Is Carfax worth $25?

[MadReferee]

It's not so much the number of report records, it's what those records contain. I just got a CarFax for a Jeep Grand Cherokee that I bought for my son. It contained 8 records which included dates and mileage where available. Here is a log of the records:
<ul type="square"> [*]Registered by DMV [*]Title Issued [*]Loan lien reported [*]passed emissions [*]title issued to original owner [*]titled in another state to original owner [*]vehicle offered for sale by dealer [*]vehicle offered for sale (different dealer) [/list]
Other things a CarFax does is give a summary of several vehicle checks including accident, mileage verification, lemon check, ownership check, and recall check.

Most financial institutions now do their own CarFax when you apply for a loan. My credit union does and will not finance any used vehicle that has any major CarFax issues.

 

[bgott]

My mom was looking at a Suburban a couple of years ago and I ran it through Carfax. The truck was showing mileage in the high twenties but the last Texas state inspection showed the mileage as being in the mid forties. I had figured out how much the book difference was at the time, I can't remember what it was but it was substantial. Factor in that a vehicle with a known mileage discrepancy is valued about as much as one with a salvage title. I figure that the $19.95 the report cost at the time was well worth the money.

 

[mathey]

Totally unrelated story...sorta

A few years ago the wife and I saw a used Mazda MPV 4x4 van. The mileage was fair (something like 49k), and the price was good...it was about 3 years old...so we went and test drove it at the dealership. Sales guy gave us the keys and let us go. I drove first, then the wife drove. while she was driving, I started pushing buttons and stuff...opened the glove box and there was the owners manual. I flipped through it and right on the front page was the original owners name, address and phone. That evening I called the guy and told him my story, and he didn't mind giving me the info he had on the van. Turns out he had turned it in on a lease less than 2 months before with 35k miles ...meaning that within the space of less than 2 months, whoever had it put almost 14k miles on it! Needless to say, I didn't have the "warm fuzzies" and moved on.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What is nice is that you can catch a salesman in a lie if you use these but also before you buy one check your dealership. Most dealerships around here offer free carfax reports on their vehicles (a peace of mind thing if you want it).

When I bought my Jeep last year I did a Carfax report. It said it had two previous owners. The salesman told me it had one owner, an older guy who took great care of the thing. Of course I knew the truth and before all was said and done I bought the Jeep and neither the dealership or myself much cared for the other party afterwards. They tried to take advantage of me and I wouldn't let them so they were not too happy. If it wasn't for my other half at the time I would have never bought from them but oh well. Get the report and know what you are buying.

 

[rdln]

Well, I took our Yukon on in to see what their trade in allowance would be and right smack dab on the corner of the entrance was a different truck than what i was looking at. They just recieved it on a trade in two days ago and just finished cleaning it up.

This one is a 2000, test drove it home and to work today. Ran VIN and came back with 3 reports. (compared to a truck 2 years the newer and 3x the reports) and decided to pay for the service.

Came back with:

<font color="purple">06/06/2000 NICB
Vehicle manufactured and shipped to original
dealer


06/30/2000 Michigan
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Avoca, MI
Registered as
personal vehicle


06/30/2000 35 Michigan
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Avoca, MI
Title # Title issued or updated
Title or registration issued
First owner reported

</font>
Seems clean as a whistle (almost too clean /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif)

The report has given me piece of mind.

Now if I could just fight off the feeling that the rest of the world is out to screw me.

Thanks folks.

 

[DocHeb]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Now if I could just fight off the feeling that the rest of the world is out to screw me. )</font>

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

 

[buckle97]

<font color="blue"> test drove it home and to work today </font>

So, what's the verdict? Are you going to buy this truck?
If you paid the extra $5 on carfax to get unlimited searches for a month, you ought to run the VIN # of the other truck just for kicks. If it turns out a bad report, you will know you saved yourself a mistake.

Lawrence

 

[PineRidge]

I used to know a guy that did a lot of highway driving for his job. He had a trick switch hooked to to his car fuse panel. Once he got up to speed on the turnpike he would then set the cruise control, reach down and flip the switch and it would kill all his instruments making the odometer inoperative. But he knew how fast he was going since the cruise continued to function. He used to get a lot more bucks for his vehicles when he went to sell them he claimed. Suppose that kind of stuff shows up on your report? My guess is no-way.