Conducting a license plate lookup can often provide you with a fair amount of information on any car that is officially registered in the state of Texas. You can find out who the registered owner is, the number of past owners, if it has ever been reported stolen, and so much more.
The good news is that there are several online websites that you can use to generate comprehensive and accurate vehicle history reports at the click of a button. In fact, the VIN decoder named VinPit can help you will discover that you can easily conduct free reverse license plate lookups in a matter of minutes.
All you would need to get a full detailed history report on a vehicle with a registered plate is to simply head over to the website, input the license plate number and hit “Start Search”. That’s it!
The website will instantly pull available information from a wide variety of databases and online partner sites. It will then compile a full report that you will be able to review, download and even share.
And even if you anticipate running searches on more vehicles, such a service doesn’t require you to sign up or pay any hidden fees, either.
What Information Can A License Plate Lookup Provide?
The license plate lookup service of VinPit can provide you with access to a ton of vital information on a registered car, SUV, motorcycle or truck. Most of these sites will pull information from a mix of trusted industry partners and state-level agencies to compile data into comprehensive vehicle history reports.
This allows you to access in-depth details such as the vehicle’s specs, accident and salvage history, title and sales records and more. Aside from that, other types of information that you can typically expect to find in a vehicle history report include:
- Registration details
- Genuine mileage
- Open and past recalls
- Theft reports
- Warranty availability
However, do keep in mind that the amount of information you will be able to access from a reverse license plate search can often vary depending on the online lookup service that you decide to use.
When Is A License Plate Lookup Useful?
There are times when you may be considering the idea of purchasing a used car from a private owner. However, you may not fully trust the sales listing or the intentions of the seller.
In such instances, conducting a license plate number before a purchase can help you to save yourself a lot of time, money and hassle. You will be able to easily verify if the car owner was lying or if they were being honest about the vehicle’s current condition.
You can also conduct a license plate search to get a market estimate of a vehicle that you may be thinking of buying. The vehicle reports will help you to take into account its history, as well as anything else that may affect its true value. This can help you to save a lot of money during negotiations.
Another time a reverse lookup can be helpful is if you find yourself involved in an accident, as some drivers may not be honest with the details they provide you. With a license plate lookup, you can review the vehicle’s sale records to confirm the true registered owner. You will even be able to see if the car has a history of getting into accidents, which would indicate incompetency on the driver’s part.
Benefits & Drawbacks of An Online License Plate Search
Online license plate lookup sites can often be a substantially easier way to obtain license plate information than having to directly request it from government agencies.
This is because these sites typically collate information not only from public records, but also from government-run repositories like NHTSA, NMVTIS, and state DMVs, as well as private entities such as companies, salvage yards, auto recyclers, and more.
Naturally, you will be able to save yourself a lot of time and effort, while still being able to access reliable results without any hassle. Plus, you won’t need to pay any fees to get the information, and you can still maintain complete anonymity throughout the process.
However, the problem with online searches is that not all lookup sites can provide you with the relevant information you seek. Furthermore, not all reverse search platforms generate updated vehicle reports, so you may not always be able to access accurate information.
It is for this reason that you should only use a reputable license plate lookup tool like VinPit that can be relied upon and doesn’t require you to make a financial commitment.
What Other Ways Can I Conduct A License Plate Lookup?
License plate numbers and all other vehicle-related information is typically handled by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which is available in every state, including Texas. Nearly all of these state agencies provide the public with access to an online system that can be used to conduct license plate searches.
The main benefit of this strategy is that the information you obtain will be 100% current and accurate. However, the problem with these government services is that they only offer access to basic information about the vehicles, such as registration statuses, make and model, manufacturer, etc.
This means that access to certain information on the registered car may require you to submit a formal request. Also, a fee may be required and waiting times for search results can often be unpredictable, as they tend to vary by jurisdiction.
A better strategy would be to use an online license plate lookup service like VinPit, as it can still provide you with accurate results and save you a lot of time. Plus, there is no chance of you being charged or entirely denied access to information, either.
Can I Get A Car Owner’s Contact Details Using A License Plate Lookup?
Unfortunately, no. This is because the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act states that vehicle data holders are not permitted to provide access to personally identifiable information about a registered car owner.
In other words, you will not be able to access information like phone numbers, emails, addresses, and so on. You will usually only be able to access minimal details on the vehicle owners, such as past sales records, how long each ownership lasted, when the ownership changed hands, etc.
Conclusion
Performing a license plate lookup online has never been easier. With the help of reverse search sites like VinPit, you can instantly uncover details about any state-registered vehicle within minutes.
This in turn spares you a significant amount of time, effort and money that you would have initially wasted had you attempted to manually uncover the information through traditional channels.
However, it is important to keep in mind that while such online services have made the process fairly easy and straightforward, the information obtained must never be misused.
In other words, you should never conduct a reverse search on a license plate and use that information for unlawful reasons, as this would be considered a criminal act.