There are four possible reasons why you might get a "bad VIN" error.

1-The VIN has a typo and fails the checksum test

2-The VIN does not have a checkdigit because it is German (not following the USA VIN system)

3-VIN is too short. should be 17 digits long exactly as of 1981

4-There is ongoing maintenance at the federal database (you can simply try again the next day), or

5-You got the VIN report PDF file for a pre-1981 VIN but the basic report from vinalert is not loading (this is because the bonus report is for 17-digit vins only)

still having trouble? contact the support team asap! - we're happy to help.