How to Check a Korean Used Car's Mileage and Accident History

To check the mileage of a used car from Korea, compare dated readings from TS inspection records, Car365, and CarHistory with the odometer today. A useful mileage check starts with a timeline, not just the number on the dashboard. For an overseas buyer, the practical question is whether the available records support the seller's mileage claim.

Each of these three Korean sources covers a different part of a car's past, and none of them is complete on its own.

The three sources at a glance

TS inspection records: dated mileage readings

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS) records the mileage at vehicle inspections in an electronic system and provides it as mileage history, so used-car buyers can check whether the odometer has been tampered with. [1]

Ask for the date behind every reading. A vehicle record screen like the one below shows the latest recorded mileage, but not when or how it was recorded. This car's inspection validity runs to December 30, 2030, so its 5,322 km most likely came from a record other than an inspection. The screen does not say which.

What the screen shows:

• Mileage (주행거리): 5,322 km. This is the latest recorded reading. The screen was queried on October 21, 2026, but it does not show when the mileage was recorded, so treat it as a past reading, not today's odometer.
• Registration dates. First registered (최초등록일) on December 31, 2025; last registration (최종 등록일) on July 1, 2026.
• Inspection valid until December 30, 2030 (검사유효기간). Most likely, the car has not had a periodic inspection yet.
• No liens or seizures (저당/압류: 0). No loan or seizure is registered against the car.
• No structural changes (구조변경: 0). No registered modifications.

Car365: inspection, maintenance, and mileage history

Car365 is a vehicle history site under Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and TS. Its integrated history is the most complete of the three sources, because it puts the car's inspection reports, maintenance records, and mileage history in one place. [2] In the example below, every record carries a date and an odometer reading.

• Inspection reports. The inspection date, odometer reading, and result, with the inspector's findings on steering, brakes, lights, emissions, and an electronic fault-code scan, plus the date the next inspection is due.
• Maintenance records. The date, odometer reading, workshop, and the work done line by line, including whether new parts were fitted.
• Since September 2013, as reported. Records sent to the system before then may not exist, and work that was never reported will not appear. [2]
• The owner controls access. Mileage history is listed under the owner's own inquiry, and detailed records need the owner's consent, so ask the seller to share the integrated history with you. [2]

Example: a 2014 Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI

This car's integrated history holds four inspection reports and eight maintenance records, each with a date and an odometer reading. Identifying details are removed.

• 4 of 4 inspections passed (2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024).
• 8 service visits at official Mercedes-Benz dealers, from 2015 to 2024.

Every reading, in date order:

What the records show:

• The mileage is consistent. All 12 readings, from two independent kinds of record, rise in date order.
• Major bodywork, but nothing is labeled "accident." The December 2015 dealer record lists 33 work lines, mostly bodywork on the bumpers, fenders, all four doors, a rear side panel, and the trunk lid, over 19 days at the body shop. Its "accident" field is blank. Read the work lines, not just the summary fields.
• Inspections show condition at that date. The 2020 inspection advised a parking brake correction. The car passed, and parking brake force met the standard in 2022 and 2024.

Quick lookup for cars at dealers

For a car listed at a dealer, Car365 also offers a quick lookup by plate number. It shows basic details, a mileage field that can be empty, and average trade prices for the model. It covers only cars that dealer associations have reported, so a car that is not listed by a dealer, such as one at auction, may not appear, and a car it cannot confirm is not necessarily a fake listing. [3]

CarHistory: insurance accidents and claim amounts, in English

CarHistory is the Korea Insurance Development Institute's accident history service, built on insurance repair payment records from Korean non-life insurers going back to 1996. It works from the plate number or the VIN: [4]

• Search by plate number or VIN. Use the plate number for a car that is still registered, and the full 17-character VIN for a car that has been deregistered. A report costs 2,200 won (about $2) per car, the price shown on the English site. Members who complete identity verification pay 770 won per car for up to five cars a year. [4]
• What the report covers. Make, model, year, engine size, and first insurance date; any rental, commercial, or government use; flood, theft, and total-loss claims; how many times the owner and the plate number changed; and each insurance accident, with repair costs. Mileage information comes in part from insurers' mileage-discount programs. [4][5]
• Available in English. The site has an English version (choose EN from the language menu), with a VIN search and an English sample report. [4][6]
• Free flood and scrapping checks. CarHistory offers free lookups for insurer-reported flood damage and, from April 2018, for scrapping reports filed with insurers. The English site offers the flood check. [4]
• Dates and approximate amounts, not the full story. The report gives accident dates and approximate repair amounts only. Accident details stay with the insurer and are released only to the policyholder, never to a later owner. [4]
• Gaps to expect. Accidents that were not reported to an insurer or handled through insurance leave no record, and neither do the car's own accidents during any period without own-damage coverage. Mileage entries depend on the car being enrolled in a mileage-discount program. A new claim takes about 2.5 to 3 months to appear in full and is marked "repair cost not finalized" until then. Some records may also be missing or contain errors, and CarHistory describes its report as reference material only. [4][6]

Example: CarHistory's sample report

Here is what a report with problems looks like, taken from CarHistory's own English sample report. [6]

What to take from it:

• Amounts, claim by claim. Each claim shows whose insurance paid, the car's own or the other driver's, and how much, and repair costs are split into parts, labor ("wages"), and painting.
• Gaps are not a clean record. The "Uninsured Period" (March 2009 to March 2010) is a stretch with no own-damage coverage, so accidents that would have gone through the car's own insurance are missing.
• Recent claims can still be open. "Unfixed damage" means the repair cost is not finalized yet.

Each line is a question to put to the seller, and none of them shows how well the car was repaired.

A clean CarHistory report means no insurance accident record was found. It does not mean the car was never in an accident. In the same way, a missing mileage entry does not confirm or disprove the claimed mileage.

How to compare mileage records

For your purchase review:

1. Request a recent photo or short video of the odometer, and confirm when it was taken.
2. Ask the seller for available mileage entries from TS inspection records, Car365, CarHistory, and maintenance documents.
3. Confirm that each record refers to the same vehicle by matching the VIN or plate number.
4. Arrange the readings by the date each mileage entry was recorded, not the date a report was downloaded. If that date is unclear, request clarification.
5. If the odometer today, or any later record, shows less than an earlier recorded reading, stop and ask for supporting documents before proceeding.

What if the odometer reads lower than the records?

A recorded reading is a snapshot from the day it was entered. The car has usually been driven since then, so the odometer today should show the same number or a higher one.

If the odometer shows less than the latest recorded reading, treat it as a serious warning sign of odometer tampering, the exact problem TS inspection mileage records exist to catch. [1] Ask the seller for documents that explain it. If there are none, do not proceed.

Check the car itself

Records show what was reported to a system. They do not show the car's condition today. If you are considering a car at a Korean auction or dealer listing, you can request an LMN secondary inspection, an in-person check of that specific car, before you secure it. LMN delivers a shareable report of photos, video, and plain-English notes within 48 hours of your request, and usually the next day.

Contact LMN for details. You can also see a sample LMN inspection report or read how LMN inspects a used car in Korea.

The inspection is a paid service. It records evidence and observations at the time of inspection. It is not a certification, warranty, or guarantee of future reliability.

Sources

1. Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS), "Purpose and Social Responsibilities" of vehicle inspection (Korean): https://main.kotsa.or.kr/portal/contents.do?menuCode=01010103
2. Car365, integrated history inquiry guide (Korean): https://www.car365.go.kr/ccpt/schdcar/unityhstry/utztnGuidanceView.do
3. Car365, quick lookup of vehicles for sale (Korean): https://www.car365.go.kr/ccpt/schdcar/trde/schdTrdeVhclView.do?_menuId=M630103000
4. CarHistory, Korea Insurance Development Institute (Korean): https://www.carhistory.or.kr/main.car
5. CarHistory, "What is CarHistory?" service description (Korean): https://www.carhistory.or.kr/serviceInfo/carhistory.page
6. CarHistory, sample report (English version via the site's language menu): https://www.carhistory.or.kr/guide/sample.page