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Wrecked Car Records Available to Public

By M. Stan Herring

Consumer Rights Law Blog has posted an article about an online database where consumers can find records from junk yards, insurance companies, and salvage yards about wrecked cars. The idea is to help consumers "avoid buying patched up junk cars and trucks."

However, not all states are cooperating.

14 states are not participating while 10 more say they are "in development" but federal law requires full participation by 2010. Until then, you still can't be sure if that great looking used car was totaled in an accident Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Oregon, Washington DC or 9 other states that are not telling the truth about their records. You can see the full list above and check car records here: http://www.nmvtis.gov/
It is unbelievable that California, New York and Pennsylvania are providing wrecked car data to the federal government but have blocked the government's ability to release that data to consumers. If you live in one of those three states, write your state governor and ask why they want to keep it secret. Some media reports say private record-keeping companies are paying those states big money to sell the data privately to them so they can keep charging consumers to see the stolen car and wrecked car records before buying a used car in those and other states.

If you have been sold a wrecked car under false pretenses, feel free to contact us.

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on April 19, 2009 (boomark / email).