A curbstoner is a dealer pretending to be a private seller, to avoid the rules dealers must follow. The cars are often bought cheap at auction with problems the "owner" never mentions. Enter the VIN to see how long the seller has really had it.
How many owners and how long each kept the car, on 75% of our reports. A car bought weeks ago and already for sale again is how a flip looks.
Photos published for the VIN before, on 70% of reports. The same car listed again and again, or an auction sale shortly before the listing, points to a dealer.
Salvage, rebuilt and flood brands. Curbstoned cars often carry them, because a licensed dealer would have to disclose them.
Readings in date order, since a flipper has every reason to adjust the mileage.
Whether loan or lien records are on file. A seller who is not the owner cannot clear them.
Whether the car was a rental, fleet or taxi vehicle, on 97% of reports.
Call and ask about "the car". A seller who asks "which one?" has more than one for sale.
Search the seller’s phone number online. The same number on several car listings is a strong sign.
Run the VIN. A short ownership, a recent auction sale or repeated listings show up in the record.
Check that the name on the title matches the seller’s ID, and refuse an open or "jumped" title.
Licensed dealers are bound by licensing and disclosure rules. A curbstoner avoids them, so when something goes wrong there is often no one to hold responsible.
Curbstoners often sell on an open title, signed by the previous owner with the buyer’s section blank, or say they are "selling it for a friend". That can leave you unable to register the car.
Flood cars, salvage repairs and rolled-back odometers are the stock in trade, because those are the cars a licensed dealer could not sell without disclosing.
Several cars for sale at the same address, out-of-state plates and vague answers about the car’s history are the clues consumer agencies list.
One common pattern: a salvage-auction sale, a rebuilt title a few months later, then a private listing within weeks under a new owner, with auction photos showing damage the listing does not mention. Not every short ownership is a curbstoner, and not every private seller with two cars is a dealer. The record tells you which questions to ask before you pay.
See a full sample reportSelling cars as a business while posing as a private seller, without a dealer licence. The name comes from selling at the curb and disappearing afterwards.
In most US states and Canadian provinces, selling more than a few cars a year without a dealer licence is illegal. The exact number is set by each state or province.
Through the ownership timeline and the photo record. A car the seller has owned for weeks, or one listed repeatedly or sold at auction shortly before, does not match the story of a private owner selling their own car.
A title signed by the previous owner with the buyer’s details left blank. Curbstoners use it to avoid registering the car in their own name, and it can leave you unable to title the car.
Your state’s dealer licensing board or the attorney general’s consumer protection office. In Canada, provincial regulators such as OMVIC in Ontario and AMVIC in Alberta handle it.
Enter the VIN to see which records exist. The preview is free.