SAN DIEGO — After revealing in late May that it would be offering free auto accident reports via mobile devices through the end of June, instaVIN announced Thursday that this special deal is now good until July 31.

How does this work? To find out the accident history of a particular vehicle, users can text the specific VIN to 46782. Within "seconds," the report will be sent back.

As reported earlier, users can get one free report per phone. They can go online to www.instavin.com to access the accident report, as well. It costs $1.99 to access the first report. Then, users must pay $2.99 to view each additional report, including accident records, vehicle specifications, average local retail asking price, printable reports and online access

"Summer is the most popular car-buying season, so it's a great time for consumers to try instaVIN for free on their mobile phone," stated Jim Irish, chief executive officer of MobileTrac, which provides instaVIN.

"Carfax reports cost $34.99 but with instaVIN, your first report is absolutely free, and its affordability allows car buyers to run multiple reports to pre-screen vehicles before running more expensive full reports," he added. "And unlike competitors, instaVIN's data is run in real time, which can really reduce the risk of buying a car that has been wrecked and then sold before the accident data is reported."