Adding your first VIN and running your first report

Sign up, decode a VIN, save it to your garage, and pull a free VIN Intelligence report — all in under 10 minutes. No credit card required.

1. Create your account

Owner Free is $0 and free for 3 months — the fastest way to see what TemplateVault does. No credit card is required to start.

1. Open templatevault.io/signup.
2. Enter your email and create a password. Click Create account.
3. Confirm the verification email if prompted, then sign in.

2. Decode a 17-character VIN

TemplateVault is VIN-anchored — every record lives under the vehicle's VIN, not under a customer or shop. Decoding pulls year/make/model/trim from NHTSA so the rest of the platform can pre-fill correctly.

1. From your dashboard, click VIN Lookup (or visit /vin-search/).
2. Type or paste the 17-character VIN. You'll find it on the driver-side door jamb sticker, the lower-left corner of the windshield, or your registration.
3. Click Decode VIN. You should see year, make, model, trim, engine, and body style appear within a second or two.

3. Save the vehicle to your garage

1. On the decoded VIN page, click Save to My Garage.
2. Add an optional nickname ("Wife's Tahoe", "Shop Loaner") and the current odometer reading. Both are optional but the odometer feeds Predictive Maintenance and the IRS Mileage Tracker later.
3. Click Save vehicle. The vehicle now lives at /owner/dashboard.html alongside any others you add.

Owner Free supports up to 3 VINs. Owner Pro at $9.99/mo lifts that limit and unlocks the full AI stack.

4. Run your first VIN Intelligence report

VIN Intelligence pulls open NHTSA recalls, common failure patterns, and maintenance gaps for the specific make/model/year you decoded. Owner Free includes 3 reports per month.

1. From the vehicle page in your garage, click VIN Intelligence.
2. Wait a few seconds — the AI runs through NHTSA, known TSBs, and aggregate failure patterns.
3. Review the report. Anything flagged red is open or urgent; amber is advisory.
4. Click Share to send a public link (via templatevault.io or the short 1vin.io domain) to a buyer, family member, or mechanic.

5. What to do next

• Browse repair cost landing pages — free, no login, model-specific cost ranges for common jobs.
• Run the free public AI Repair Estimator for a specific symptom + VIN.
• Read about plans if you want unlimited reports, IRS mileage tracking, or shop features.
• Claim ownership of your VIN so the record travels with the vehicle when you sell.