used pickup and carfax
I am looking at pickups and carfax seems kind of speedy at $40 for 1 report. Are there less expensive alternatives that are good?
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yeah a good local mechanic you can trust, should be no charge, but you could slip him a $10 or 20 for his time......... 0 -
Unless you know a mechanic personally and they have experience in collision repair aswell then you're not likely going to find one that will thoroughly look it over for free. Carfax has gotten expensive. I remember when you got unlimited for $19.99 or 29.99....is it a private seller? Because any used car dealer should provide a carfax at no charge....if it's a truck you will likely buy then I'd spend the $40....with today's maintenance records, recalls and enhanced collision reporting it is worth the coin. 0 -
I personally feel $40 is cheap insurance considering it could save you many thousands of $ in regrets..... but everyone places a different value on their money,...mine was "hard earned" 
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When it comes to carfax....Use it to NOT buy a car, don't buy a car because of it.
Many times cars are not listed correctly on it.
My sister and BIL always bought new Nissans from the same dealer. One Altima she had got into a bad accident, $5000 worth of front end work. Instead of fixing it, she just traded it in as is for a newer one to the dealer.
2 months later, we saw that car on the used car lot of the dealer. I went over to it like I was interested
in buying it. {unknown to to lot salesman I knew the car}. I ask to see the carfax, a free report they offered.
It shows CLEAN, NO accidents.
A good mechanical check out is worth more than a slip of paper.0 -
Well in the past if I am seriously looking at a particular car I have had one of my LEO friends run the vin # and contact the last owner. They will usually full you in on any problems they know about. It is a very good idea to spend the money to get a good mechanic to drive the car and get it on a lift to give it a good look. But there are folks who think it too expensive to pay an expert $100.00 to maybe save them thousands. 0 -
Ricci Wright wrote:Well in the past if I am seriously looking at a particular car I have had one of my LEO friends run the vin # and contact the last owner. They will usually full you in on any problems they know about. It is a very good idea to spend the money to get a good mechanic to drive the car and get it on a lift to give it a good look. But there are folks who think it too expensive to pay an expert $100.00 to maybe save them thousands.
Shame on them, that is likely a crime in NC, it is in VA. If not a crime it is a violation on NCIC rules and likely NC's rules and could result in revocation of access and fines for their agency. Personal use of those data bases is a big no-no.0 -
If some stranger called me about a car that I was the last registered owner and no longer had that car.
I would read them the riot act over the phone. :evil:0 -
babun wrote:If some stranger called me about a car that I was the last registered owner and no longer had that car.
I would read them the riot act over the phone. :evil:
Yep, but first I would pass bad information to them.0 -
Carfax is a joke.
I had the motor in an f-250 replaced at a Ford dealership in Northern Minnesota. Later, after a run in with a large whitetail, had the front end fixed.
Ran a Carfax on it myself, a few years later. Clean, no accidents.
I have heard the same stories repeated often.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Use a trusted mechanic.0 -
A couple of years ago I found a 2008 Ford Shelby GT convertible at a dealer near Tampa, Florida with low mileage that I had been looking for. I called and talked with a salesmen and he assured me it had not been in any wrecks, was in perfect shape and had the CarFax on it.
So we drove down that night and spent the night at a motel close by so I could go over and pick the car up early the next morning. When I got there the car looked great from the outside but when I opened the hood and checked around the radiator and underneath the front of the car I could see over spray and some bolts that were missing in some places so I knew it had been wrecked.
I started into the office and the salesman went and hid. I talked to the manager and told him what I thought of his place and his chicken$$#%! salesman and left before I got in trouble.0 -
Many dealers provide carfax reports free.
For those suggesting "take it to a mechanic" do you understand that not everyone buys a vehicle from "down the street"?
The last vehicle I bought was an entire state away. I wouldn't even think about driving that far to look at a vehicle w/o knowing what a carfax report revealed. And even if I had, how would I know a reliable mechanic from 300 miles away?
Heck, even I can cover up a serious problem well enough to fool most mechanics doing a walk around inspection.0 -
well i use a vehicle report to try and find put as much as possible......realize there may be some issues about accuracy ...but...one has to try...SO....check a VIN for FREE www.vehiclehistory.com 0 -
babun wrote:When it comes to carfax....Use it to NOT buy a car, don't buy a car because of it.
Many times cars are not listed correctly on it.
My sister and BIL always bought new Nissans from the same dealer. One Altima she had got into a bad accident, $5000 worth of front end work. Instead of fixing it, she just traded it in as is for a newer one to the dealer.
2 months later, we saw that car on the used car lot of the dealer. I went over to it like I was interested
in buying it. {unknown to to lot salesman I knew the car}. I ask to see the carfax, a free report they offered.
It shows CLEAN, NO accidents.
A good mechanical check out is worth more than a slip of paper.
A friend of mine is a used car dealer and he says the same thing about CarFax.0 -
Carfax is only as good as the information reported to them. Some states and insurance companies may not provide the information consumers are looking for. If you are looking at used off rental vehicles you may not find collision history because the rental company repairs it themselves and doesn't make a claim. However Carfax is only one component of the vehicle purchasing process, it's not the sole source to rely on, but it could tell you alot about a car. I've bought used vehicles that had very detailed Carfax showing detailed dealer service records, owners, titles and registration events, if the dealer picked it up at auction or it was a local trade etc.diver-rig wrote:Carfax is a joke.
I had the motor in an f-250 replaced at a Ford dealership in Northern Minnesota. Later, after a run in with a large whitetail, had the front end fixed.
Ran a Carfax on it myself, a few years later. Clean, no accidents.
I have heard the same stories repeated often.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Use a trusted mechanic.0 -
This..spasmcreek wrote:well i use a vehicle report to try and find put as much as possible......realize there may be some issues about accuracy ...but...one has to try...SO....check a VIN for FREE www.vehiclehistory.com0 -
Thanks for all the info
The truck is 4 hours away from me so I want to be able to spot any trouble beforehand if possible.0 -
My girlfriend and I buy a lot of used cars and we always use carfax. There is also another service like carfax, can't remember the name, I used them several times. I would pay the bucks and use both services, sometimes info would be in carfax and not be in the other service or vice versa.
I know that carfax is not perfect but I have found them to be pretty accurate I recently bought a 2010 Nissan Frontier 4WD from a dealer in Burnsville NC, carfax said it had two owners both in Johnson City Tn. Mileage was really low, 39, 000, but carfax showed that was real as it got vehicle inspection every year.
I did buy that truck, now it was only a half hour drive from my house, but this truck is cherry, one of the best vehicles I have ever had, I bought it 6 months ago.
I remember in the Good Old Days you paid carfax $30 bucks and you got six reports. I can remember on gunbroker forums, many times, I would have used 4 of my tries and had bought the car, or my girlfriend had, and I would post on this forum that I had 2 free carfax reports for anyone who wanted, always had a taker Mach Schnell on that. Other guys would often offer the same thing that was pretty cool.
Well obviously carfax got wise to that trick, but that was the good old days.
Anyway I recognize that carfax isn't perfect, but, it is pretty good. Wish I could remember the name of that other service I used to use also.
I just looked up my 2001 Infiniti I 30 on vehiclehistory.com Never heard of these guys before.
The report was completely accurate including mileage and airbag recall from last year. I bought this car 6 years ago.
So vehiclehistory.com may be a pretty good site.
Like the OP said if you want to look at a car that is 4 hours away, how you gonna get that car to a friendly mechanic that you know? Not possible. So, use carfax and vehiclehistory and do a good inspection yourself, caveat emptor.0 -
we used car fax maybe 12 to 15 years ago to buy a pickup for my son from a local mom pop dealer I worked with there son who was part owner and did trust them but they bought local and a lot from the car auctions where any thing could come thru
any way they told me as a dealership car fax wanted some stupid amount per month but as a john public I think it was less than 30.00 for a month no limit . I even ran cars for the dealership
but as some one stated there only as good as whats reported and many accidents / wrecks are not reported .
I was always leerier of flood cars more than wrecked cars .
I for the most part know my way around a car but some shops are real good to hide any repairs . a old buddy worked at a shop where they would buy totaled cars most were newer so the value would be there to sell they would cut them in half match up the good half's or replace all the burned out wiring and interior sell as normal but had to move operations to a state that did not have the scrap title rule . but that was 40 years ago I think about all have the laws now
but they were good unless you knew or really looked super close you would never know it was two cars just a few weeks ago0 -
I do chuckle a bit as some of the criticism of Carfax are from folks that admittedly used the service years ago.....reporting has likely improved quite a bit as Carfax has developed relationships with car insurance Cos, DMVs and law enforcement. Carfax offers free services to LE agencies in exchange for vehicle crash information in an effort to improve their accuracy. 0 -
allen griggs wrote:Like the OP said if you want to look at a car that is 4 hours away, how you gonna get that car to a friendly mechanic that you know? Not possible.
When I go look at a used car near or far away I take a hydraulic floor jack and jack stands in my pick-up truck to have a look under the vehicle myself.
I really learned how to work on cars when I bought my first Corvette. It only took one time going to a dealer or garage to have work done on it to find out that anything with the word "CORVETTE" attached to it was going to cost at least 100 percent more than a regular car would.
Much like going to a marina to have a boat motor worked on. They'll tear you pants off and rip your wallet with cash and credit cards apart like wild dogs. Which is why I also do my own work on boat motors.0 -
Many dealers provide the car fax for free 0 -
spasmcreek wrote:well i use a vehicle report to try and find put as much as possible......realize there may be some issues about accuracy ...but...one has to try...SO....check a VIN for FREE www.vehiclehistory.com
I just checked my used 2010 Nissan Frontier that I bought last fall on vehiclehistory.com Completely accurate. This is a pretty good site, and, free.0 -
OK :
Do some research : Its proven that "carfax" is an over priced scam ::: Bout 90% of Used vehicles will never show anything on Carfax !!!!
Thanks !!!0
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