How to check if a car has been in an accident - all information
When buying a car from the hands of a new owner, the question of whether the car has been in an accident or not is of interest.
Previously, the verification process was simple: it was possible to purchase a car only after it was deregistered by the previous owner, and using registration numbers it was possible to find out the whole history of what happened to the vehicle.
In order to increase the value of a car, its history is usually embellished, including deliberately hiding the fact of accidents that have occurred. High-quality repair work helps in this, hiding damage after an accident. However, it is still possible to calculate whether a car has been in an accident.
Checking against the traffic police database
By contacting the traffic police and providing an insurance policy and technical passport of the car, you can obtain comprehensive and reliable information about whether the car has had an accident and what damage it had. The only disadvantage of this method is that it takes a lot of time to carry out the verification.
Check at a service station
If the new owner knows which service station the previous one was serviced at, then you can talk to the service staff. They can tell you how often repairs were carried out, for what reasons and what parts were changed.
Online car check
On the official website of the State Traffic Inspectorate, you can find out the history of a car by its state numbers and VIN code.
It is advisable to check the car before the purchase and sale transaction is completed in order to avoid troubles in the future.
On the official website, the VIN number of the car is entered into a special field. In its absence, you can use the body or chassis number. After some time, the service will provide complete information about the car.
The advantage of this verification method is its availability throughout the country. The only negative is that the service often cannot withstand the influx of a large number of visitors, which is why it is not available at the right time.
The report provided on the official website of the State Traffic Inspectorate contains the following information:
1. Information about spare parts and components;
2. Vehicle mileage;
3. Information about the car’s participation in an accident with photographs of damage and their detailed description;
4. Whether the vehicle was used as a taxi;
5. Is he wanted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
6. Is the property of credit institutions collateral?
7. Repair activities carried out on the car according to the insurance company.
If the car was imported into Russia from another country, then you can use special international websites that provide similar services.
Self-visual inspection
Not every person has free time to visit the traffic police, service stations or access to the Internet. In this case, you can inspect the vehicle for damage and defects.
1. It is best to inspect the car during daylight hours - during the day or in the morning, always in clear and sunny weather.
2. The body must be painted uniformly, without transitions or differences in shades. Different colors and tones on the surface may indicate local repainting and, accordingly, damage to the body as a result of an accident. If the car has not been repainted, the paint on the body will shine evenly.
3. It is worth inspecting the side of the car from the rear of the body. The side surface must be smooth, without bulges, dents or waves - such defects also indicate that an accident has occurred.
4. You can use the old testing method - a magnet. In those places where the body has been puttied and repainted, the magnet will not stick.
5
When inspecting, special attention should be paid to bumpers and fenders - during an accident, these are the parts that suffer the most and most often. Despite the fact that today car restoration is carried out at the highest level, upon careful inspection it is possible to notice traces of damage
6. The gaps between the doors and the body are inspected. If the car has not been in an accident, then they will be the same. If there was an accident, then even the highest quality repairs will not be able to hide the difference in distance.
7. Doors are checked by “swinging” them when open. If they move too easily and do not spring back, then there is a high probability that they have been changed or rearranged.
8. Checking the shock absorbers is carried out by pressing on each corner of the car. In their normal state, the car will swing and return to its original state; if there is a problem, it will spring back for some time.
9. It is advisable to conduct at least a visual inspection of the engine. Its surface must be clean, free of oil stains and other secretions. Such symptoms indicate that the engine needs repair, and most often a major one.
What do they really mean?
The damage data on the diagram is most often reliable, although sometimes not all damaged elements are indicated. But the main thing is that the nature of the damage is based on the subjective opinion of the employees who filed the accident - similar to the description of the list of damages in the documents about the accident, when when contacting the insurance company, new and hidden ones are identified.
For example, in the above diagram, where the car’s bumper is marked in yellow, in fact, the impact was quite strong and, although traffic police inspectors included only the bumper in the list of damage, it also hit the internal components of the technical component (one of the radiators, an air resonator), which, in principle, led to a violation of operational characteristics. Therefore, according to the logic of describing the color designations of the scheme, the bumper should have been red.
However, the impact locations marked with a red cross are most often reliable, as they are easily determined by eye and fit into the documents about the accident.
Information check
How to drive a car without documents
Checking against various databases will allow you to check whether there was an accident or not.
It should be noted right away that today there are many services that allow you to find this information, but not all of them are free. Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say for sure. On the one hand, the cost of such a check is low, but at the same time you will be given accurate information regarding your car. On the other hand, when paying a virtual account, you have no guarantee that all the data will be truly correct.
After all, everything that can be found out by car number is publicly available in the traffic police databases. But if they were not involved in the analysis of the incident, then this information is not contained anywhere.
Also, you have no guarantee that you will waste your money as these sites may not provide any information at all.
What should you do and what services can you use?
Online portal of the traffic police.
Thanks to the service on the official website, you can find out all the necessary data about your future car. To do this, just enter the vehicle number, popularly called vin-code.
The portal provides the following information:
- car data: make, model, production code, body type and technical data on the configuration;
- all owners of this car (you can check the information in the “one owner” ad);
- obligation to financial institutions (loan, pledge, seizure, etc.);
- maintenance data.
This database covers information from various constituent entities of the Russian Federation, is constantly replenished and updated, data appears in the database almost immediately after the incident. So if this database does not show data about a particular car, and it is not new from the showroom, then you should think about whether you need to buy this car or not.
Insurance company database
Just a few years ago, if a car was involved in an accident, the insurance company would increase the car’s BMR, but the owner could get around this by renewing the contract with another company. But today there is a unified base that prevents such manipulations and eliminates deception.
This kind of information is very useful not only for those who want to purchase a used car, but also when hiring a driver for a company in order to check it.
The database of insurance companies is located on the official website of the RSA, where the following information is displayed:
- information about the owner of the vehicle;
- driver's insurance and class information;
- technical characteristics of the vehicle.
You may not find information here about how many owners this car has had, but if the data shows a reduction factor, it means the car was in an accident. And this may be enough to refuse to purchase this vehicle.
Vin code
Car owners often compare the VIN code to a person’s fingerprints. This number is assigned to the vehicle, and it is installed on all the most important parts of the vehicle. Therefore, if the parts have changed, the system will definitely issue them.
Today there are several online services where you can find out whether there was an accident with a car or not. Some of them are paid, so you can use them only at your own risk.
And speaking of risks. Buying a used car is always associated with danger and breakdowns. Even if you didn’t find anything illegal, the car may simply be old. Keep this in mind if you hope that it can be changed over time.
Have a nice trip!
Road accident database - traffic police online, insurance companies, search for a getaway car
Nowadays, there are quite a lot of scammers who make money from selling damaged or stolen cars. Therefore, it is very important to have services that systematize and store data about machines over a long period.
In Russia, at the moment, there are several services for checking cars for participation in accidents and other violations: a service on the traffic police website, private inspection sites, a unified database of insurance companies.
Not all services are available to ordinary citizens, but still, now when buying a used car you can find out whether it was involved in accidents and how much repairs were made after that.
There is a traffic accident database of the traffic police online, through which you can get some information about the car. This data is also used on the Autocode website, where in Moscow and the region you can get information about a car registered in a given region.
The database contains the following information about the car:
- general information (year and place of manufacture, brand, model range, engine parameters, etc.);
- previous owners (their number, without indicating names and surnames, only the nature of ownership - legal entity or individual);
- participation in an accident (date, place and type of accident, nature of injuries received);
- prohibitions and restrictions on the car (search, being on bail, etc.);
- date of inspection;
- using a car for taxation (officially);
In the future, the Autocode service plans to expand to other regions of the country, as well as to supplement the information entered into the database about the configuration of the machine and its service.
The traffic police database allows you to find information about a car and accidents with it throughout Russia, which is quite convenient.
True, the information is not as complete as in Autocode:
- information about participation in an accident;
- being wanted;
- prohibitions from court, customs, social security or investigation;
- prohibition when changing ownership;
- fines and violations.
You can also check a person’s driver’s license online using the traffic police database.
Who leads
The traffic police database is maintained by authorized employees of the organization; changes are made immediately after the incident and are displayed in the database.
If a person has a violation or is involved in an accident, this will be visible during the inspection. Therefore, many people wonder who can remove an accident from the traffic police database, but this is not done officially.
Everything, of course, depends on the nature of the violation - if an accident is classified as an administrative violation, then information about it is stored for at least 2 years, and often longer. Criminal offenses are not removed from the database.
The Autocode portal also belongs to the state portals, which is developed by a special department based on data from the traffic police, banks and insurance companies.
Car manufacturers provide information about cars by their VIN numbers. The portal is still quite new, so the information in it is constantly updated.
There is feedback on the site, so if you find any shortcomings during the check, you can always write to the developers and correct the error.
The database from insurance companies is controlled and maintained by the Russian Union of Auto Insurers, which collects information about cars from various insurance companies.
The disadvantage of this accounting is that the number of insurers in the database is still low, so it is not always possible to track a person according to his previous policy.
Database participants receive information about a new agreement or its amendment within 15 days, which is immediately displayed in the system.
How to check a car
When purchasing a car, the new owner becomes aware of its VIN number, which is used to register the car.
If the car is used, then its previous owner has already registered the car with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, therefore, knowing the registration certificate number and VIN number, you can find out information about the car in the Russian State Traffic Safety Inspectorate database online.
This will help ensure the owner’s honesty, as well as find out whether the car was damaged in an accident and whether there are fines, court injunctions, etc. behind it, which will cause problems with the new registration and ownership of the car in general.
Information can be provided directly to the traffic police when contacting the department, which will take some time, but it is much more convenient and faster to do it online.
The car checking service has been operating on the traffic police website since February 2021 and allows you to find out all the prohibitions imposed on cars, fines and participation in accidents.
To do this, on the traffic police website, on the right, select the check section of interest in the “Online services of the traffic police” - “Vehicle check”:
The verification will begin after entering the VIN number and the generated verification code. The VIN code is indicated in the documents for the car (registration certificate or PTS). If the VIN number cannot be found, you can enter the chassis or body number.
Searching for information takes a maximum of 1 minute. If there are violations, this will be immediately displayed on the screen.
Using the same principle, you can check a car for fines, but to do this you need to enter its license plate number. To check your driver's license, you need to know its series and number, as well as the date of registration.
Since 2021, another verification service has been operating - “Autocode” at avtokod.mos.ru, but only for the Moscow region. The portal is unique in the information it provides, which displays the entire history of the car from the moment of its purchase, and not just information about accidents and restrictions.
This is a connecting portal between the traffic police and insurance companies, combining a lot of information. It belongs to the state and they plan to expand it throughout the country.
To check a car, you need not only the VIN number, but also a vehicle registration certificate.
If you don’t have a VIN number, you can enter the car’s license plate number. Only registered users or users of the State Services website can use the portal.
There are also many private portals on the Internet for checking cars, and they are not always free. They work on the basis of traffic police databases, but are not as accurate as the original source. But there is no guarantee that the data provided is relevant and even real.
Is it possible to find a car that fled the scene of an accident?
If a participant in an accident fled the scene, you can find him only if you remember his state signs. This cannot be done online, since the request requires the registration certificate number or VIN number of the car.
This limits access to the accident database by car number to just anyone, making it possible to monitor your vehicle or check the car before purchasing.
But at the traffic police department, using the car number and the corresponding request, they can easily find the missing participant.
Database of insurance companies for road accidents
Previously, insurance companies, when their client got into an accident, reduced the cost of his insurance, so the driver simply changed the company and received insurance in a new, full amount.
Now insurers have decided to create their own single database for checking the client’s history, because if a person has frequent insured events and accidents, he receives fewer bonuses from the company and pays more for insurance.
It is even planned to accrue bonuses to diligent drivers who were not involved in road accidents and accidents, and those who often find themselves in such situations will receive disbonuses.
Switching to a new company, if it is a member of the base, will not change anything, because in this case insurers only benefit from unfavorable clients.
If a person has purchased compulsory motor liability insurance, his data is included in the database and stored within 15 days. All emergencies and accidents are also displayed when checked by a company employee.
If the driver does not have an accident, he is annually given a bonus discount on the policy, which can reach up to 50%. the driver can be corrected only after 2 years without precedents.
If there are three accidents per year, for example, the price of insurance will increase by 2.5 times. But insurance companies have no right to increase it more than threefold.
This database can only be used by insurance companies; it is not available to ordinary people. The driver’s passport data, his license number, policy number and accident rate are not entered, which makes it possible to set the price for a new policy.
Checking a car based on road accidents makes it possible to monitor your own situation with regard to driving, and also avoid buying a car that has been damaged in the past, or a car that is under some kind of ban from the state.
If the car was stolen, the check will also show this information. The best way to obtain data is on state portals - the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate and Autocode; they reflect the real state of affairs and are free.
This speeds up the verification of the purchased car, and also makes it possible to avoid a long trip to the traffic police to obtain this data.
If you left the scene of an accident and are wanted
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There are also a lot of such situations. In a stressful situation, the driver may be afraid of responsibility and leave the scene of an accident, after which he will repent for a long time.
After all, this threatens with a considerable fine and deprivation of rights for a very impressive period of time, as well as large material costs. The insurance company refuses to pay such violators, and all costs fall on the shoulders of the culprit.
You can also leave the scene of an accident unintentionally. There have been cases when a passenger car was hit by a truck or truck, and the latter clearly did not feel the collision and drove on. In this case, you must behave as described in the traffic rules: call the traffic police, record your damage and sign the protocol they have drawn up.
After such evidence, the culprit will not be able to wriggle out of responsibility, because in the short time that he had, the culprit can create an alibi for himself, bring witnesses and correct the damage to the car.
How to check if a car has been in an accident
You are allowed to continue driving
Road accident statistics show that about 80 percent of cars older than 10 years have been involved in an accident.
What a disappointment for those people who bought a car, and after some time find out that the car was in an accident. After all, the former owner said that it was not damaged or painted. Or maybe he himself didn’t know...
I would also like to advise you not to buy cars with airbrushing, in most cases this is to mask the traces of an accident.
Checking the paintwork
So, to check the paintwork, you can use a thickness gauge (a special device for checking the thickness of paintwork) or the old-fashioned way with a magnet in a rag.
If you decide to buy a thickness gauge, pay special attention to the fact that it must be electronic, its performance must be in both positive and negative temperatures, and the readings of the device must necessarily be down to hundredths
It is also important that many cars have a body made of aluminum; in this case, the thickness gauge should also be selected for non-ferrous metals
It is also important that many cars have a body made of aluminum; in this case, the thickness gauge should also be selected for non-ferrous metals
We use a thickness gauge
The use of a thickness gauge, as well as the inspection itself, should take place during daylight hours with a clean car. Measuring should start from the roof since the paintwork there is least susceptible to the influence of road dust, gradually move to the pillars and body, a notch must be made every 10-15 cm, the spread in thickness should not be more than 20-30 microns.
Inspect the car around the perimeter; on a clean car, painted parts are usually noticeable at an angle; look at the glass markings, they should not be different. Inspect the headlights to see if they are original, because... After an accident, rarely will anyone install original ones.
look at the license plate, if it is bent it may have been a minor accident. Inspect the distance from the wheels to the arch and compare this position on the opposite side; in the event of a severe accident, it happens that the axles shift and the distance is different. Open all the doors and close them, all should close evenly and equally.
Also keep in mind that when painting a car, rarely does anyone cover all unnecessary elements; in the end, you will look for paint on wires, suspension springs and other parts...
Inspection of the interior
In the event of a severe accident, the front glass breaks, thereby scratching the panel, inspect the panel for scratches, parts of the decorative panels are crooked or loose, this is one of the signs of an accident.
Premium cars should not have strong “crickets” and rattles
If the panels are of a different color in the places where the airbags are installed, treat this with caution because
these may be plugs installed after an accident.
To do this, wrap the magnet in a soft cloth and make marks on the car body, in the place where there is a large layer of putty, the magnet will lose power, thereby you will identify the area of damage, the disadvantage of this method is that you will not identify wear and scratches that were painted over. .k magnet will not pick up small thickness.
Check a car for an accident in 2021 - how to find out if the car was in an accident?
Our site will help you prepare for buying a car and protect yourself from various types of fraud and deception that often occur on the used car market. Unscrupulous used car sellers won't fool you anymore. Here you can quickly and free of charge check your car for cleanliness based on the most important characteristics, knowing only the VIN or state license. vehicle number. The VIN site will collect information for you about any vehicle that is registered with the Russian State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. For a complete check, only the vehicle identification number (VIN) is required - a unique vehicle code consisting of 17 characters (VIN CODE). It can be seen under the hood of the car; the number is also duplicated on the door plates; sometimes the VIN code is duplicated under the driver’s seat or in other places on specially made license plates (depending on the model and make of the car). And of course, the VIN number is indicated in the registration documents of the vehicle: PTS and STS.
The image below shows the places in the car where automakers place the VIN number.
If the car was involved in traffic accidents, then this is a direct indicator of a decrease in selling value. Moreover, despite the restoration work carried out, the seller must indicate that the car was damaged. This information will certainly put off many buyers, but will attract resellers demanding lower prices.
You need to check the car for accidents before buying, so as not to discover an unpleasant surprise under the hood later. If the traffic accident was minor, then there is no need to worry, especially if repairs and restoration work are carried out in a timely manner.
Checking a car for an accident by VIN and license plate number is possible thanks to the interaction of the Autocode online service with databases from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, ROSSTAT, VAS RF, FSSP, RASA and NBKI, which allow you to find out all the information about the car of interest:
- car history;
- legal purity;
- general information and detailed configuration of the model;
- technical inspection information;
- exact mileage;
- average market price and other information.
The information that can be obtained through the service is more than enough to make the final decision - buy a new one or look for another car.
Checking your car for an accident through our service does not take much time. You get rid of the need to personally contact government agencies. It is beneficial to check your vehicle for accidents with us for several reasons:
- a few minutes to enter data;
- 1-15 minutes – waiting for verification;
- a few minutes to study the report.
We monitor database updates, so we provide our clients only with up-to-date information. You can order a report at any time of the day; we work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Official website of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate;
- Russian Union of Auto Insurers;
- BKI (Russian Credit History Bureau);
- FSSP;
- Judicial system;
- Federal Notary Chamber;
- Banks and credit institutions;
- Insurance companies;
- Official car dealers;
- Customs Service of the Russian Federation;
- Auto advertisement boards.
Verification methods
In Russia, there are different ways to check a car for involvement in an accident, and all of them are recommended to be used. To do this, you will need to know certain data about the vehicle. For example, VIN code and state number. Using trusted sites will allow you to find out for sure whether the car was in a road accident.
As you know, each car has a state number assigned to it, which you will need to use to obtain the information of interest. Also, a specific car has its own VIN code, and this will also be useful. It is best to check using both numbers to protect yourself, as scammers carry out fraud, wanting to hide information about the accident. They transfer the registration number to another car, and because of this, the person becomes a victim of deception. For your safety, you should additionally look for information by VIN code.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PfB6qS3Xu04
Visual inspection
An expert will tell you how to find out if a car has been in an accident using a visual inspection. He will conduct a thorough examination of the car for defects. If it is not possible to contact him, you can arrange an examination yourself. In this case, it is necessary to act in stages.
- Inspect the car's covering. Pay attention to the roof, hood and sides. It is better to study the latter by squatting down. This makes it easier to notice the defect.
- Review the quality of the joints. Their width should be uniform throughout the entire connection.
- If you think there is putty on your car, apply a magnet to the suspicious area. Having fallen, he will confirm your guesses.
- Try opening and closing doors. If the geometry of the body is broken, your actions will lead to the formation of extraneous sound.
- Pay attention to the uniformity of the car's paint.
- Check the glass production dates using the stamps located on them.
The vehicle inspection is carried out in good lighting and without time restrictions. In this case, the vehicle must be clean. You need to check your car for involvement in an accident using the database even if no defects are found.
Carfax Internet service
The Carfax Internet service also allows you to find out whether a car was not or was involved in an accident. It uses an efficient vin-online verification format that checks a car by its VIN number online. If, for example, you buy a used car, to make sure whether it has been involved in an accident, you simply run its VIN code on Carfax and get everything you are interested in.
Checking a car when buying is an extremely necessary thing. We must remember that for various reasons, also intentionally, you can purchase a car with such defects that the money spent will be thrown away. When drawing up a purchase and sale agreement, the buyer signs a statement stating that he has no complaints about the technical side of the purchase and the completeness of its completeness, after which this issue will be legally closed. But in order to put your signature on it, you first need to make sure that it really is so. Happy shopping!
What information can you get from your VIN code?
Checking a car by VIN code for an accident is carried out free of charge using any available resource. This allows you to reduce the risks of purchasing a car that has been in a traffic accident.
What information can you get by finding out the car’s VIN code:
- Number of previous owners of the vehicle.
- The presence of restrictions established by the traffic police.
- History of fines and mileage, availability of collateral.
- Was the vehicle used in a taxi?
- Were there any insurance payments for repairs?
- Information about mileage and accidents.
Advice! Searching for information allows you to find information about the payment made for car restoration. In this case, it is further clarified what type of repair was required and what parts were replaced. Having previously “punched” the vehicle, you can avoid problems with transport in the future.
Checking your car for an accident is useful for all future buyers who do not want to purchase damaged cars. For anyone for whom this fact is not critical, this information will allow them to bargain well or prepare for the necessary repair work that arises during the operation of the machine.
External body inspection
There are many practice-tested, effective ways to check whether a car is damaged or not. These algorithms are very different from each other, although the object of their analysis is the same technical tool. One of the first methods that every buyer resorts to is a visual inspection of the body. An experienced driver with many years of experience in driving and servicing vehicles is able to accurately determine that the car has been in an accident by eloquent little details that mean absolutely nothing to non-professionals, and sometimes are not even noticeable. This also applies to a car body, since after any, even not very significant, accident, as a rule, its evidence, significant evidence, remains on it:
- Scratches;
- Chips;
- Dents;
- Cracks and other defects.
Even if they were skillfully disguised (for example, straightened, puttied and painted with exactly the same paint), an expert will often be able to identify this repaired place on metal, plastic or glass without much difficulty. Therefore, when buying a used car, experts strongly advise taking just such an experienced driver or auto mechanic with you as an expert for inspection and test drive. He will know better than anyone how to distinguish a car that has been in an accident from a non-damaged one, not only purely visually, by direct inspection, but also taking into account the definition of a thickness gauge - a device for studying the degree of freshness of paints and varnishes applied to the surface of the body. However, relying only on such an expert would be a mistake, so it is necessary to additionally apply other options for checking the car.
Why is it important to check your car for accidents?
Denis Lukin, auto expert
“It is necessary to have your car damaged in an accident not only because you don’t want to overpay for a damaged car. Deception is an unpleasant thing, but it’s one thing to simply have a painted bumper, on which one day the varnish begins to peel off and the paint and putty fall off. It’s another matter if the car has been in a serious accident and is welded from several parts, or the geometry of the body has not been completely straightened, and therefore its structure is weakened. The car can be torn apart while driving. If two parts are welded, the airbags may not deploy during an accident or may deploy randomly without any collision. Therefore, checking a car for accidents before purchasing is the first and most important necessity.”
Dmitry, did not check the car before purchasing
“I purchased a one-year-old Kia Sportage in excellent condition and with low mileage. I was incredibly happy! A little later, while driving in the car, something began to tap and noises appeared. A few more months later, when replacing the wheels, I saw cracks on the bottom. I looked under the engine and there were dents on the crankcase protection. When I took it off, I realized that almost everything inside was cracked, as if from a good blow. And from above the car looks like new. It is necessary to do an examination, and this costs a lot. In the salon, of course, they say that everything was intact when it was sold. And you can't prove anything. Looks like the repairs will cost me a pretty penny. Or you’ll have to sell the car at half the price.” I haven't decided yet. I still had to check the car for accidents online in the showroom.”
Mikhail, didn’t check the car before buying
“Two years ago I bought a car in Moscow. When they began to conduct an inspection with the seller, it was already dark outside. I didn’t know how to check the car otherwise. We entered into a simple written purchase and sale agreement. In general, I saw that the car was damaged already at home. There was hidden damage on the car - the gearbox and the left side of the car were broken. While driving, you can hear the suspension cracking. There is not a word about this in the DCP. The seller says he didn't know about the damage. I am the third owner according to documents, I found and contacted the first owner. He said that he sold the car to a dealer in a very bad condition. I really want to return the money, but the reseller has disappeared. Until he is found, the issue with the car will not be resolved.”
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How to check whether a car has been in an accident using the traffic police database
The state number will also work. From this data you will find out all the information about the car. If the car was involved in an accident, then it is in the traffic police database, from which the “Autocode” information is taken.
You can also view various court decisions and reports from authorized technical maintenance services. The information is provided quite complete, including reports from traffic police and traffic police officers. However, this new service is still far from perfect.
Problems with the service Before you find out whether the car has been in an accident on the Autocode website, you should consider several points. First, traffic police reports and formal court records are highly inaccurate. For example, a driver hit a cyclist while braking at a traffic light.
He received a minor bruise and the owner of the car escaped with a fine, and the car itself got a scratch on the hood. But the report may write the abstract phrase “damage to the hood,” which can mean anything.
Vehicle check
A thickness gauge will help identify paint and putty on some parts of the body. Such a device accurately measures the thickness of a material or a coating layer of a material without violating its integrity.
Carry out the inspection during the day, in a well-lit place. The car must be absolutely clean. Even small dirt can hide defects.
Refuse to purchase immediately if you have identified signs of defects that could have appeared after an accident, and the seller stated that the car was not involved in an accident.
You sign this phrase, securing its legal significance.
Checking vehicle involvement in accidents
The check is carried out as follows:
- the site user goes to the “Car Check” tab, which is also located in the online services subsection;
- enter the VIN number (chassis or body number) into the form that opens;
- select the type of check that needs to be carried out.
During the check, the service user may receive one of the following messages:
No information about vehicle registration was found at the specified number.
How to check if a car has been in an accident?
Important The following contact information is also provided. You can submit a request for verification on the website
The car may be “clean” legally. But this does not guarantee you that the car was not involved in an accident. The driver may not have registered the accident.
Let's figure out how to check a car for participation in an accident? Why do you need a visual inspection of the car? As noted above, the car may be flawless from a legal point of view, but the owner could simply not register the accident or not apply for compensation to the insurance company, but repair the car at his own expense.
If you are not a specialist, do not neglect a complete check of the vehicle you are about to purchase.
Pre-sale inspection of a car before purchase is a very important service. It is better to entrust the inspection to a private independent specialist who provides professional expertise.
How to check a car for an accident
Checking for an accident through an insurance organization Due to the increase in the number of fraudsters in the automobile market, the owners of some insurance organizations have created special databases that provide all the necessary information about a specific vehicle.
To get it you need to contact your insurance agent for help.
Attention But there are also certain nuances here.
For example, when a traffic accident occurs, the car owner goes to the insurance company with a certificate received from the traffic police for compensation for material damage to restore the car.
Then the company enters it into its database (data of the car involved in an accident). According to this principle, the formation of resources among insurance organizations takes place.
403 - access denied
Using the portal, you can check the driver for an accident, and also find out:
- characteristics of the vehicle equipment (color, year of manufacture, registration, power, engine size);
- mileage information;
- fact of participation in an accident, photographs of damage;
- whether the car was used as a taxi;
- whether he was or is still wanted;
- whether a loan has been issued for the car;
- information from customs services;
- data on repair work (if the data passed through insurance companies);
- other useful information.
Autocode is a site that provides information about accidents in which a car has been involved, as well as other useful information about a specific vehicle. Other Resources There are many sites for car inspections in 2021.
How to find out details of an accident by incident number
Checking a car for accidents is something that should not be neglected when purchasing a used vehicle.
Thanks to the online service "AutoHistory" you can find out whether the car was involved in traffic accidents, what damage it received, and also see photos from the scene of the accident (not always available).
Thanks to photographs, information such as the degree of damage received, damage to the engine, chassis or body becomes available.
Why is this information needed?
If the car was involved in traffic accidents, then this is a direct indicator of a decrease in selling value. Moreover, despite the restoration work carried out, the seller must indicate that the car was damaged. This information will certainly put off many buyers, but will attract resellers demanding lower prices.
You need to check the car for accidents before buying, so as not to discover an unpleasant surprise under the hood later. If the traffic accident was minor, then there is no need to worry, especially if repairs and restoration work are carried out in a timely manner.
How to find out if a car has been in an accident?
You can check a vehicle for an accident using the VIN code through the State Traffic Inspectorate. And here there are two options:
- Contact the department directly and request information about whether or not the vehicle has been involved in accidents. Information is provided free of charge, but for quite a long time due to waiting in queues and wasting time on requests.
- In an accident according to the state. number, VIN number or chassis, you can check any car on the State Traffic Inspectorate website. But this method also has its drawbacks. First of all, the imperfection of the system, which often experiences failures. Plus, the information is provided for a relatively short period of time – since 2015.
How to check?
Checking your car for an accident through AutoHistory is quick and easy. All that is needed for this is the state. number or VIN of the car that needs to be punched.
How to check a car: you need to insert the number into the form, and then click “Check”. A few minutes after payment, you will receive a full report on the desired car by email.
From the report you can find out the date and exact time when the accident with the vehicle being checked was recorded, its type and the region in which the incident occurred.
Read more: Document certifying ownership of a house
It also happens when the traffic police database does not contain information about whether any of the vehicles under investigation took part in an accident. However, this does not mean that the car is not damaged. Don't let your guard down - before purchasing, you should spend a little time thoroughly checking the car for damage.
How it works?
Checking a car for an accident by VIN and license plate number is possible thanks to the interaction of the Autocode online service with databases from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, ROSSTAT, VAS RF, FSSP, RASA and NBKI, which allow you to find out all the information about the car of interest:
- car history;
- legal purity;
- general information and detailed configuration of the model;
- technical inspection information;
- exact mileage;
- average market price and other information.
The information that can be obtained through the service is more than enough to make the final decision - buy a new one or look for another car.
Why is this beneficial?
Checking a car for an accident through our service is quite simple. You get rid of the need to personally contact government agencies. It is beneficial to have your car checked for accidents for several reasons:
- a few minutes to enter data;
- 1-15 minutes – waiting for verification;
- a few minutes to study the report.
The time spent at this stage will save a lot of effort and nerves in the future. If an inattentive buyer purchased a damaged car without knowing it, the blame lies not only with the seller, but also with the new owner, who did not bother to check the history of the car. Be more careful and know how to check a car before purchasing through the AutoHistory online service!
What resource can you use to find out more detailed information about road accidents? incident number No. 710001608
Hello! In this case, you can find out about an accident only in personal presence at the traffic police. You won’t be able to find out on the Internet, only about fines.
I understood everything, thank you!
Good day. You won’t find detailed information on the Internet, unless the accident made it into the news or someone posted a dashcam video.
Checking the car's participation in accidents and traffic accidents
As practice shows, more than 75% of vehicles offered for sale have been in an accident at least once. But the seller often hides this fact so as not to lose money. Therefore, before concluding a deal, it is recommended to check the car for accidents. Check the car for an accident by VIN or state license. number in just 5 minutes using the Autocode service.
Read more: Mortgage with bad credit history list of banks
How to find out if a car has been in an accident
If you decide to purchase a used car, be sure to check the selected vehicle in advance. This way you will avoid empty views (which is especially important if the car is located in another region) or you will be able to bargain based on the results of the inspection. You can find out whether a car has been in an accident by its VIN or state registration number. number online.
What other information can you get:
- Number of owners
- Mileage
- Presence of encumbrances
- Being hijacked
- History of fines
- Cost of compulsory motor insurance, etc.
With all this data it will be much easier to make a choice.
Why is it important to check your car for accidents?
Denis Lukin, auto expert
“It is necessary to have your car damaged in an accident not only because you don’t want to overpay for a damaged car. Deception is an unpleasant thing, but it’s one thing to simply have a painted bumper, on which one day the varnish begins to peel off and the paint and putty fall off.
It’s another matter if the car has been in a serious accident and is welded from several parts, or the geometry of the body has not been completely straightened, and therefore its structure is weakened. The car can be torn apart while driving.
If two parts are welded, the airbags may not deploy during an accident or may deploy randomly without any collision. Therefore, checking a car for accidents before purchasing is the first and most important necessity.”
Dmitry, did not check the car before purchasing
“I purchased a one-year-old Kia Sportage in excellent condition and with low mileage. I was incredibly happy! A little later, while driving in the car, something began to tap and noises appeared. A few more months later, when replacing the wheels, I saw cracks on the bottom. I looked under the engine and there were dents on the crankcase protection.
When I took it off, I realized that almost everything inside was cracked, as if from a good blow. And from above the car looks like new. It is necessary to do an examination, and this costs a lot. In the salon, of course, they say that everything was intact when it was sold. And you can't prove anything. Looks like the repairs will cost me a pretty penny. Or you’ll have to sell the car at half the price.”
I haven't decided yet. I still had to check the car for accidents online in the showroom.”
Mikhail, didn’t check the car before buying
“Two years ago I bought a car in Moscow. When they began to conduct an inspection with the seller, it was already dark outside. I didn’t know how to check the car otherwise. We entered into a simple written purchase and sale agreement. In general, I saw that the car was damaged already at home. There was hidden damage on the car - the gearbox and the left side of the car were broken.
While driving, you can hear the suspension cracking. There is not a word about this in the DCP. The seller says he didn't know about the damage. I am the third owner according to documents, I found and contacted the first owner. He said that he sold the car to a dealer in a very bad condition. I really want to return the money, but the reseller has disappeared.
Until he is found, the issue with the car will not be resolved.”
Read more: Free legal advice in Ufa addresses
Why is it better to get your car in an accident using Autocode?
Most online services do not allow you to check whether a car is damaged or not without a VIN code. This confuses those who are faced with buying a used car for the first time. On the Autocode portal, it is possible to both check a car for an accident by vin, and check only by state number.
What other advantages of the service are:
- Checking cars for accidents from any region;
- Request by state number, vin code and body number;
- Generating a full report in one click;
- Convenient mobile application, you can take it with you to the transaction;
- It has been operating on the market for more than 7 years, thousands of drivers have already appreciated all the advantages of the service.
Separately, it should be noted that starting from 2021, information on a Japanese car can be accessed on Autocode. Previously, this information could only be found through the traffic police using the body number (remember that cars from the land of the rising sun do not have a VIN code).
The report is compiled on the basis of data from government and commercial sources, including: checking the car for accidents on the basis of the traffic police, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, judicial authorities, large insurance companies, etc. Thus, you receive data about any officially registered incident: date, location, type of accident.
Checking accidents by VIN or state number on the portal is much faster than searching for data on several sites. By requesting a full report on the Autocode website online, you can be sure that you will not make a mistake with your choice.
How to check a car for an accident
Thanks to numerous services and registries, it has become much easier to independently check a car for an accident using its license plate or VIN code before purchasing it. The unified database, which the government plans to form in the coming years, will make it possible to get acquainted with complete information about the vehicle and there will be no point in sellers checking the mileage.
Checking the car for an emergency makes it possible to establish the fact of the damage caused and its complexity. Many services contain not only data on accidents, but also photographs that allow you to determine the extent of general damage, damage to the body, engine or chassis. If this information is available, the vehicle accident check will report this.
Official services and car inspection: why are they necessary?
When purchasing a vehicle secondhand, the new owner begins to drive it independently and only after some time realizes that some systems are not working properly due to an accident in which the car was involved. Also, the car may be stolen or be under arrest by the bailiffs.
Not every car enthusiast will want to buy a vehicle that has been in an accident. Checking your car will help you get the following information:
- presence of emergencies and mileage;
- whether the vehicle is wanted by the police;
- whether the car was seized by decision of the courts.
How to check a car for an accident
There are many ways to find out information regarding a vehicle. In addition to a visual inspection, some services will also allow you to check your car for a traffic accident free of charge.
Checking a car through numerous services does not provide a full guarantee of the reliability of the data received - some motorists prefer to solve everything on the spot, without contacting the State Traffic Inspectorate to record an emergency situation. In this case, information about the incident will simply be missing.
Website "Autocode" - checking a car in one click
The official portal allows you to find out information regarding the vehicle before purchasing it. On the popular website - https://avtokod.mos.ru/ you can check a car registered in the Russian Federation. The procedure is carried out according to the state number of the car or its VIN code.
The report provides the following data:
- Production year;
- car equipment;
- number of owners;
- real mileage;
- the presence or absence of collateral in a financial credit organization;
- checking the car for theft;
- restriction on registration;
- operation of a vehicle in a taxi;
- participation in an accident;
- customs data;
- information from abroad.
If the vehicle was involved in an accident, then the report will contain photos with severe damage. Also, checking the car will allow you to find out the cost of insurance and the car itself. The data is provided online – for the current time.
Why is a vehicle inspection necessary?
The car may have a crystal clear legal history, but the owner could simply not register the incident with the traffic police or the insurance company, but restore the car himself. If you need to reliably find out whether the car was in an accident, it is better to inspect the vehicle. A professional examination will identify all existing defects.
A car diagnostic check includes several stages:
- vehicle inspection;
- diagnostics on a computer;
- checking the vehicle while moving.
The first few points allow you to analyze the technical condition of vehicles. The specialist uses control and measuring devices, tools, professional equipment, and personal experience.
Typically private organizations offer the following services:
- examination by a specialist;
- careful examination of the vehicle body;
- systems check;
- examination of on-board communications, engine operation;
- interior inspection;
- electrical diagnostics;
- vehicle test drive;
- forming a conclusion;
- other services.
The presence of possible malfunctions in a car can be determined during a conversation with the owner of the vehicle. Many of them refuse the deal if the buyer wants to use the services of an experienced specialist to establish the quality of the product being offered to him.
If the owner of the vehicle does not want to carry out an inspection, it is better to immediately exclude the transaction and not waste your time.
Numerous databases and services allow you to find out information about a car, but only if the owner has been in an accident and registered it with the State Traffic Inspectorate. If, in the event of an accident, a claim to the insurance company or the State Traffic Inspectorate was not registered, information about this will not be available.
General information
An online resource for checking vehicles for involvement in accidents has appeared relatively recently. The unified accident database has been available to users since 2014. In 2021, the portal was modernized to expand functionality. Thanks to this, everyone can receive reliable information regarding whether the vehicle has been involved in traffic accidents.
For what purpose was it created?
The traffic police database performs many useful functions. First of all, law enforcement agencies themselves need such a resource.
With its help, road accidents are recorded, local and national statistics are compiled, and the number of victims for a particular period of time is determined. In addition, information about road accidents presented in the database affects the work of insurers. Insurance company employees have the opportunity to verify the existence of an accident and find out its details before paying compensation to the victims.
Why check
The main reason why the traffic police accident database appeared is due to the increase in the frequency of cases of fraud with cars. When purchasing, the new owner may not know that the vehicle was involved in an accident and was damaged. Purchasing a used car on the secondary market is always accompanied by risks. The presence of a single traffic accident database of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate allows you to learn more about the vehicle and make sure that it has not been involved in an accident, is not under arrest and is not listed as stolen.
How to check if your car is wanted
Today, finding out whether a car is wanted after an accident is not difficult.
There are several options on how to do this:
If your car is involved in an accident and is listed as wanted, then at any traffic police post you may be stopped and required to go to the nearest police station to clarify the circumstances.
In addition, it is undesirable to operate such a car; it is best to park it until the issue is closed and the license plate number is removed from the search list, since at each traffic police post the violator will be displayed, and the car will be sent for you to interception
In order to avoid a huge number of troubles on the road, it is best to follow the rules of the road and act wisely in the event of an unforeseen situation. Remember that most problems can be avoided if you face troubles with dignity and resolve everything at the scene as required by law.
Unexpected call from the traffic police
Quite often, drivers on thematic forums complain that they are unfairly accused of an accident that they did not commit. This type of scam has been practiced for several years by both cunning car owners and traffic police officers.
There are plenty of reasons for this - some people take revenge this way for taking up a little more space in the parking lot, while others want to really make money.
Example 1
When you ask where and when this happened, they tell you that you hit your neighbor’s car in the parking lot or hit someone’s car at night. What should not be done in such a situation?
Under no circumstances should you go to the traffic police department and prove something that did not happen. First of all, it is the task of the traffic police to transfer the case to court. There is no need to meet with the plaintiff - he must collect evidence of your guilt.
And only the court can make a decision about whether you are guilty or not, whether you were at the scene of the accident or not, whether you fled or not, and traffic police inspectors deal exclusively with paperwork. By coming to the traffic police search department, you risk harming yourself. It will look like a confession, employees draw up a protocol and submit the papers to the court.
Example 2
An accident occurred, the culprit disappeared, the car is wanted. It is unknown who really was there, but then a very specific person comes and begins to make excuses.
You will be reassured, of course, that the court will decide everything according to law and justice, however, based on documents from the traffic police, in court you will appear as a participant in an accident who left the scene of the accident. And with a 90% probability, the court will decide to deprive you of your driver’s license for a period of 1 to 1.5 years, citing Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Establishing fault at the scene of an accident
In order to prove your innocence, you need facts to confirm it. This issue needs to be given maximum attention and taken very seriously.
Necessary:
- Use DVR recording;
- Find out about the presence of external surveillance cameras from organizations located near the scene of the incident;
- Find witnesses and obtain their consent to voluntarily testify in court, if necessary. Record the testimony and contact information they provided;
- Take an active role in recreating the picture of the accident.
Usually, if an accident occurs during bad weather conditions or on a road with high traffic flow, eyewitnesses to the accident are forgotten. There is a high probability that the protocol will be filled out with procedural violations. It is difficult to dispute your guilt with such documents.
During the investigation of an accident, there are several options for the development of events:
- Both parties plead guilty;
- Both parties admit guilt, but cannot reach an agreement on determining its degree;
- Neither party considers itself guilty;
- The culprit at the scene of the accident has not been identified.
Everything is simple when there is an admission of guilt by the victim. The necessary documents are filled out, a protocol is signed and drawn up. The degree of guilt and other controversial issues are resolved in court.
Who pays insurance for an accident victim?
How to challenge guilt after an accident, if you admitted it, read here.
What to do if the insurance company demands compensation for damages for an accident, find out at the link:
It is more difficult when the culprit does not admit guilt. Then it is necessary to collect additional evidence of his involvement in the accident. Conduct traceological or automotive technical examinations. They make a request to road maintenance services to assess road and weather conditions and their impact on the creation of an emergency situation. All results of examinations and conclusions are submitted to the court for consideration.
Other verification services
Today, several more sites are widespread on the Internet to check whether a car has been involved in an accident. Vincar is a portal that cooperates with the traffic police and major insurers. The database is regularly updated by specialists who have access to the necessary information. Approximately half a month after the accident, theft, or search, the data appears on the website. Users appreciate the Carfax system for its clear interface and easy verification algorithm. The site generates an electronic report with data about the accident, the number of participants, and damage. The Autobot portal works in a similar way. Verification is carried out after entering the VIN code or state number.
Traffic police website
The most truthful and accurate source of data is checking a car for accidents using the VIN code through the traffic police. This option allows you to obtain the necessary information:
- Through the official website;
- At the traffic police department.
Both the first and second options are very accurate - the database used by the police is exactly the same as on the website. So there is no point in going to the department in person.
Online checking is very convenient. All data can be obtained very quickly, and there is no need to go somewhere; everything can be done within the walls of your own home (if there is Internet, of course). The car is checked for an accident using the VIN (VIN) on the official website of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. This is a procedure for which you do not need to pay anything; it is represented by the following steps:
- Login at ;
- Go to this address “Services” - “Car check”.
- Designate the VIN;
- In the “check for participation in an accident” section, click on “Request verification”.
- The system will display the result.
The information base contains information about vehicles registered in the country. The information is constantly updated, and this is a big plus, since immediately after the accident, data about it is recorded in the database.
This service allows you to check a car for an accident using the VIN code at the traffic police for free, and find out other information about it:
- Are there any credit debts?
- Is there a restriction on registration;
- Diagnostics for theft (being wanted) are also performed;
- Vehicle registration history.
Options for obtaining information from the database
The most convenient way is to use the official website of the traffic police. This is because this online resource allows you to complete the check in a short period of time. Here you can track a car in the accident database by car number or STS.
You can obtain similar information by contacting the department in person, where a written request is submitted. However, this procedure takes a long time (up to 30 days). Therefore, the necessary information about an accident by number can be obtained through the online service.
Verification steps:
- Login to the official website of the traffic police;
- At the top of the main page, select “Services”;
- Go to the “Vehicle check” section;
- Here the user is required to enter the VIN or registration plate, as well as the STS number.
After processing the request, vehicle data will appear on the screen along with information about the accident. On the traffic police website you can also check your vehicle for unpaid fines, restrictions or arrest.
Advice! You can also check your vehicle using other online services. For these purposes, users will be helped by the State Services portal, which allows them to make sure that the vehicle has not been involved in an accident or to obtain detailed information about the incidents. Similar information is available on the Autocode website. To perform checks, you will need STS numbers and vehicle registration plates.
It should be noted that the Autocode service in some cases allows you to obtain more detailed information about a specific machine. This is explained by the fact that on this site the check is carried out not only according to the traffic police, but also according to the RSA databases, the bailiff service, and credit organizations. Thanks to this, the user will be able to obtain reliable information about the car and eliminate the possibility of fraudulent activities.
You can separately check the vehicle in RSA. However, this will require data about the car that may not be available to non-owners. We are talking about body and chassis numbers required to track the vehicle.
Why do you need to check your car?
Checking a car is useful for anyone who has shown interest in a specific car option. First of all, you may encounter the fact that the seller will not be able to fully answer questions about the technical equipment of his car. Don’t be surprised, this can also happen when the car was owned for a short time, and the owner did not particularly care about it. However, the most significant thing during such a check is the opportunity not so much to find out about the configuration and manufacturer, but to obtain information regarding:
- all previous owners of the vehicle;
- traffic accidents in which a car was involved;
- all insurance cases.
The system will not hide anything; all information that will be presented to the potential new owner will be genuine, accurate, and can be trusted 100%.
Check through the traffic police website
So, if you are already eager to get a piece of reliable government information regarding the vehicle you are about to purchase, or the one you just recently bought, feel free to proceed with practical actions. Let's take a closer look at how to check a vehicle by entering only the license plate number. First of all, you need to visit the traffic police website, which already has built-in special functionality that allows you to carry out such checks.
The traffic police website has the most complete database of all vehicles that travel on Russian roads. By visiting this resource, you can easily make sure that you can check not only the car, but also:
- fines;
- driver;
- requests.
The check is surprisingly easy; you just need to first enter the region in which the car is registered, and only then enter the state number of the vehicle in a special field and select the desired option. The report will be generated quickly, all you have to do is read everything carefully.
Autocode
The special information portal Avktokod allows you to obtain accurate information on the vehicle, and you will not encounter any difficulties during the inspection. The report is generated in no more than five minutes. You will be incredibly surprised how complete the information regarding the requested car will be provided:
- history of registration actions;
- participation in an accident;
- Vehicle VIN code;
- actual mileage;
- availability of insurance policies;
- information about technical inspections;
- presence of fines;
- other.
This check can be done at home
Please note that scammers cleverly embellish the vehicle, hiding quite serious defects. Even more dangerous is the fact that such scammers are capable of selling a stolen car.
We believe that you yourself understand what will happen if the owner of such a car is later found. So it’s better to check and make sure that the car is clean than to incur financial losses later.
Other resources
The traffic police website and Autocode are not the only resources that allow you to bring all the “past” of a car to light.
Experienced motorists also recommend such services as:
- Vincar;
- Carfax.
Vincar is a service that successfully combines the database of not only the traffic police, but also insurance companies. By visiting such a resource, you can find out whether the car was in an accident, what traffic incidents it was involved in and when. The database is constantly updated, so after an accident occurs, no more than two weeks pass before information about the accident gets into the database. For this reason, it is impossible to hide the “past”.
Carfax is another interesting and useful online check that comes with some benefits:
- user-friendly interface;
- automated sorting system;
- fast report generation.
If desired, you can receive an electronic copy of the report.
Insurance companies have also created their own resource, using which they can check vehicles
However, during such a check it is important to take into account one small nuance. The database includes cars that were involved in an accident, and their owner, having received a certificate from the traffic police, visited the insurance company in order to receive insurance compensation.
If the owner of a car involved in an accident did not show up to the insurance company for various reasons, there will be no information about such an incident in the insurance companies’ database.
So, there are several options for checks, using which not only vehicle owners, but also those who want to purchase a car, can check its past and make everything secret clear.
Ways to check a car for an accident
There are two main methods of checking a car for involvement in accidents. This:
- inspecting the machine for damage;
- online research on special resources.
First, it is better to search for the selected used car via the Internet, and make a decision about the need for an inspection based on the results obtained.
Visual inspection of the machine
Despite the efforts of the service workers, even an inexperienced person can see that the car was being repaired. Differences in color, slight deformations, different thickness of gaps are signs of a car that has been in an accident.
In order not to miss these signs, we check the car for participation in traffic accidents in bright light. There should be no rush; sufficient time should be allocated for the check. Inspect the vehicle clean. Under a layer of dirt, it is easy to not notice the difference in color.
Attention should be paid to all parts of the car:
- Most often in road accidents, wings and bumpers are damaged. The presence of cracks and abrasions on these parts of the body indicates a collision;
- On new cars, glass is marked in accordance with the VIN code. The discrepancy between the codes indicates their replacement;
- doors must open and close freely. If the geometry of the body is disrupted as a result of a collision, the opening and closing of the door will be accompanied by extraneous sounds;
- the joints of parts on the whole car are the same width along the entire length. After repair, the gap sizes differ;
- all parts must be uniform in color. It is practically impossible to achieve complete color identity when repairing or replacing body parts.
The condition of the body can be easily checked with a thickness gauge. This device measures the thickness of the paint coating. Significant deviations in readings indicate the application of putty and painting. The thickness of the factory paint coating ranges from 90 to 160 microns (0.09-0.16 millimeters).
If you don't have a device, you can use a magnet. On a thick layer of repair materials, it will fall off the body.
Checking for an accident through an insurance company
Since 2013, insurance companies have maintained a common database of MTPL insurance claims. Organizations that are members of the Russian Union of Auto Insurers (RUA) undertake to update information on their clients when processing payments for road accidents. Information about the car is also entered at the initial conclusion of the contract.
The database of insurance companies on road accidents contains the following data:
- a list of all cars registered in the Russian Federation;
- information about the owners;
- list of concluded insurance contracts since 2011;
- information about road accidents;
- statistical indicators.
Searching the RSA database is available only to insurers. They can view the history of the vehicle and calculate the cost of the auto insurance policy based on it. Insurance premium cost calculations and authentication checks are available for motorists. To find out the history of the car you like, you should contact an insurer you know.
The insurance company will provide information by policy number. The data can be taken from the owner of the car or entered using the VIN code on the RSA website. The insurance history bureau stores more complete information than the traffic police, since information on CASCO, OSAGO and DSAGO is entered there.
Checking a car before purchasing at a service station
Diagnostics at a car service costs money, so you need to contact specialists if the seller has already made a choice and has repaired the car in other ways. It is useful to consult with service station employees in cases where the seller is ready to reduce the price of repairs and you need to determine the amount of the discount.
If the buyer has identified certain deficiencies during inspection, but has doubts about their causes, consultation with professionals is necessary. For example, car roll can be caused by problems in the suspension or changes in body geometry. In the first case, it is enough to change the spare parts, in the second, it is better to refuse the purchase.
Diagnostics will help determine the condition of the car’s hidden components and check the performance of the main units. This is especially important for electronic systems, the condition of which cannot be determined without special equipment.
Driver's license check
Online accident checking is carried out by vehicle or car owner. In case of any incident, the driver’s data is recorded and entered into the accident database. But checking the owner gives very little information because:
- it is not always correct, since other drivers could also be driving the car. If another person was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, the car owner’s data will not help. At the same time, the owner of the car could be driving another vehicle at the time of the incident, and the accident will be reflected in the database;
- publicly available data does not contain information about driver involvement in an accident. The accident rate can be judged by indirect signs - deprivation of a driver's license, low coefficient of KBM for calculating compulsory motor liability insurance. However, the confiscation of a driver's license and a low BMR may be caused by other reasons.
Checking the driver's license for an accident is considered as additional to the analysis of the car by VIN and license plate number. You can check the driver's license on the traffic police website. The procedure is absolutely free and does not require registration. Sequencing:
- Go to the official website of the traffic police.rf organization.
- In the site menu, find the “Services” item and click on it.
- In the window that opens, select “Driver verification”.
- After opening the verification form, enter the series and number of the driver's license, the date of issue. Clicking on the “request review” link will display the result.
If the driver is deprived of his license, information about this will appear on the screen.
In order to calculate the BMR of a specific person on the RSA website, the following data is needed:
- service number;
- FULL NAME;
- Date of Birth.
Link to check dkbm-web.autoins.ru/dkbm-web-1.0/kbm.htm. After entering the information and checking the captcha, the service will display the result. When the BMR is greater than one, the driver is 100% involved in an accident.
Results less than 1 should be assessed based on years of driving. In the first year, KBM = 1 (third grade), then each year it decreases by 0.05 (grade increases by 1 grade). For an accident, the class is reduced by 2 classes, for several accidents - even more.
If the KBM differs from the value corresponding to accident-free driving, this may indicate that the culprit was involved in an accident. However, changes may be associated with other reasons - interruptions in insurance, incorrect uploading of data by insurers, service interruptions, etc.
Through an insurance company
Every day there are more questions about how to view an accident on a car, which is why insurance companies have created information databases. To obtain information about the vehicle, you need to contact a company employee.
This method has one drawback - limited data. All companies have a personal database, and you can only check with the company that provided car maintenance services. To still obtain the data, you need to ask the former owner for a photocopy of the policy from the insurance company where he was served. If there is a refusal to provide the policy, then this is a serious reason to think about the integrity of this seller.