslist so that you can really compare the car in front of you with others for sale.

How about eBay Motors? That gives you the sold prices!

[Xist]

Vin Number Check is rated 4.6 and has over 5,000 downloads; it looks like Vin Decoder with a different color scheme. The camera looks exactly the same, but it didn't work with my laptop screen. [It worked when I tried later--once I gave up!]

I copied the VIN from Vin Decoder and it showed all of the same information, plus the average price is $3.49.

Scan That Car is also rated 4.6, but only has 1,000 downloads. It looks like the same camera as the other apps, but it worked with my laptop screen.

It shows an odometer problem!

I think it is the first one.

It shows a picture of an Accord. It is the right color, but has alloy rims, and it looks like a sedan.

It is not a large picture, but it is the first one to show one.

Imagine checking the VIN on a Chevrolet Cavalier and finding out that it is for a Pontiac Sunfire--or a Dodge Neon.

9 owners, 0 accidents, 1 recall, no rebuilt title, no salvage title, odometer problem, no frame damage, no fire damage, no water damage, no hail damage, no junk title, no recycled title, no lemon title, no theft reported, no theft recovered, no insurance loss, no NHTSA Crash Vehicle, no abandoned, no grey market, no Canadian registration, and no storm area registration. Last registered in Arizona and the last reported mileage is 208,943.

I saved it and will check back in a week.

I looked up that recovered stolen Corolla and it doesn't show that, but it says that it was in an accident.

I found a car on Facebook Marketplace identified as restored salvage, but it didn't show up.

VIN Info is rated 4.0, has 10k downloads, and doesn't scan VINs. Why does it show up under VIN scanner?!

It doesn't show specific information, it just decodes the number and shows specifications and standard equipment.

VIN Lookup also doesn't scan VINs. It is rated 4.4 with 1,000 downloads. It also takes you right to the purchase page.

That is all of the scanners rated 4+. Scan That Car is my new favorite. It is the only one that has basic information, although it doesn't seem complete.

Let's do it!

CarFax is rated 4.4 with over 1m downloads. The camera looks similar to the other ones and I had difficulty at first. I realized the red horizontal line was like an actual bar code scanner, so it finally eventually worked when I bisected the barcode.

It required a login. Can I trust CarFax?

I can log into my laptop, but not the app.

I tried three times.

I couldn't log in with Gmail, either. I finally got in with Facebook, but each time that I claimed that I wanted to buy a report it took me back to a previous step.

Broken! One star!