CarFax

Has anyone used this service when looking for a used car? Are there better services out there? [/b]
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I've used it on the last couple of used cars I've bought, including the race car. I think it's a valuable tool for what it does, but it still can't tell you if the car was properly maintained, or if there are any mechanical problems with the car, etc. It is nice to know how many owners there were, where they lived, or whether the car was ever titled as a salvaged vehicle, but I would still either look the car over with a fine toothed comb, or at least have a good mechanic look it over.

Also, I think most used car dealers these days will run a Carfax report for you if you ask for it.
 
Take the Carfax report with a grain of salt. It only lists accidents or incidents that are reported. I bought a used Acura NSX from a pretty well established highline used car dealership out of Houston that had a clean Carfax to go with it. It wasn't until I tried to sell it a couple years ago(To fund my Mazda RX7 racing habit...some trade, eh? Give up an NSX to race a $6k Mazda.) that someone smarter than me showed me all the telltale signs of body work that was done to the left quarter panel. Who knows, maybe the previous owner was drunk and smacked it against a highway barrier, or maybe they crashed it at an open track day. At any rate, they obviously had it fixed with no police report or insurance claim. Who really knows, the car felt good and I was lucky to sell it for almost what I wanted. I agree, even with a clean Carfax, inspect it like it didn't have one.
 
I just signed up for AutoCheck (run by Experian) and it 'works' in the sense that it lists things that were reported. I've been talking with a guy about a car, and he says it looks like there was some minor dent/scratch on the car that was repaired, but it doesn't show up in the report. Assuming the speedo wasn't changed or broke, or whatever, it also gives you a good idea about how the car was driven. In my case, this car had 120,000 miles in the first 4 years, and then 8 over the next 5, then 8 over the next 7, then 9 over the past 2. I think the only thing that it will really uncover is that the car hasn't been salvaged. You'll also find out when and where the car was registered over it's life. Certainly I wouldn't buy a car solely or even mostly based on the report. It might just be a place to find something to question. That's what I did with the mileage that I mentioned. Only the 120,000 figured was in the report, but the current owner gave me the history about the rest of the mileage.

I went with AutoCheck because it was cheaper $25/60 days and on the 'free prelim' report for 1 car it said there was 11 items to report, whereas CarFax said it had only 4.
 
It's another tool, but no more, no less.

However, for ebay deals, it's a good thing!

I've carfaxed a couple, and it does answer some questions, and I haven't had any issues that it was wrong about.
 
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