Carfax different than Autocheck?

[oftenimitated]

Im looking at getting a 2011 Camaro SS. The dealer supplied a Autocheck report which looks good but ive read that the carfax could possibly be different? Any truth to this?

[376LS3]

Yes, I got screwed by Autocheck. An Autocheck was supplied with a car I bought. Looked great. About 2 years later I thought about selling it so I pulled a Carfax to show potential buyers. Carfax reported an accident that didnt show up on Autocheck. Id pull both if I were you.

[ChibiBlackSheep]

$30 carfax is worth it, it's dirt-cheap insurance.

[AdamEL]

Just a little FYI - Even a Carfax doesn't show all wrecks that could have happened in a particular car. Just wrecks that were fixed at a participating dealer. I have a good friend that's been in the car selling business for over 20 years, and he says that a Carfax can't guarantee you an accident free car. To me, it's still important to at least see it before I buy. I demanded the Carfax on my last 3 used vehicle purchases, but I do know that it doesn't guarantee an accident free vehicle. I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this very forum that have probably found that out the hard way after buying a used Camaro.

Don't let that scare you off, though. Just remember to thoroughly inspect the car before purchasing for any loose fitting parts or possible repainted areas.

[Southern Comfort]

Carfax can shed more light on that 1-owner (manufacturer, rental company, etc)
imo -Autocheck seems slanted in dealers' favor

[Mr_Draco]

Always run both. Some things get reported to one that doesn't get reported to the other and vice versa.

[fish907]

Originally Posted by Southern Comfort

Carfax can shed more light on that 1-owner (manufacturer, rental company, etc)
imo -Autocheck seems slanted in dealers' favor

Autocheck will show what kind of registration was on the vehicle (individual, government, fleet/lease/rental), as well. I don't think it's slanted at all, it's just that there can be items on one that may not show up on the other. It all has to do with participating agencies and to whom they report.

[GearHeadPeter]

Originally Posted by AdamEL

Just a little FYI - Even a Carfax doesn't show all wrecks that could have happened in a particular car. Just wrecks that were fixed at a participating dealer. I have a good friend that's been in the car selling business for over 20 years, and he says that a Carfax can't guarantee you an accident free car. To me, it's still important to at least see it before I buy. I demanded the Carfax on my last 3 used vehicle purchases, but I do know that it doesn't guarantee an accident free vehicle. I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this very forum that have probably found that out the hard way after buying a used Camaro.

Don't let that scare you off, though. Just remember to thoroughly inspect the car before purchasing for any loose fitting parts or possible repainted areas.

If the accident has not been reported to the Insurance then no record of the accident. This as happened twice to me when buying used cars, even with both checks. Just an FYI. If in doubt get it inspected through an independent mechanic.

[Mortious]

Originally Posted by AdamEL

Just a little FYI - Even a Carfax doesn't show all wrecks that could have happened in a particular car. Just wrecks that were fixed at a participating dealer. I have a good friend that's been in the car selling business for over 20 years, and he says that a Carfax can't guarantee you an accident free car. To me, it's still important to at least see it before I buy. I demanded the Carfax on my last 3 used vehicle purchases, but I do know that it doesn't guarantee an accident free vehicle. I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this very forum that have probably found that out the hard way after buying a used Camaro.

Don't let that scare you off, though. Just remember to thoroughly inspect the car before purchasing for any loose fitting parts or possible repainted areas.

Thats not quite true (about the repairs), I use to work for Carfax...

The way it works is Carfax gets data from various places (Insurance claims, police reports, DMV, Jiffy Lube, etc...).

If you happen to be in one of those places where the police reports were not done right (remember its a human marking down the VIN) and your insurance doesn't sell its data to Carfax, then it is very possible a car with an accident can get by the reporting services.

Its also very possible to never make a claim/police report and have the repairs done by yourself and it never get reported.

Both Autocheck and Carfax get their data from the same sources, Carfax just happen to be the trailblazer in getting that data released (believe me when I worked there it was a pain to get some data in some places), it is how they interpret the data is what makes it valuable.

I can remember working on the Wyoming Accident data, it was amazing how many different spellings of Moose would come along...

[not]

Originally Posted by Mortious

Thats not quite true (about the repairs), I use to work for Carfax...

The way it works is Carfax gets data from various places (Insurance claims, police reports, DMV, Jiffy Lube, etc...).

If you happen to be in one of those places where the police reports were not done right (remember its a human marking down the VIN) and your insurance doesn't sell its data to Carfax, then it is very possible a car with an accident can get by the reporting services.

Its also very possible to never make a claim/police report and have the repairs done by yourself and it never get reported.

Both Autocheck and Carfax get their data from the same sources, Carfax just happen to be the trailblazer in getting that data released (believe me when I worked there it was a pain to get some data in some places), it is how they interpret the data is what makes it valuable.

I can remember working on the Wyoming Accident data, it was amazing how many different spellings of Moose would come along...

Yes, basically correct. I know that I hit a deer with a car, not my Camaro thank God........anyways, I fixed it myself with a friend's body shop's help and never turned it into insurance as the fix done by myself and friend was under the deductible, even though damn deer took out the front grill, right headlight and part of front fender. So nobody has a record of it, not even me except in my memory.

Also, you can get the VIN and take it to a dlr's service dept and ask them to run it for you, as that would cover ALL visits to any dealer's service dept, whether covered by warranty or not. They can also tell you of any unserviced recalls.

[Mortious]

The whole idea behind Carfax was giving someone a single place to check to see if a car was ever salvaged.

Way back when (10 or so years ago) you could take a salvaged title to Ohio, register it and remove that salvage.

While you could still call all 50 states and run a DMV history, most people didn't and those salvaged cars were making their way back into the used car market.

With the advent of electronic records, all being tracked by the VIN the decision was made to make Carfax a "one stop shop" for vehicle history, as always Carax could never know everything but it was better than the alternative.

I worked with the founder of Carfax when I first started (back in '97) the man is brilliant and created Carfax to make people aware of the salvaged (not safe) cars that were being sold as clean.

So yes, run both, compare them and if you are still unsure, bring the car to a trusted mechanic and put it on the lift. That "great deal" isn't worth your life.

[Southern Comfort]

Originally Posted by fish907

Autocheck will show what kind of registration was on the vehicle (individual, government, fleet/lease/rental), as well. I don't think it's slanted at all, it's just that there can be items on one that may not show up on the other. It all has to do with participating agencies and to whom they report.

I am basing this on actual experience when dozens of preproduction ZL1s hit the market as used cars those free online AutoCheck reports omitted the fact they were manufacturer owned. Carfax listed them manufacturer owned.

[oftenimitated]

Any1 get carfax on here? Or point me in direction to get it cheaper than $40. I know that it's not a lot on the scheme of things but figured id ask first