Am I Getting Ready to Buy A Lemon?

D.E.Bishop wrote:
I suggested a Carfax because I thought that the minimum info would include all past owners. What does Carfax tell you? Not a highjack, just wondering if a Carfax would help

Carfax includes zero personal information on previous owners, just things like where registrations were renewed,where ownership transfers took place, and REPORTED damage and repairs. Carfax will not list repairs typically done to defective RVs. They also make it quite clear that they only provide publically available information. It is possible to buy a salvage vehicle, assembled from a collection of wrecks, and receive a glowing car fax with the purchase. I nearly did so, and really did battle with the dealership management who stated that the Carfax would have clearly shown this info. Once we were all laying under the vehicle, looking at shoddy repairs and odd overspray, they agreed that they bought a wreck.

Carfax type services are valuable. They can give you an idea where a car has been, and if the backstory adds up. For example, you're buying what is billed as "Grandma's car" from the estate, and the claim is that the car is a one owner, with low miles. The car fax indicates that the title did a loop through a few distant states, (possibly to wash the title of a salvaged or stolen car) and that a registration a few years ago shows way more miles than the ODO. does at the moment. In that case, the Carfax prevented you from buying a really bad car, from a liar, or maybe even a criminal.

OTOH, being confident that you bought an accident free, flood free car, because the Carfax shows no evidence to the contrary, is only kidding yourself.