If you’ve ever Googled VIN lookup, you may come across a variety of vehicle history report providers similar to Carfax. Wondering which option is reliable and cost-effective¹? Here’s a comprehensive review of Carfax alternatives for you. 

• BeenVerified – Most cost-effective VIN reports (subscription-based)
• EpicVIN – User-friendly VIN reports (single purchase available)

Top 5 Carfax Alternatives

Here are the top 5 Carfax alternatives on my list, cheaper than Carfax and with unique benefits. For each service, I’ll provide a comprehensive comparison to Carfax, highlighting what their report includes or lacks. Also I’ll delve deep into their reliability, features, and price.

1. BeenVerified

BeenVerified is a powerful all-in-one place to search for any kind of people, vehicle, property, and contact info. By scouring millions of data points from authentic sources, its VIN lookup allows people to dig deep into a given vehicle without much hassle.

The full vehicle report consists of the vehicle specification, accidents, salvage and theft records, recalls and warranties, safety ratings, ownership cost, sales listings, market value, and several points of interest.

What I love most about BeenVerified is that it requires no extra cost to use other search tools. For example, with the name search, you could verify a seller you’re dealing with, check someone’s background details or even find the person you’ve lost contact with.

Why we love it:
 Affordable fees (100 reports for $28.79/month)
Detailed sales listings with the date, seller, and price
Insightful market price analysis
 Versatile search tools (background search, phone number lookup, email search) included in the subscription
 A variety of member perks

What we don’t like:
Lacks some service records and damage history
Ownership information is sometimes incomplete
Some warranties are not covered

2. EpicVIN

EpicVIN is also a leading vehicle data provider approved by NMVTIS, the largest vehicle information system in the U.S. It delivers extensive and precise information such as vehicle titles, specifications, sales, accidents, thefts, and so forth.

Once you input a VIN or license plate, it will go through the 40 million vehicle documents and organize a neat report. The scanning process is pretty fast. You should see voluminous information divided into several sections, covering odometer readings, past owners, damages, accidents, recalls, and title status.

Why we love it:
 Cheaper single report price
 Clear charts and tables displaying vehicle history events and relevant records
 Sales history with real vehicle pictures
 Informative market and value analysis

What we don’t like:
No warranty status

3. AutoCheck

Powered by Experian, AutoCheck is a trustworthy VIN lookup service that offers full-scale vehicle history reports and helps you make the right purchasing decisions and avoid potential risks to road safety.

Upon entering a VIN or US license plate, it’ll generate a report showing the vehicle’s title brand, accident records, damage events and odometer readings. However, maintenance and service records or sales-related info are not available.

Beyond just regular types of data, AutoCheck features a unique free score system. Taking various factors into consideration, such as the vehicle’s manufacture age, mileage, accidents and so on, it assesses the predicted reliability of a vehicle on a rating scale of 1 – 100. Even if you’re not familiar with the vehicle specs, it will be straightforward to compare vehicles of similar age and class quickly.

Why we love it:
 Lower-priced reports ($24.99 for one VS $39.99 at Carfax)
 Vehicle history in chronological order, very similar to Carfax
 Unique Autocheck scores for quick evaluation of cars
Exclusive auction data from the largest two US auctions

What we don’t like:
No ownership cost and warranty check
Data is sometimes outdated and incomplete

4. VINCheck.info

VINCheck.info is a completely free tool to acquire vehicle information sourced from trusted channels like industry leaders and government agencies. While it provides some critical details such as vehicle specs, theft records, sales listing, market value, etc, it doesn’t offer information as extensive and updated as Carfax and other paid services.

Why we love it:
 Free to use

What we don’t like:
Incomplete accident/damage history
Sales records and mileage readings are outdated
No ownership history and warranty check

5. NICB VINCheck

NICB’s VINCheck is a free resource available to the public. Supported by NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau), it enables anyone to check a vehicle by VIN and determine if it’s reported as stolen or reported salvaged.

On the NICB VINCheck page, type in a VIN number and it will reveal the vehicle’s theft and total loss records if it has been reported by the participating NICB member insurance companies. The tool is free but shows only basic information.

Why we love it:
 Totally free resources

What we don’t like:
 Limited information, only theft records and total loss records
Up to 5 searches within 24 hours per IP

Wrapping up

Getting a detailed history report of your dream car is a wise move before purchase. If you’re looking for cheaper VIN checks, BeenVerified is a great Carfax alternative. By paying for a monthly subscription, which is even cheaper than a single Carfax report, you can perform a car search at any time within the period. 

Note that a clean vehicle history report doesn’t indicate a car is good enough. It won’t reflect unreported damages or minor incidents. For extra assurance, you may need to hire a mechanic to inspect the car before closing the deals.

Have more ideas or questions about vehicle history reports? Feel free to leave a comment below.

1. Pricing and Dealer Discussion [Sirnice]. (2019, July 11). Carfax alternatives that’s reliable and cheap? [Online forum post]. Miata.net. https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?p=9451067 ↩︎

* NMVTIS (National Motor Vehicle Title Information System) is a public system authorized by the U.S. Department of Transportation. It provides valuable vehicle condition and history information to consumers via a list of approved providers. 

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