BUMPER
TO BUMPER
Histories’ Mysteries: What used car reports
might not be telling you
Car histories have proven to be useful tools
in maneuvering the used car lot, but a recent
Consumer Reports investigation reveals they
may not be as infallible as we would like to
believe.
The investigation turned up clean reports on
several damaged cars, in some cases all five
reporting services — Carfax, Autocheck, the free
VINCheck from the National Insurance Crime Bureau,
and two reports gleaned from the federal government’s
title information database — returned the same
misleading information.
Most states require that extensively damaged
vehicles be branded as “salvage,” but various
circumstances — including uninsured vehicles
and rental company-owned vehicles — allow cars
to escape the branding.
Clean title wrecks are popular fodder at car
auctions; buyers know they can repair and re-sell
the vehicles to unsuspecting consumers. While
services like Carfax are doing their best to
close the margin for error, there’s still nothing
that can stand in the stead of consumer vigilance.
Consumer Reports offers the following tips to
those in the used car market:
- Have
the vehicle inspected. Before you buy a
used car, take it to an independent mechanic
to have it checked for any evidence of prior
damage.
- Don’t
skip the test drive. Make note of unusual
squeaks and rattles. Check the backs of body
panels and door jambs for paint overspray,
a signal that the car might have had body work.
- Ask
the seller for a history report. If the report
isn’t recent or you suspect it has missing or
fabricated information, verify it with the service.
- Be
redundant. Just because one report is clean,
another might not be. If you are not provided
with a report from the seller, check with the
free or inexpensive services first. Remember,
even clean reports from all services don’t guarantee
that the vehicle doesn’t have damage or other
problems.
To obtain one or several vehicle history reports
visit: carfax.com, AutoCheck.com, add123.com or autotitleinfo.com.
Photo: ©istockphoto.com/TomEngland
