Is Carfax pretty much the gold standard for researching auto's history? Are there competitors? If so, any good?
Carfax, is it the gold standard?
- Thread starter Gramps
- Start date
There are others on the market. A quick Google search on "car history" turns up several.
However, I would be concerned about the others, from the standpoint of data collection. Carfax operates by collecting information from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to) state and local government agencies. The data collection is really the key to the reliability of the reports.
I'm not saying that Carfax is 100 percent reliable. I'm aware of cases in which a car has been totalled and that is not in the Carfax for the car. I tend to view a Carfax with negative information as very useful. When I see a Carfax without negative information, that means a lower risk of problems, but is not a guarantee that none have occurred.
Unless I hear evidence (not just an advertising claim) that another source has more complete and reliable information than Carfax (or that it has information as complete and reliable but for a lower price), I would stick with Carfax.
However, I would be concerned about the others, from the standpoint of data collection. Carfax operates by collecting information from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to) state and local government agencies. The data collection is really the key to the reliability of the reports.
I'm not saying that Carfax is 100 percent reliable. I'm aware of cases in which a car has been totalled and that is not in the Carfax for the car. I tend to view a Carfax with negative information as very useful. When I see a Carfax without negative information, that means a lower risk of problems, but is not a guarantee that none have occurred.
Unless I hear evidence (not just an advertising claim) that another source has more complete and reliable information than Carfax (or that it has information as complete and reliable but for a lower price), I would stick with Carfax.
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As usual Nsxtasy is right on ! Specially about the point on the finding out about the negative information on the car. Its a good way to see if there any accident/flood/mileage problems. Its not a guarantee that such an exisiting problem with specific car will show up on carfax (and in some cases they dont) but if they do show up, its a first step to elimnate that car from your search or not proceeding further, if you choose to.
If the carfax comes out clean, then you can proceed ahead, but still have to inspect the car for any signs of problems (mileage,accidents, etc) that might not have showed up on carfax, if there is any.
There is another competitor to carfax and its called Autocheck. Its the one used by ebay when you click on the history report. Carfax is obviously more popular, but the advantage to Autocheck is that you get 60 days of membership instead of 30 days as you do with carfax.
If the carfax comes out clean, then you can proceed ahead, but still have to inspect the car for any signs of problems (mileage,accidents, etc) that might not have showed up on carfax, if there is any.
There is another competitor to carfax and its called Autocheck. Its the one used by ebay when you click on the history report. Carfax is obviously more popular, but the advantage to Autocheck is that you get 60 days of membership instead of 30 days as you do with carfax.
Autocheck was one of the links I pulled up in Google.ghost said:
I just checked the other one on the first page and it was just another web address to get a Carfax...
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