Buying a car on OfferUp? Check the listing first.

What an OfferUp car listing can show you

OfferUp is the one big marketplace that attaches vehicle data to the listing itself. When a seller enters the car's VIN, buyers can see whether it has a salvage or accident record, through OfferUp's partnership with VinAudit, and some listings carry vehicle history from Carfax or AutoCheck as well, according to OfferUp's buying guide. The same guide tells you that if you want more, you can take the VIN and buy a full report from Carfax, AutoCheck or VinAudit yourself.

So the first move on OfferUp is simple: if the listing has no VIN, ask for it. A seller on a platform that makes the VIN a one-line field, and chooses not to fill it in, has told you something.

What the free history summary does not tell you

• 1.Whether the price is right for this mileage. A history record is about the past. Avturo checks the asking price against recent listings for the same year, model and mileage, which is the number you negotiate with.
• 2.The model's known failure points. A clean history on a car whose engine or transmission is famous for failing at 90,000 miles is a clean history on a car about to need one. Avturo carries that for the models below.
• 3.Open safety recalls. Check the VIN, free, at NHTSA's recall lookup. A recall repair is free at a dealer.
• 4.Whether the car is stolen. The National Insurance Crime Bureau's VINCheck is free and checks reported thefts and insurer total-loss records.
• 5.The car's condition today. No report replaces a test drive and an independent inspection, which is also what OfferUp tells its own buyers: inspect the car personally and professionally, ideally with a mechanic you trust.

Dealer or private seller? Both are on OfferUp

OfferUp sells to dealers too. It runs a verified dealer program and a dealership product called OfferUp Autos, so the listing you are looking at may be a lot's inventory rather than a person's car. That changes three things.

• Fees. A dealer will add a documentation fee, in some states capped by law and in most not. Ask for the out-the-door price in writing before you drive over.
• Tax. A dealer collects sales tax at the sale. On a private sale you pay it yourself when you register the car, in most states.
• Comeback. A dealer may offer a warranty; a private sale is as-is. That is what the inspection is for.

Avturo's report works the same way for both, and lists the questions each kind of seller should be able to answer. The dealer fees to refuse has its own guide.

The OfferUp scams to watch

1. The car that must be shipped. Too cheap, out of the area, and the seller will ship it once you pay for the car and the shipping. Verified.org documents it. There is no car.
2. The cloned listing. Real photos lifted from another ad, a car the seller does not own, and a refusal to let you see it. Verified.org lists stolen, cloned and non-existent vehicles as the standard shapes.
3. Bill of sale only. No title, or a title the seller will send later. Verified.org flags a missing title as a sign of a stolen or lien-encumbered car, and describes title washing, where a salvage title from one state is re-registered in another to come out clean.
4. The unusual payment. Gift cards, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or a payment link the seller sends. Verified.org names them as the red flag they are: methods chosen because they cannot be traced or refunded. OfferUp keeps its own list of common scams worth reading before you message anyone.
5. The move off the app. Keep the conversation inside OfferUp's messaging until you meet. A seller who wants to switch to text or email in the first message is usually leaving the platform's record behind on purpose.

Meet, drive, inspect, pay

• Public place, daylight, someone with you. A busy lot or a police station's exchange area. Never a private address for the first meeting.
• Three things together. See the car, the title and the seller's ID in person before any money changes hands, and make sure the names match. A seller who can produce two of the three is not the owner.
• Drive it, then have it inspected. Cold start, city, highway, hard braking, full-lock turns. Then an independent pre-purchase inspection. What it covers.
• Pay at your bank. A cashier's check drawn in the branch, or cash counted at the counter, with the title signed and a bill of sale in hand. Nothing by app, wire or card link.

Paperwork

• The title, signed by the seller where your state requires, with the odometer reading. Some states want a notary.
• A bill of sale with both names, the VIN, the price, the date and the mileage. Keep a screenshot of the listing as well.
• A lien release if the title names a lender.
• Sales tax and registration, at your motor vehicle office when you transfer the title on a private sale. Add it to the price before you decide.

What a salvage or rebuilt title means for the price and how to read a VIN have their own guides.

The cars you will see most, and what to check on each

Each guide covers a documented failure point, what it costs to fix, and the check that catches it before you buy.

All documented problems by make

Frequently asked questions

Buying somewhere else? Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist have their own guides.