Car Shopping? Find Out if Your Used Car Has a History

If you are in the market for a used car for yourself or for your off-to-college offspring, be sure your comparison shopping includes a vehicle history report. This report will tell you the repair history of the vehicle, including whether it’s been involved in a safety-related recall and repaired – or not. It will tell you whether the car has been in an accident, flood, tornado or hurricane and whether it’s been repaired – or not. It will even tell you whether it’s been reported stolen or if its odometer has been rolled back to make the car look less used. (The U.S. government estimates a half-million vehicles with fraudulent odometer readings are sold each year, costing us buyers more than $1 billion.) For the full story on thus topic, visit our sister site, Living on the Cheap.