What is the Theft feature in a vehicle history report?

The Theft feature, or stolen vehicle check, allows you to check whether a vehicle is currently wanted as stolen or has a history of theft. If theft records are available and it has been reported stolen, a yellow warning sign will appear in the Theft section, showing the record’s date, location, and vehicle status.

How to use the Theft section

If any theft records appear in the Theft section, pay attention to the vehicle’s status, which is key information in this part of the report:

• Currently wanted as stolen – this record indicates that the vehicle is reported as stolen, and is likely still being searched for
• Stolen in the past (Recovered) – the vehicle was stolen in the past but has been returned to the rightful owner since
• Stolen in the past (Unknown) – the car was reported stolen, but there are no records indicating that it was returned to the owner or is currently flagged as stolen

Any of these statuses should prompt you to investigate further and verify that a vehicle that was reported stolen in the past has since been recovered, returned to its legal owner, and cleared by authorities.

If the stolen record cannot be fully clarified, it may be safer to avoid purchasing the vehicle.

Where do stolen vehicle records come from?

Like the rest of carVertical data, theft records are collected from trusted official sources, in this case, national police databases. We have access to international data, too, so if available, you can access information about potential thefts even if they happened in a foreign country.

Benefits of a stolen vehicle check

By performing a stolen vehicle check, you can:

1. 1.Verify legal ownership of a car

2. 2.Protect your investment

3. 3.Prevent fraud

Buying a stolen car can leave you with no car at all, so ensuring it’s not reported as stolen can protect you from potential legal issues and possible repossession by law enforcement.

What if the theft information is not available in the report?

The Theft section is generally included in reports regardless of the vehicle status. It can either indicate that a vehicle may have been stolen or that no stolen car records were found in the available databases.

However, the availability of this information depends on the country, so this section may not appear in all reports.

Still have questions? If you need more help understanding the Theft section of your report, feel free to reach out to our support team or check out our blog post on stolen vehicle check.