A Closer Look at Vehicle History Reports
May 7, 2009 by Maurina
f you’re searching for a used car, odds are you know how important a vehicle history report is to the buying process. A good history check can dig up ghosts from your prospective buy’s past like accident damage, flood damage and whether or not the odometer has been tampered with, but how do the other categories impact a vehicle? Carfax takes a look at everything from lemon complaints to service records to give you the best possible picture of the car’s past, and it turns out each category is just as important as the next. Hop the jump for a look at lemon checks, fleet service and rental car service.
Let’s start with the lemon check. Most states have lemon laws that protect car buyers from faulty products. If the original owner invoked those laws for whatever reason (usually repeated, inexplicable repairs) the history report will let you know, protecting you from picking up a car that could cause more headaches than it’s worth.
A Carfax report will also let you know if the car you hope to buy has ever been a rental or in a company fleet. It’s true these cars often receive meticulous maintenance – a strong selling-point for any vehicle – but as everyone knows, regular oil changes are only part of how a vehicle has been treated over its lifetime. Usually, fleet and rental vehicles suffer substantial abuse at the hands of their drivers. Those cars tend to be driven with less respect, suffering high-speeds, higher miles and abrupt braking among other liberties. We’re not saying everyone who has ever slid into the driver’s seat of a rental car has beaten the living life out of the vehicle, but it happens often enough to keep a wary eye on any car that comes back as having survived fleet service.
In the end, a vehicle history report is only part of the buying process. If your Carfax report shows a red flag in any important category, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Rather, it simply lets you know the car you want to take home should be carefully inspected by a trusted, professional mechanic before you sign the title. If the car comes back with a good bill of health and you still aren’t sure, trust your gut and walk away. There are plenty of good cars out there.
For more information on getting a vehicle history report, you can check out the UsedCars.com vehicle history report page, or hop over to Carfax.
Category: Used Cars Online
