Carfax ripoff Nationwide Internet

As a professional Automotive Inspector, I did a fair amount of research on Carfax because my customers ask about this service all the time.
Apparently, you had a chance to learn a hard way what they are but for others the following information may save tons of money and aggravation.

Carfax compiles their reports based on information voluntarily provided by police departments, dealerships, insurance companies, etc. This means that they may or may not have all data related to a particular vehicle due to many reasons starting from not reported events to simple human errors. This point is obvious and should be CLEARLY stated on the first page of their site. Of course, this fair practice would hurt their bottom line...

At one point, I ran a "free" report on one of my own cars I owned since day one, and know its history better than CIA, FBI, and Carfax combined. The report came back with a pure blackmail statement: "there are seven records related to this vehicle that are extremely important". No comments needed.

Here is my take on Carfax service: usually a negative information is accurate while absence of it doesn't mean a thing. Nevertheless, I think that $20 they charge may still make sense compared to losses you face buying a lemon BUT a professional pre-purchase inspection done by a reputable local - not a national outfit - company is something that cannot be substituted with any report.

Auto Inspector

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