Carfax, Please?

[Lash]

HI. Looked at a GS300 for the wife so we can be an all Lexus family!

VIN JT8BD68S9X0074483

Thanks for the help!

[TA in KC]

Lash,

I don't know how much experience you have had with Car Fax, but I have found it often times does not provide correct information. I don't know where they get their records from, but I do know that they do not get them from the Missouri or Kansas DMVs, where I live. That would explain why the information in their database about my vehicles in incorrect.

Even if they did have correct information, I really don't think anything their reports say is that important. I personally think your money would be much better spent on having an independent mechanic or Lexus dealership inspect a vehicle you are interested in buying.

If someone offers you a report from their subscription, just remember that the information is not necessarily (and often times) not correct. I would not make a decision based solely on a CarFax report.

[Lash]

I do know that carfax isn't the "be all end all"...just trying to get as much info as I can. The seller has an autocheck report, but there seems to be holes in it. And he has no service records. He claims the previous owner did the timing belt (along with a bunch of other stuff). So trying to find what I can as quickly as possible. Thanks.

[TA in KC]

I do know that carfax isn't the "be all end all"...just trying to get as much info as I can. The seller has an autocheck report, but there seems to be holes in it. And he has no service records. He claims the previous owner did the timing belt (along with a bunch of other stuff). So trying to find what I can as quickly as possible. Thanks.

Any Lexus dealership can take the VIN and put it into their national service history database. That will tell you all the maintenance that they, or any other dealership, has done to the car.

It's pretty unusual to find records like timing belt replacements in CarFax reports. Many car dealerships now require you to show proof of ownership to obtain service records. I guess maybe that's why, but it does not make much sense to me. For that reason, they probably do not provide service records to CarFax.

Luckily, the report that the Lexus dealership will give you does not contain any of the current/previous owner's personal information, so they do not require any kind of proof of ownership/ID to get one. You can even just do it over the phone at most places.

[lahermano]

I do know that carfax isn't the "be all end all"...just trying to get as much info as I can. The seller has an autocheck report, but there seems to be holes in it. And he has no service records. He claims the previous owner did the timing belt (along with a bunch of other stuff). So trying to find what I can as quickly as possible. Thanks.

Any Lexus dealership can take the VIN and put it into their national service history database. That will tell you all the maintenance that they, or any other dealership, has done to the car.

It's pretty unusual to find records like timing belt replacements in CarFax reports. Many car dealerships now require you to show proof of ownership to obtain service records. I guess maybe that's why, but it does not make much sense to me. For that reason, they probably do not provide service records to CarFax.

Luckily, the report that the Lexus dealership will give you does not contain any of the current/previous owner's personal information, so they do not require any kind of proof of ownership/ID to get one. You can even just do it over the phone at most places.

Well, Carfax would give you any accidents the car got involved. That also if the accident is reported and recorded by the police. Some accidents are never reported and get settled between parties, in those cases that never gets in carfax. It also gives you the number of owners of the vehicle.

It is a first level check to make sure it is clean from accidents and then take it to a dealer to perform detailed evaluation on the car before purchase.

[TA in KC]

Well, Carfax would give you any accidents the car got involved. That also if the accident is reported and recorded by the police. Some accidents are never reported and get settled between parties, in those cases that never gets in carfax. It also gives you the number of owners of the vehicle.

It is a first level check to make sure it is clean from accidents and then take it to a dealer to perform detailed evaluation on the car before purchase.

If the car has been involved in an accident serious enough to worry about, it will likely be obvious after a visual inspection of the car. If you don't have a trained eye, a mechanic will be able to tell you. They can also tell you a lot of other things that a CarFax report cannot, like the mechanical condition of the vehicle.

CarFax does not always have accurate information about accidents. The DMVs in Kansas and Missouri, where I live, say that they do not provide information to CarFax. So a CarFax report run on a Kansas/Missouri car likely will not have accurate information. My 1992 LS has been rear-ended twice. Neither one of those accidents have shown up in CarFax, and I check fairly regularly.

I think you should save your money and take the car directly to a mechanic, instead of wasting it on a CarFax report. If you end up getting one, just remember that the information is not necessarily accurate.

[Lash]

nevermind...just bought it.