Looking to purchase a used Ford car and you don’t want to make a mistake? Then you are in the right place. Purchasing a second-hand or used vehicle in today’s automobile market can be risky, especially if you are not an auto mechanic or you do not have any experience in buying a used vehicle.
However, with the internet, you can check the historical record of a vehicle before making a buying decision, and that is why we have created this article to help you with Ford VIN number lookup, so you don’t make the mistake of buying a stolen or damaged vehicle.
One prominent advantage of carrying out a VIN number lookup is that you can use it to trace the manufacturing plant and production year of the vehicle. You can also use a Ford VIN number lookup to determine the present worth of the vehicle on the market before making a proposal to the car dealer. So, in this article, we will walk you through 3 ways to get a free VIN number lookup before buying a used Ford vehicle.
Let’s get started.
Where to Get My Ford VIN number?
There are several places or locations to get your Ford VIN number. Ford manufacturers deliberately printed the VIN number in these locations to make it easy for car owners to access it. The best location to find your Ford vehicle VIN are
- The left-center pillar.
- On the inside frame or jamb of the driver-side front door;
- On a plate secured to an area on the chassis;
- In the doorjamb;
- The transmission housing;
- The dashboard near the base of the windscreen (driver’s side);
- At the base of the windshield;
What’s Contained In a Ford VIN number?
One you get your Ford VIN number handy, one question that’s usually on the minds of prospective car buyers is what details are contained in the VIN number. Without going overboard, we will use a format to explain what information you can decode from a 17-digit VIN number. For example, if your Ford vehicle VIN number is 1FDXF46S12EC58316, what it means is that
- The first character in the string, which is 1, represents the manufacturing country.
- F represents the Manufacturer (Ford)
- D represents the Vehicle Type (Incomplete Vehicle)
- X represents Restraint Type
- F46 represent the Model (Ford F-Series, F-450, Regular Cab, 2WD)
- S represent Engine Type (6.8 SOHC SEFI V10; Gasoline 275HP)
- 1 represents Security Code
- 2 represents Model Year (2002)
- E represent the Plant location
- C58316 represent the Production Sequence
You can now see that the Ford VIN number contains a lot of information, and you can only fetch this information when you decode the VIN number using a trusted VIN decoder.
3 Ways To Get a Free VIN Number Lookup
With a wide range of VIN decoders to choose from, it can be overwhelming if not frustrating to pick a VIN decoder that works best for your needs. Most VIN decoders you see on the market are not as accurate as they claim to be; however, there are still trusted and genuine ones you should consider.
Below, we have reviewed the best three services for the average potential car buyer to choose from.
#1. VinPit
VinPit is a leader in the VIN decoding space. It has been in existence before most of the ones flocking the market propped up. VinPit has a huge amount of data, making sure that you get only the best results from your VIN lookup.
Using VinPit is simple and straightforward. All you need to do is to visit VinPit’s website and follow the instructions below.
- Enter your Ford VIN number the way it appears on your vehicle title
- Hit the “search data” button.
- Wait for a few seconds to get your Ford VIN decoder results.
The results will display everything about the Ford vehicle, ensuring that you know the true state of the Ford car before making any payments.
#2. CARFAX
Carfax is a web-based VIN number checker. You can use this tool to decode your Ford VIN number to unlock the true state of the vehicle. You can use this tool to fetch information like the year of manufacture of a vehicle, the plant where the vehicle was assembled, the car color, transmission system, as well as the engine type.
#3. AutoCheck
Autocheck is one of the best ways to look up your Ford vehicle before purchasing. You can rely on AutoCheck to check your Ford car value and matching parts and accessories.
Conclusion
Carrying out a Ford VIN lookup is very important if you want to purchase a used Ford car that’s without any faults. Most second-hand Ford cars usually come with one problem or the other, so it’s important you know the real reason why the seller wants to sell it out. Using a service like VinPit comes with joy and peace of mind.
VinPit is the world’s leading VIN decoder with a huge database for accurate results. What’s more? You can use VinPit to find out whether or not a Ford vehicle has been recalled by the manufacturer due to some system failure.
