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In the many many years I have been working in the car and finance industry there have been a number of times I have needed to get a VIN number for a car but all I had to go by was the registration number. In this time I have picked up a few tips and tricks on how to get the VIN number online for FREE.
When you're buying a used car, especially online, sometimes you want to checkout its history and other details without having to contact the owner. Often, the only thing you know about a car is what the seller has listed along with its registration number in photos. It's helpful to have as much information as possible, and one key detail is the cars Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Using the VIN you can perform other searches like a PPSR check, (Rego Check, REVS check etc) on the car to find out its history.
Every car has a unique registration number given by the state or territory. This number is only for that car in that state. Sometimes, custom plates can be the same in different states, so knowing the state of the plate is crucial. The VIN is important because it lets you check the cars finance status, accident history, and if its been stolen. However, not all websites that offer free rego checks will give you the VIN.
If you are physically with the car, check the lower passenger side of the windshield for the VIN. If the car is open, it might be on a plate or sticker in the door jamb. If you're buying online, you may only have the rego number. State government websites might not show the full VIN when doing a rego search. Some websites out there let you do a check and find a VIN with just the rego number, but they might charge a fee for this service.
But, theres a free trick to find a VIN in Australia. Use the Gumtree website. If you post a dummy ad and go only partially through the process you can reveal the VIN number. When you post an ad on gumtree to sell a car it asks you to enter the rego number, after you do this it shows details of the car such as model, year, variation and the VIN.
In Victoria and Queensland, you're lucky because you get the VIN for free when you check a cars rego number using your states FREE rego check website. You can check the rego using the VIC Free Rego Check website and in Queensland using the QLD free rego check website. Using these websites all you need to do is enter the vehicles rego number and it will check the rego expiry date and give you other useful information about the vehicle including its VIN number.
Once you have the VIN, you can do a $2 PPSR check on the governments PPSR website.
Just copy the VIN and do a quick, cheap $2 PPSR check.
If you have had success getting a vin number from a rego number or if this method stops working, let us know in the comments section below so we can update this article. If you have other ideas, tips or tricks we'd love to hear them!
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