AutoCheck Has "Cash-for-Clunkers" VIN Data
When the government ended the CARS ("Cash for Clunkers") program August 24, 2009, the nearly 700,000 vehicles taken off the road were to have been scrapped. It is illegal to sell a vehicle traded in under the "Cash for Clunkers" program.
In fact, there are very strict rules regarding what happens to a vehicle traded in under the program. Any vehicle traded in should have had its engine disabled immediately upon trade in. The vehicle is then required to be crushed or shredded within six months of transfer off the dealer's lot.
And yet those traded-in vehicles may still end up for sale, which is against the law. But as a consumer, how do you know if the vehicle you're about to purchase may have been a "Cash for Clunkers" trade-in?
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a list of all the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) traded in for the program. Experian has obtained this list and now includes a "Cash for Clunkers" alert as part of its AutoCheck vehicle history report.
If a vehicle has been traded in as part of the CARS government program, you will see an alert in the AutoCheck vehicle history report "Full History" section that shows the Data Source as "NHTSA 2009 CARS Program" and the Event Detail as "TRADED-IN TO BE SCRAPPED UNDER CARS (CASH FOR CLUNKERS) PROGRAM."
See an example of where to find the "Cash for Clunkers" alert on the AutoCheck vehicle history report:
