How to investigate a used car's history - Carfax?

[dud]

I was driving around just mining my own business when I cam across a car that might be a good "project" car for my son and I. He is 16, likes to talk about cars but has no idea how to maintain or work on one. I thought it might be a good idea to work on a "project" together. Well, that said I happened to stumble upon a car that seems to be a very good value - for the money. The question is: what is the best value in investigating a cars history? I tried Carfax and they determined that the car had 10 "records" listed under that VIN. This appeared high to me but when I looked at cars on Eb*y motors (some great ones to boot!) I was surprised to find some cars with 15 to 25.

For all of you who have EVER investigated a vehicle's title history: which service did you use? Carfax wants $20 - $25 for a single/multiple search (over 30 days). Autocheck wants $20 for a single and $25 for 60 days worth. I do not mind paying for this type of (valuable) service but is there any less expensive way to get this done?

 

[StageLeft]

No, you'll have to pay or hope that somebody offers you use of their 30 day account. 10 records is nothing depending on the age of the car. It can include everything from the initial titling to registrations in other states and a whole whack of stuff. Without seeing what they are you can't really know, but the 10 days alone wouldn't turn me off if it's a car of some age.

 

[C'DaleRider]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
No, you'll have to pay or hope that somebody offers you use of their 30 day account. 10 records is nothing depending on the age of the car. It can include everything from the initial titling to registrations in other states and a whole whack of stuff. Without seeing what they are you can't really know, but the 10 days alone wouldn't turn me off if it's a car of some age.

Very true..........if you live in a state that requires or the car was in a state previously that required safety/emissions testing, each testing creates a record. So the count of records in and of itself is no indication of anything. And as Skoorb noted, records are generated with title transfers, with registration changes, and on and on.

 

[propellerhead]

I had a 94 Ford Explorer that we owned since it was new. It had 6 miles on the odometer. At around 21,000 miles, the speedometer/odometer cluster was replaced under warranty at a Ford dealer. When I traded the truck into a Ford dealer in a different city, the truck showed 85,000 miles but it truly had 106,000. I disclosed this information to the Ford dealer, who I'm sure had access to the warranty work anyway.

A recent free Carfax trial run showed "It has a consistent mileage history with no indication of an odometer rollback."

Yea right...

 

[Lounatik]

I am the second owner of my pickup truck that I purchased through Carmax about 8 years ago. The vehicle had only 8000 miles on it and was a repo. Anyway, I backed into one of those thick yellow poles that prevent you from damaging a building. Caused around 4k worth of damage to truck. Insurance paid for the fix at the Toyota dealership on the spot and fixed it. That was about 5 years ago. I pulled up a carfax about 3 months ago and it showed nothing at all about the wreck. It did show the transfer of title a few times , but no accident info.

You would think that when a major auto dealer fixes your vehicle, the VIN would have to be out there somewhere, but you never know.



Peace


Lounatik