A scooter is a dream vehicle for those who prefer to lead an active lifestyle. But it's hard to impossible to buy a new, comfortable and at the same time affordable item. So, why not to open your eyes at used scooters?
Buying a pre-owned but high-quality scooter needs a great deal of patience and carefulness. It's not enough to have a mechanic examine it before you finally make a purchase. If the scooter is almost new but was stolen at least once - all the time and money you spend on it will simply be wasted.
How to know for sure if the scooter is stolen or not? There's only one way to do this: find the vehicle's VIN number and do a free scooter VIN check on any VIN check site. For example, if the motorcycle is new, its VIN is situated on the navigation neck, if it's a Honda - find it in the frame below the seat.
Every scooter in the world has its unique VIN - a number that consists of 17 alphanumeric characters which reflect the essential data about this vehicle's technical characteristics and background. During the scooter VIN check process, you will see the information about the year and location of building the scooter and about the manufacturer itself. The Vehicle Identification Number is sometimes compared to the vehicle's ID or even its DNA. Moreover, in the case of buying a second-hand moped or scooter, its number will tell whether the device had a history of accidents, rebuilding or even steals.
Scooter VIN Number
Let's see how a moped VIN check can be done manually. We should warn you that it's not easy.
Every VIN has three sections: the first one stands for the WMI (World Manufacturer Identifier), the second - for the VDS (Vehicle Descriptor Section), and the third - for the VIS (Vehicle Identifier Section).
The first digit will show you where your destination scooter was manufactured. If it's North America - this character will be 1 through 5. If the vehicle was manufactured in Asia - it will be a letter - for example, J or P.
The second one shows a precise country the vehicle was made in. Sometimes you can see that a Kawasaki scooter was manufactured in the USA, and a BMW - in Japan.
The third character identifies the vehicle's type - for instance, moped, ATV or scooter. These codes may vary from one manufacturer to another.
4 through 9 stand for the VDS. The first 5 of them tell the data about the model, the engine size etc. Character 9 determines the accuracy of the code.
The last seven digits stand for the VIS. When deciphered, they show the year the scooter was put on sale (not the production year!). Characters 11 - 17 specify mainly all accessible options of the vehicle.
As we see, a scooter VIN number check when done manually has nothing in common with joyful rest. Wouldn't it be wiser just to type these digits into the search window of any online VIN check service and click the Search button? It will tell you immediately if the scooter is a lemon or not, and if it was ever stolen, just in one click! You'll not have to search the meaning of every single digit, spending your precious time in vain.
All the information an online VIN check service provides you with is thoroughly checked and verified. You shouldn't worry that these are fake data, and the perfect almost new scooter you're going to buy is actually a salvaged three times stolen trash. Online VIN check services do care about their customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
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