Trust and safety

Everything on a DNF listing is reported by its seller. This page sets out exactly what we check, what we don't, and what to check yourself before you pay.

What we check

• Accounts. Everyone confirms an email address before they can sign in. To make offers, message sellers or save searches, a buyer also adds a postal or ZIP code to their profile. Each badge on a member's account names the check behind it, such as "Email confirmed". Phone numbers can't be added or checked yet.
• The VIN. A listing can't be published without a 17-character VIN. We decode it to fill in the vehicle's details, and we point out when its check digit doesn't match the rest of it. Only one active listing can carry the same VIN.
• The brand word. We compare the brand with the words used by the province or state that issued it, and a word on that list means what the list says. A word that isn't on it but means non-repairable in another province or state is treated as non-repairable, and any other word we can't match sends the listing to a moderator.
• Listings before they go live. A moderator looks at a seller's first listing, a listing with a non-repairable brand (or, in Canada, flood or fire damage), a brand word we can't match, and a vehicle or seller a moderator has acted on before. Moderators can also send back, hide or remove any listing and suspend accounts.
• Contact details. Phone numbers and email addresses stay hidden in messages until an offer is accepted and any required platform fees on both sides are paid. Only then do the buyer and seller get each other's details. Offer notes can't include them.
• Photos and documents. We remove location data from listing photos. Documents a seller uploads stay private.
• Forms. Sign-up, listing, offer and message forms have rate limits and checks against automated use.

What we don't check

• We don't inspect vehicles.
• We don't check a listing's brand, or anything else on it, with any registry or DMV. Everything on a listing is reported by its seller, and the listing says so.
• We don't check license numbers with the body that issued them. A badge saying a license number is on file means the member entered one.
• The Score is worked out from the seller's answers. It isn't a rating of the vehicle's condition or value, and no Score means a vehicle is safe or roadworthy.
• Paddock picks are chosen, not inspected. Our staff pick them from the Marketplace, and a pick's story repeats only what the listing's disclosures say.
• We don't search lien registries or vehicle history for you.
• Our guides sum up public rules. They aren't legal advice.

Before you pay

• Liens. Ask the seller for the full VIN. In Canada, search it in the personal property registry of the province where the seller lives and of the one where the vehicle is registered. In the US, ask to see the title. It should be in the seller's name, show the same brand as the listing, and either list no lienholder or come with the lienholder's release.
• History. Run the full VIN through a vehicle history report. In the US, an NMVTIS report covers title, insurance-loss and salvage records, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau's free VINCheck shows whether an insurer reported the vehicle stolen or as salvage.
• Recalls. Check for open recalls in Transport Canada's recall database or at nhtsa.gov/recalls, or ask a dealer to check the VIN. Ask the seller whether any recall work was done.
• The vehicle. See it in person, and have a mechanic of your choosing look it over.
• The road. Ask the registry or DMV where you'll register the vehicle what it needs first. Rules differ by province and state.

Meeting and paying

DNF never takes payment for a vehicle and never holds money for a sale. A message asking you to pay DNF for a vehicle isn't from us, so report it. Any DNF platform fees are separate from the vehicle price; check your fee and receipt in your account.

• Keep your questions on DNF until contact details are released. If someone pushes you to deal outside DNF before then, report the conversation.
• See the vehicle and its papers before paying the seller. Be wary of a seller who wants the vehicle payment first.
• Check that the name on the registration or title matches the seller's ID, or that the seller has written authority to sell the vehicle for its owner.
• Meet somewhere you're comfortable with, in daylight, and bring someone along.
• Pay in a way that leaves a record, and get the documents your province or state requires from the seller.
• If a vehicle doesn't move under its own power, arrange the tow or trailer before pickup day.
• If you think a vehicle may be stolen, don't pay. Report the listing.

Report a problem

Every vehicle page has a "Report this listing" button, and you don't need to be signed in to use it. Choose a reason, such as fraud or a scam, a wrong brand or details, a vehicle that may be stolen, or spam, and add details if you like. Leave personal information out of the details.

In a conversation, you can report one message or the whole conversation. Moderators read the messages as they were written, contact details included. You can also block the other member: while the block is on, neither of you can send messages in that conversation, and they can't start a new one with you.

Moderators can hide a listing at once, remove it, or suspend the account behind it. A suspended member can't list, make or answer offers, or send messages.

For anything else, see Contact.