CARFAX Inc. was started in 1984 in Missouri. The purpose of the company was to provide automobile customers with a report on used cars in the American and Canadian markets. Too often, you would hear stories from people who bought a used car that broke down on them within a week, or continuously required a trip to a Colorado car repair shop. As such, the company began an intense study of each vehicle’s car history starting from the manufacturing plants. Each car’s history is compiled from auto body shops, departments of motor vehicles, salvage and auto auctions, rental fleet companies, and myriad other sources. At first, the list of cars has been negligible. But since the company started in 1984, practically every car has a CARFAX report. Every accident, every mechanical error, and the number of owners the car has had is revealed in the CARFAX report. It’s the type of information that you can’t get by simply checking under the hood or asking the seller.
The company’s policy requires people to purchase a subscription to CARFAX in order to get access to the reports. However, is has become common policy at commercial dealerships to freely offer the CARFAX to a customer if it is requested. This practice has hurt dealerships that don’t offer this policy, and has forced most if not all dealerships to do the same. So unless you’re looking to buy a vehicle from a private owner, you don’t really need a subscription to CARFAX to access the report. CARFAX has also benefited dealerships, making it so that they know which used cars to add to their stock, and which ones will likely result in a lawsuit. Essentially, you can typically trust that any car you purchase from a dealer has seen few if any problems. And just in case, you could always ask to check the CARFAX just to be sure. Why would a dealership willingly hand you a CARFAX that will tell you the car has seen its fair-share of problems?
The fact is, CARFAX has single-handedly altered the car market with its expansive reporting on practically every car on the streets today. It would behoove you to ask not take this fact for granted. Make sure you look into the CARFAX every time you are looking to buy a car. You never know what a car has been through.
How to Use This Information
The CARFAX has proven to be a vital component of the commercial automobile market. Make sure you request the CARFAX report for any vehicle before you buy it. At Accurate Auto Body, a Denver auto body shop with locations across the metro area, you can even ask us to get your current vehicle its’ CARFAX report. We want to make sure you are completely informed about your car’s current, and past, condition.
Has a CARFAX report ever revealed a glaring problem with a vehicle you were about to purchase?
