When you’re buying a used vehicle, you’re buying a question mark. You don’t know who drove it last, or how they drove it. You don’t know if it was maintained properly or had the oil changed at regular intervals. You don’t know if the vehicle has ever been in an accident, had flood damage, or even frame damage.
A vehicle history report can’t answer all those questions for you, but it can help you make a good choice. The most common vehicle history reports come from CarFax, so we’ll focus on those. With a CarFax VHR, you get a ton of information to digest, including:
- Number of previous owners
- Length of ownership
- Accidents - minor and major
- Flood damage
- Frame damage
- Hail damage
- Odometer rollback indicator
- Manufacturer recall information
Just because a vehicle has been in an accident, doesn’t automatically make it a bad purchase. It is important to know, however, since an accident could make the vehicle worth less, and end up saving you money. The person or dealer that you want to purchase the used car from may not even know if it has been in any accidents - that’s why it’s important for you to do your homework.
A CarFax VHR costs just $24.99, and it could end up saving you thousands of dollars. If you’re looking at several cars, you could get the $29.99 on month plan, where you can pull unlimited vehicle history reports for the entire month. That way, if the first car turns out to be a lemon, you can check your next car without putting out another $24.99 every time.