CARFAX: Friend or Foe when Buying a Used Car?

Buying a used car is a tricky matter. The problem is that everyone is looking out for their own interest, so the seller will want to get the most money out of you. For example, an usual add in Craigslist would say " 1999 Toyota Sienna, in great condition, leather interior, fully loaded. Selling only because we want to upgrade to a newer model". When truly it should say " 1999 Toyota Sienna, in who knows what condition since I haven't really take it to a mechanic for a long time. I am actually selling it because it has a weird noise coming from the back of it and whenever I am in the freeway it rocks from side to side. I actually don't want to spend any more money in this piece of junk so that is why I want to sell it. Because I want to be able to afford to buy a newer model I want to sell it for as much as I can. Honestly it is in good drivable condition (for now)"

Lets face it, it will be very rare to find an add like that so if you really want to know what you are getting into, I highly recommend a CARFAX report. It will not tell you all the little details you need to know but it will show you the main red flags in the car history like, big accidents, body damage, paint jobs, fires, and how many owners has it had. You may not think this says a lot but if your report says your car has had two owners and one of them used it as a fleet vehicle then you know that it wasn't treated properly. All rentals are damage or abused by people that rents them. You can also check how many times it has been on the shop and sometimes what is the reason it was there.

Getting a CARFAX report is just one of the steps to follow when buying a car. It will tell you the main history of the car but you still have to take it to a mechanic to check on current problems. You should also know that not all owners are honest and when they get in a car wreck they try to fix it without having to report it, that way their insurance doesn't go up. If something wasn't reported to the DMV then CARFAX wont have it in their records either.

If you are spending a lot of money in car, you don't want to get a lemon so taking all the preventive steps is a most. CARFAX is one of those steps and I think that buying the unlimited pass of $29.99 is nothing compared with the hundreds you can save yourself by knowing if your car may need major repairs before e buying it, so I will definitely say that CARFAX is a friend when buying a used car.