In an effort to combat auto theft, the Mexican government has created a free phone app that allows people to check if a particular vehicle is reported stolen or not. The app is called ChecAuto MX and it is available for Android and iOS. You may not be able to download this app outside of Mexico.
The two easiest ways to check a vehicle are by license plate number (placa) or the vehicle identification number (número de serie/NIV). It is not likely that you’ll have the other two numbers handy (folio or NCI).
The app has a photo feature that can read the license plate and automatically enter the data — well, in theory it’s supposed to work that way. I wasn’t too impressed with the camera option and found it much easier to just enter the information myself.
Once you enter the vehicle information, it will tell you if it is reported stolen or not. If the vehicle has been correctly entered into a government tracking program called REPUVE, then the program will return detailed information about the car (see below).
Tips for Using It
More often than not, you’ll only receive a short message indicating that the vehicle is not reported stolen without any additional information about the vehicle.
