Carfax has become an industry standard in the sale of used cars. Most car dealers offer free Carfax reports to anyone browsing their online inventory listings. Few private sellers offer it, but we can purchase a Carfax report on our own if we are seriously considering a particular used car. (It is cost-prohibitive to purchase one for every car we look at, so I would reserve that for times when you are seriously interested in a car.)
Nonetheless, some people on the Internet go so far as to say Carfax is not perfect, with a small handful thinking the report is useless. No, Carfax is not useless, but there are many ways to look at a Carfax report and make use of it. And there are some pitfalls and assumptions that can trip up buyers as well.
We will look at some of those here, and follow up with a second post with more ideas when we compile enough for a full article.
Crash and damage history
A Carfax report can show “accidents,” sure, but how reliable is a report in showing how many crashes or slight damages a car may have had? Note that Carfax will only report crashes and damages that they have received reports for. This can come from police departments, insurance companies, even some body shops and service facilities who work on cars.
By that same token, Carfax will not report anything that they, themselves, have not received a report of. So that makes you wonder…why bother with a report if it is missing some information?
For this reason. Some of us, like myself, prefer buying cars with no crash/damage history, or slight damage that was easily repaired. While all the damages might not have been reported, the appearance of a crash or certain kinds of damage will instantly weed these cars out for me. I can determine, when inspecting a car, if it had unreported damage. But seeing this on a report weeds out a lot of possibilities, and saves me a lot of time in my searches. Carfax cannot guarantee a car hasn’t had a crash or damage history but when it does, this can be helpful.
Reports that contain the location and extent of damage are the most helpful, but some states or companies do not report all of this information. If I see a car has had minor rear end damage, for instance, often it is a damaged bumper cover and possibly a support beam. No structural damage, in other words. So at the worst, I may see the paint on the rear bumper cover fail. Not a huge issue. I could have it resprayed, or find one with its original factory paint in a salvage yard. I am more wary of metal repairs, as I’ve seen everything from clearcoat failures to rust; no body shop out there can duplicate the multi-step process a vehicle’s steel receives at the factory, nor can they duplicate how the paint was applied. They can still do a good job, but it’s the longevity I’m concerned with.
Maintenance, recall and repair history
As with crashes and damage, a Carfax report often has a history of the vehicle’s maintenance, recall services performed, and repairs along the way, anything from a burned-out headlamp to frozen brake calipers.
It is nice to have, but it will never be complete. Many of us, from day one, do all maintenance on our cars ourselves. (Note that we can create a Carfax account and provide this information ourselves; also note that unscrupulous individuals can do the same, and enter a false maintenance history.) Most new car dealers seem to provide information, but independent shops are hit or miss in reporting.
So, should a lack of a maintenance history bother you? No. A retired mechanic and an excellent shop (who doesn’t report to Carfax) can do fantastic maintenance and repairs on vehicles. While a shoddy dealership that does report to Carfax might cut corners. Keep that in mind when looking at the history.
A special note regarding recalls: Always check your VIN with your vehicle’s manufacturer. A shop or dealership might not report an important recall to Carfax. The manufacturer should be the last word in whether a recall was performed or not. With some recalls potentially life-threatening, please…always check your VIN!
Ownership history
Carfax does a pretty good job of showing how many owners a car has had.
But keep this in mind–sometimes the owner count can be wrong. If an owner buys out a lease, for instance, the same person has been using the car, but the ownership has changed from the leasing (finance) company to the owner. This might be reflected as two “owners.”
There are also instances where a dealer takes possession of a vehicle while it is in their inventory. So you might see two recent owners a month or two apart. Check the dates of ownership–this one is fairly obvious.
Length of time for sale
Some of the automobile sites, like Autotrader, do not provide an estimate of how long a vehicle has been sitting unsold at a dealership. As we know, cars can develop issues the longer they sit on a lot, unsold.
So, here’s a helpful tip with your Carfax report.
Check the recent history closely. A car that seems like it only appeared at a dealer a few weeks ago may have been sitting around for months. Look at the recent history of the following example:
As I write this, it is early October of 2021, and the car remains unsold.
Looking back to December 2020, we can see when the car was probably first taken in on trade. Look at the mileage. 87,976 miles.
From that point on, we see that the car has bounced between that dealer’s used car lots, appeared at an auto auction or two (the Carfax report says “vehicle sold” but it’s possible it may not have sold at the first auction, and was relisted at the second…or the first buyer defaulted), went for a safety inspection twice, and has now been sitting on the same dealer lot since May. Last mileage reported: 88,023, which is only 47 miles more than it had in December.
The dates are important, but the mileage reported gives away so much more information. The only reason mileage increases is due to test drives, and transportation from one dealer lot or auction to the next.
This is one of those cars where you might be able to make a good deal. It costs dealers to keep a car on the lot, not only in operating capital, but in repairs needed for the car sitting for so long. The tires may have flat spots. The battery may be nearly dead. Fluids may have accumulated moisture in them. Brake rotors may have rusted. Worse, fuel that is months old can have issues with turning to varnish, which clogs fuel injectors and gums up other fuel system parts. The longer it sits unsold, the more likely it is to need some major service to get back on the road safely.
A “clean” Carfax report?
Some sellers claim that a car has a “clean” Carfax report. What does that mean?
Nothing, really.
To some sellers, a “clean” Carfax report means there have been no reported crashes, damages, etc., and has a solid maintenance history.
To others, a “clean” report only means that the car has a clean, clear title that has never been branded as a salvage, rebuilt/reconstructed, flood, vandalized, etc. title. If a car has had three crashes, it can still have a clean title.
It goes without saying–scour that Carfax report closely. And ask to see the title if you’re unsure. In my state, the clean title is called a “green” title. The concept of a “clean Carfax report” is only the opinion of the dealer selling the car.
Should I buy a Carfax report?
If you are buying from a private party, ask if they have already purchased their own report. If so, they will often offer it without asking, as the seller did with our TSX. I would suggest buying one, only at the final stage, just before you fork over the cash, or after leaving a refundable deposit.
For dealers, most reputable dealers will either offer you a free Carfax, or a similar report from Experien called AutoCheck. Those that don’t are probably operating on a shoestring budget, or they may even be hiding something. If you cannot convince such a dealer to get a report but the car looks good, buy one of your own, again just before you put down any money towards it (beyond a refundable deposit).
Carfax alternatives
There are some free VIN checking services out there, as well as a few other trustworthy providers. Do your homework, though–many are out to separate you from your money or worse, get ahold of your email address for marketing purposes, or your credit card number for a scam.
You can get a free report at carsforsale.com:
https://www.carsforsale.com/free-vehicle-history-reports
The best place to start for legitimate reports is at a US government site for the NMVTIS system. The prior link performs their search through NMVTIS. It will not be as complete of a report as you’d find at Carfax, but is good to check status of the title and possibly see a damage history as well. The NVMTIS site is here:
https://vehiclehistory.bja.ojp.gov/