Carfax Report by VIN (PDF) — Carfax VIN Lookup, Carfax VIN Check & Vehicle History Report | $3.5 ONLY

🚗📄 Purchase and download a carfax vehicle history report PDF (single VIN or bulk), and use carfax vin check to check report availability when needed.

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Support 🤝

For issues, use the Actor page Issues or send email artur.novikk@gmail.com or message in Telegram

What you get after each run 🎁

• Direct PDF link: if a report is delivered, you get a direct download link to the carfax vehicle history report PDF.
• Clear result for each VIN: you immediately see whether the report was found, not found, or delivered.

Prices 💵

• CHECK_ONLY: $0.99 per 100 VINs checked.
• AUTO_PURCHASE: $3.5 per delivered PDF report (availability check included).

This is designed for people comparing Carfax cost and looking for a carfax cheap / low cost carfax way to run checks at scale.

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Quick start (UI) 🚀

1. Open the Actor page. 🌐
2. Paste VINs into vinCodes (single VIN or multiple VINs). 🧾
3. Choose mode:
   • CHECK_ONLY — paid availability check only 🔎 (this is not “free carfax by vin” / “check carfax free”)
   • AUTO_PURCHASE — purchases a report 🧾 only when it’s found and delivered and gives you a direct PDF link
4. Run the Actor. ▶️
5. Review the result for each VIN. 📊
6. If a report is delivered, open the direct PDF link in reportFileUrl Output.

Built for carfax used cars workflows: dealers, importers, marketplaces, and buyers who want scale without paying for missing reports.

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What this Actor does (carfax report by vin number) 🧠

For each VIN, the Actor can:

• Validate VIN format (17 characters; letters/digits only; normalized to uppercase).
• Perform a carfax vin check (availability-only): whether a report exists for that VIN.
• In AUTO_PURCHASE mode: purchase the carfax vehicle history report and return a direct PDF download link.

If you’re comparing a carfax report by vin number workflow vs doing it manually, this is the automation piece.

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Pricing & Run policy (Carfax cost / Carfax price) 💸

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PRICING

• CHECK_ONLY never purchases PDFs.
• AUTO_PURCHASE charges only when a report is found and delivered.
• If a VIN has no report, no purchase is made.

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How it works (check → buy → PDF) 🔁

1. Normalize VIN input (single VIN or list; de-duplicate; keep first-seen order).
2. Validate VIN format.
3. Perform availability check for each VIN.
4. If mode = AUTO_PURCHASE and a report exists:
   • charge for that VIN,
   • fetch the PDF,
   • return a direct PDF link in the results.

VINs are processed sequentially.

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Input (check VIN / carfax vin lookup) ⌨️

Fields

• mode (optional): CHECK_ONLY | AUTO_PURCHASE (default: AUTO_PURCHASE)

Provide VINs via vinCodes (string, optional) — flexible bulk input:

• newline-separated
• comma-separated
• JSON array encoded as a string (e.g. ["VIN1","VIN2"])

Input examples

1) Single VIN PDF (AUTO_PURCHASE):

{
  "mode": "AUTO_PURCHASE",
  "vinCodes": "1HGCM82633A004352"
}

2) Bulk availability (CHECK_ONLY):

{
  "mode": "CHECK_ONLY",
  "vinCodes": "1HGCM82633A004352\nWBA8D9C50JA123456\nSALWG2SU4MA775654"
}

3) VIN list as a JSON string (vinCodes):

{
  "mode": "CHECK_ONLY",
  "vinCodes": "[\"1HGCM82633A004352\",\"WBA8D9C50JA123456\"]"
}

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What you receive after the run 📦

For most users

• CHECK_ONLY: you see whether each VIN is FOUND or NOT_FOUND.
• AUTO_PURCHASE: if the report is delivered, you get a direct PDF link in reportFileUrl.
• You can process one VIN or many VINs in a single run.

Example result

{
  "vin": "SALWG2SU4MA775654",
  "status": "DELIVERED",
  "checked": true,
  "reportFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/KEY_VALUE_STORE_ID/records/carfax_SALWG2SU4MA775654.pdf?download=1",
  "errorCode": null
}

How to download the PDF

When status = DELIVERED, open reportFileUrl to download the carfax vehicle history report PDF.

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Statuses & error codes 🧾

Statuses

• INVALID_INPUT — VIN failed validation.
• FOUND — report found (CHECK_ONLY).
• NOT_FOUND — report not found.
• DELIVERED — report purchased and PDF is ready to download.
• FAILED_AFTER_CHARGE — PDF could not be delivered due to a service error (contact support with Run ID).
• API_ERROR — upstream API error.
• BUDGET_EXCEEDED — spend limit reached (run stopped).
• SKIPPED_BUDGET — skipped due to spend limit.
• SKIPPED_FAILSAFE — skipped due to a safety stop.

Common error codes (errorCode)

• CARFAX_CHECK_FAILED — /check request failed
• CARFAX_CHECK_INVALID — invalid /check response
• CARFAX_HASH_FETCH_FAILED — failed to fetch hash
• CARFAX_HASH_INVALID — missing/invalid hash
• PDF_INVALID — PDF too small / invalid
• PDF_RENDER_FAILED — PDF rendering failed
• CONFIG_INVALID_API_KEY — invalid API key
• CONFIG_INVALID_MONETIZATION — monetization configuration error
• CHARGE_FAILED — charging failed

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FAQ ❓

How do I check Carfax with VIN?

Run mode = CHECK_ONLY to do an availability-only carfax vin lookup / carfax vin check. You’ll get FOUND or NOT_FOUND for each VIN.

Is this a “free carfax by vin” / “check carfax free” / “free car report carfax” tool?

No, it’s not a free Carfax product.

People often search for free carfax by vin, check carfax free, free car report carfax, or free carfax vin check. This Actor provides a low-cost automation flow:

• CHECK_ONLY = availability check only (paid, but inexpensive)
• AUTO_PURCHASE = buys PDFs only when available and delivered

How much does it cost (Carfax cost)?

• CHECK_ONLY: $0.99 / 100 VINs
• AUTO_PURCHASE: $3.5 per delivered PDF report

Do I pay if a report is not found?

No. In AUTO_PURCHASE, you pay only when the report is found and delivered (DELIVERED).

Where do I download the PDF?

Use reportFileUrl from the result. If the report was delivered, that link downloads the PDF directly.

Can I use this as a “car fax vin checker” for used cars?

Yes. Many users run it as a car fax vin checker for carfax used cars pipelines: first check availability in bulk, then purchase only the VINs they need.

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Technical details

This section is for users who want the implementation-level output details.

Structured output

• The Actor writes one structured result per VIN.
• Results can be exported to JSON, CSV, or Excel.
• In technical terms, delivered PDFs are stored by the run and exposed through reportFileUrl.

Full technical example

{
  "vin": "SALWG2SU4MA775654",
  "status": "DELIVERED",
  "checked": true,
  "reportFileKey": "carfax_SALWG2SU4MA775654.pdf",
  "reportFileUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/KEY_VALUE_STORE_ID/records/carfax_SALWG2SU4MA775654.pdf?download=1",
  "errorCode": null
}

Technical field reference

• vin — VIN code
• status — final processing status
• checked — availability result (true found, false not found, null unknown/error)
• reportFileKey — internal PDF file key for delivered reports
• reportFileUrl — direct PDF download link
• errorCode — short error code (if any)