I'm trying to find a reliable vehicle history report, but I’m not sold on Carfax. Does anyone know of any alternatives that give detailed info on accidents, title issues, or flood damage?
Trevorr
I could be wrong, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt here based on previous posts that this isn't a bot set up to share a spam link. If it is, there are plenty here that will report it, and they will promptly be deleted.
CarFax is the best you are going to do IMHO. AutoCheck about equal. The problem with either is that they only report what is reported to them. I have purchased several that had clearly been in accidents that didn't show on either report. If the shop never reports it, if insurance wasn't involved, if the PO does his own work, CF and AC don't get the info. It's critical to do your own due diligence and thoroughly inspect a vehicle or have an independent shop do it for you. If you care and intend to rely on your purchase, do not trust ANY dealer, corner lot, or private sales to be completely honest about vehicle history. Even the most honest will withhold details if it isn't directly questioned.
You can also run the VIN for free at the NICB to see if an insurance company reported it as a total loss, which in the case of flood damage is likely. It will also show if the vehicle was ever reported stolen.
Also a good idea to run the free VIN check at the NHTSA to see if their are outstanding recalls.
www.nhtsa.gov
Finally, pull a build sheet to make sure there are/aren't options present that it was equipped with at the factory. A mismatch between the build sheet and the actual vehicle may indicate VIN shenanigans. Chrysler offers them up for free for '98+ vehicles here:
fcagroup.my.site.com
Any other internet claims of "complete" or "free" accident/maintenance reports is 100% BS.
CarFax is the best you are going to do IMHO. AutoCheck about equal. The problem with either is that they only report what is reported to them. I have purchased several that had clearly been in accidents that didn't show on either report. If the shop never reports it, if insurance wasn't involved, if the PO does his own work, CF and AC don't get the info. It's critical to do your own due diligence and thoroughly inspect a vehicle or have an independent shop do it for you. If you care and intend to rely on your purchase, do not trust ANY dealer, corner lot, or private sales to be completely honest about vehicle history. Even the most honest will withhold details if it isn't directly questioned.
You can also run the VIN for free at the NICB to see if an insurance company reported it as a total loss, which in the case of flood damage is likely. It will also show if the vehicle was ever reported stolen.
Also a good idea to run the free VIN check at the NHTSA to see if their are outstanding recalls.
Recalls | NHTSA
Use our VIN lookup tool to check for recalls on your car, or search by make and model. Also, get recall information on car seats, tires and equipment.
Finally, pull a build sheet to make sure there are/aren't options present that it was equipped with at the factory. A mismatch between the build sheet and the actual vehicle may indicate VIN shenanigans. Chrysler offers them up for free for '98+ vehicles here:
FCA RAM
Any other internet claims of "complete" or "free" accident/maintenance reports is 100% BS.
I don't trust CarFax or any of those services other than to just take my money. In 2017, we bought my wife a 2015 Camaro 1LT with a 'clean' CarFax, but it turns out the car had been a rental, broken into & stolen, with at least the driver side front fender replaced (I'd always wondered why there was no 'Camaro' jewelry on the fender, but present on the passenger side, along with some glass shards in one of the seams of the dashboard). I later asked the stealership about it and they told me what they knew, which wasn't on the CarFax.
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