| Author | Message | ||
     Nillaice |
I'm looking to buy a used truck and I want to check the vin, but the 'free' car fax report ... well, ISN'T anyone have a membership and can Czech the vehicle hstory for me? | ||
| Macbuell |
Carfax's aren't worth much. Many ways to get around them. It's not a bad idea to get one but I would get the car inspected to be sure of what I was buying. | ||
| Kmbuell |
Per what Mac said. Carfax isn't worth the paper it's on. My kid fixes BMWs, seems like once a month they have car with a clean Carfax come in only to find it been wrecked or has an incorrect engine in it. His dealer even bought a 335 convert that was a year old, top didn't quite align, went on Brad's lift to find it was clipped. Entire rear was a different car. It went back to auction with it's clear Carfax. Find a shop to look it over, even if it costs you an hour of labor. | ||
| Froggy |
Autocheck is more reliable than Carfax these days, it is not perfect either but is more likely to know about any issues in its history. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Any report only has info on REPORTED issues. Look the vehicle over closely. No substitute for your own eyes and hands. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I found carfax helpful when I bought my van. It showed that regular services had been performed by a dealer, and at what mileage such services had been performed. It also showed that there had been only one owner before me and that the transmission had less than 10k miles on it. As was mentioned, it only shows what has been reported, and in my case the dealer I bought it from was telling the truth. Now, 150k problem-free miles later, my van still runs like a sewing machine. | ||
| Satori |
I grew up and have worked in the auto business for a few decades, so a bit of insight. When you see a "certified" used car guess which service they use - and only allow for a check? Carfax, as its the most likely to miss any real issues and in certain cases the dealer does know about an issue but they will only offer the car fax, since it doesn't show it. Autocheck will typically pick up more of those issues, but isn't perfect either. If I were to only get one it would be Autocheck. That said guess what dealerships do when you pull in to trade in your car? They get both right then and there. A good dealer will share both with you, but on a "certified" car they will only likely show you CarFax. Oh and that is in their "certification" rules. Still no substitute for putting that bugger up on a rack and having a mechanic have a look see. Its the first thing a dealer does once they have brought in a car. Food for thought. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
I checked my S-10 just for the fun of it and it said it had 13 events to entice me to pay for the info(which I didn't). WTF,I can't think of ANY events other that a couple of warranty repairs...so not sure where they came up with 13 events! :-( | ||
| Noone1569 |
If anyone needs a car fax run, send me a PM |
