Free Carfax

buckle97 · Mar 24, 2005

I have the unlimited one month subscription to Carfax. If anyone is in the market for a used car and would like me to run the VIN # for you, just reply to this thread or PM me and I will be happy to run it for you.

Lawrence

Junkman · Mar 24, 2005

Do you know how far back they go for vehicle serial numbers? I have a 1978 that I would like checked if it goes that far back. thanks.... Junk...

buckle97 · Mar 25, 2005

I have a 1978 that I would like checked if it goes that far back. 

Carfax requires 17 digits for the VIN. 17 digit VIN's didn't start appearing until 1980 or 1981, so I guess you are out of luck on Carfax /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

Lawrence

Bird · Mar 25, 2005

I've seen clean Carfax reports on the last two vehicles I've bought, but I'm wondering what kind of damage gets reported and goes on Carfax. This afternoon, I went and got my little 2001 Ford Ranger from the body shop. Two weeks ago, a neighbor backed into the driver's side and put a $1,400 dent in it. Looks like the dealer did a good job on the repair, the neighbor's insurance company paid for it, and it doesn't affect the running or operation of the vehicle. But will that go on the Carfax report and reduce its value or not?

Junkman · Mar 25, 2005

The only time that it would make it to Carfax is if the vehicle is totaled. I purchased a leased vehicle that was 3 days old when the driver plowed into the rear end of a truck and destroyed the entire front end. The car was repaired and given back to the lessee and they drove it for another 3 years. Since the vehicle was sold at auction by the leasing company, they were obligated to disclose the damage and repair information. The dealer that I bought it from was also obligated to disclose this to me. 90,000 miles later, there is no problems with the vehicle since the repairs were done properly. It did hurt the resale value though. It never showed up on the Carfax report that I pulled on the car. On the other hand, my wifes car was totaled by the insurance company and that didn't show up on the Carfax report until I registered the "salvage title" and got a new title in my name. This car was also damaged right after delivery to the original owner, and since it only had 40 miles on it, they totaled it. I purchased it at the salvage auction for half of what it cost new and fixed it for $1500. That was in 1997 and now it has almost 100 K and no problems either. It isn't that a car is damaged, it is how well the repairs are made that are important.

frank_f15 · Mar 25, 2005

( It isn't that a car is damaged, it is how well the repairs are made that are important.
)
JUNKMAN if that is the case what good is carfax? they can tell u if a vehicle was damaged but not how well it was repaired. i am a bit confused on the value of carfax reports /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

rdln · Mar 25, 2005

Yeah, I also have a couple weeks of carfax available to me.

Bird, If it helps the original truck I was looking at showed that it was in a front collision only reported by the sherriff, not insurance agency and not repair shop. If the sherriff wasn't involved, would it have shown up?

Bird · Mar 25, 2005

I don't have any answers, Steve, just wondering how it works. Recently, while shopping for a little pickup for my grandson, we got Carfax reports on two that we looked at and they showed big discrepancies in the odometer readings. We finally got him a little Chevy S-10 with 100,000 miles on it, but nice, clean little truck and a Carfax report that indicates that the odometer reading was correct. I don't know whether you've ever shopped at Carmax, but I think they usually have a nice looking car on the showroom floor with a sign saying "We'd never sell you this car" and then pictures showing how badly it had been wrecked. They "look" like the repairs were well done. The Carfax reports I've seen show mileage when registered, and when State Safety Inspections were done, but I don't know who reports things such as accidents to Carfax; only police? Insurance companies? And how bad damage has to be to get reported. Maybe Junkman is right about them having to be "totalled", but I didn't think that was the case.

Junkman · Mar 25, 2005

Carfax is good for learning about the cars previous title history and who the previous owners were. If you see a lot of transfers from one dealer to another, then it should at least have some explanation. I don't know how they establish there record tracking, however, I do know that there is a lot of damaged vehicles that never show up on the records. In the first example of my car that was repaired, if it hadn't been a leased vehicle, it probably would have been considered a total loss, since the damage was extensive. My wifes Explorer had very little damage, but the insurance company called it a total because the mileage was so low and the car was only a couple of days old. Had the car been 6 months old, then it would have been repaired and returned to the owner. The only way that they could learn about accident repairs is if the states gave them the accident reports and the vehicle serial numbers were on the reports. I don't know if that is happening. The emission inspections done by the states have the VIN and the mileage, so that is easy for them to get from the states that do inspections. The reports are only as good as the information that Carfax can obtain. Since CT hasn't done inspections for almost 2 years, there is no mileage reports on CT registered cars for that period. Like any tool, you have to learn how to use it to your advantage and also consider other factors prior to purchase.