Free Vehicle History Reports from eBay

In order to gain more trust from their buyers, the auction site eBay will offer vehicle history reports from Experian Automotive at no cost to vehicle buyers or sellers of every car listed for sale, as long as it’s not older than 1981. This is a key year because vehicles built before 1981 don’t have unique identification numbers, therefore they cannot be included in the program.

Starting this Wednesday, reports are available for every vehicle, whether is on auction or in the classified section, whether is sold by a dealer or by a private party. “We're interested in being the best place to buy and sell your car online,” Nicolas Franchet, senior director of U.S. vehicles at eBay Motors told Autonews.

And it’s great that this report is automatic, so the seller cannot opt out. This will boost the level of trust between vehicle buyers and sellers. The company's research indicates that consumers have more confidence in a used vehicle and the dealer selling it when the vehicle is accompanied by a history report. “It's important for dealers to know all vehicles they list on eBay have free AutoCheck information available to their shoppers,” Edie Hirtenstein, senior product manager at Experian's AutoCheck service.

If you’re interested in buying a car from eBay, Experian's AutoCheck reports will tell you whether the vehicle listed on the site has been involved in major accidents, has a salvage title, has been repossessed or stolen or has had its odometer tampered with. Things are looking a lot safer.