Before you decide to buy a particular car, it's a good idea to check its history: you want to know beforehand if it has ever been involved in a fire or in an accident, not after you have closed the deal! Spending a few dollars on a vehicle report now can save you lots of aggravation later...
Your first step would be to perform a "Lemon Check" on the vehicle you're thinking of buying. Next, you would perform a record check to determine the number of available history records using the vehicle's Vehicle Identification Number or VIN.