I paid for 30 days of unlimited CARFAX searches on vehicle ownership & mileage/maintenance history, etc. because I was planning to buy a used car,and found the reports very helpful ... in fact, reading one turned me away from buying a 2000 Honda Civic with only 30,000 miles because the title changed hands a month ago at auction.

So, if you are looking at a car and want a CARFAX search any time in the next 25 days, email me the VIN and I will run it for you.

By Kathy on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 07:40 pm:

That's very generous of you Ginny. I plan on buying a used car in the near future, but not within the next 30 days. Do the CARFAX searches cost alot?

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 10:47 pm:

I paid about $25 for 30 days unlimited searches, and found it helpful before I decided to get a new car. I think you can get 5 searches for about $20, so I thought it was worth it to pay the extra $5. I also used Edmunds.com for research on car prices, where you put in the year, model, features, mileage and condition and they tell you what the price range is for buying from an individual or a dealer, and also have information on the history of that particular make and model for reliability, repair problems, etc.

The CARFAX report tells you what mileage was reported on the car if the service station reports, as most do; whether it was in an accident where there was a police report, and a bunch of other stuff, including how many owners. That was helpful, because I was looking at a car that was at my mechanic's lot and it turned out it was retitled just a month ago and the person selling it had bought it at auction. Another car where I put in the VIN was a fleet vehicle - not a rental car, I don't think, but some other kind of fleet car - which made it not such a good idea to me even though the mileage was low for its age.