Carfax and maintenance records

FYI - was talking with a local shop about VIN check services like Carfax and AutoCheck and he said that Carfax is hands down the best service.  He said that Carfax has integrated with the Mitchell shop info database, so in his shop, if they change the oil, rotate the tires, or replace any parts, it automatically gets recorded to Carfax.  This is good to know if you're trying to verify maintenance history on a car you are looking to purchase. It could also help you improve the sale price of your car by having documented evidence that you maintained it.

He also said there's a free smartphone app from https://www.mycarfax.com/ that is integrated with the above database and allows you to keep track of your car's scheduled maintenance needs.  There are other services that do this, (Advance Auto and Autozone, for example), but those services don't provide any info to potential buyers, at least not that I know of.

I am not endorsing Carfax over any other service, just thought you might like to know.

Thats good to know Joel.
Thanks

For anyone shopping for a car... Their website advertises the "unlimited reports" option - what they don't tell you until AFTER you buy is that it's only unlimited by LICENSE PLATE, not by VIN. You only get 5 VIN reports with the "unlimited" package. "At this time, Carf*x does not offer an unlimited package by VIN." Big thumbs down. Beware.

Update - I switched to AutoCheck (by Experian) and was able to compare the same VIN against both service. Carfax will give you maintenance history IF the car was serviced by a shop that is linked in as above. Other than that, the records are pretty much identical. In case you're interested, the comparison vehicle was listed by the owner as having 89k miles; Carfax and AutoCheck both said it had 232k plus, and had the history to back it up, as well as two accidents.

FYI - "severe damage" in one case included replacing and painting a front fender and a headlight. In this case, I could tell the fender had been replaced based on tool marks on the bolts and an unreplaced headlight on the other side, but the work was done properly and there was no red flags. Be aware that these grades are... flexible.

This is all good information and its much appreciated.It is sometimes difficult to navigate
thru some of these web sites, and the more you know about them the more good info you
can extract.One really good piece of info was about the mileage,that would really sway
my decision on a car purchase. I dont think I would ever buy a car with 232k miles on it
unless it was a parts car,on the other hand I might really want to get my hands on something
that had 80k miles on it. What about us do it yourselfers ,our cars may look like they have
never seen a garage,but in actuality they may have had excellent maintaince! ed

Where do you live?

Having now lived in both the north and the south, people look at cars very differently.  A  10 year old car with 125k on it up North is considered used up, but I just passed a Honda dealership down south that had 13-year-old Odysseys with 225k on them for $4000.   No lie.  This may be a winter 2014 thing but used car prices down here in the southeast seem to be in the stratosphere right now.

As for DIYers, if you don't keep a detailed maintenance log and parts receipts with dates and mileage, you are no better than a part-time dealer who brings a car home from an auction with nothing more than a VIN check report.  I cannot stress this enough.  I recently worked on a car where the previous owner, though an avid DIYer, kept nearly ZERO records of what had been done to the car and it was painful to figure out exactly was going on and what the real problem was.  We had no idea what mods had been made and what parts had been replaced when, so it made for twice as much work.

I keep a pocket size spiral bound notebook in my glove box and I record every fillup (so I can watch for gas mileage trends that would point to a bad O2 sensor or injector), every inspection note (minor exhaust leak noted at Right manifold, car seems to pull to left a bit while braking, etc), and every bit of work I do on the car.  The next owner will be able to know date/mileage when I installed the parts, where I got them from, and if they have a warranty. When I go to sell it, I will also have a phone book of parts receipts for it.

Auto VIN checks are not a catch-all on the condition of the vehicle, as the largest part of my business are people who do not want to deal with the insurance companies. They would rather pay me cash then to do with insurance companies.the VIN check sites are all based on information gathered from the insurance company.just food for thought.

Yep.  I have a rule when I look at or buy a used car, when it comes to whether or not to check EVERYTHING:

"If I don't check it, I'll regret it."  I've proven it true every time, without fail.

Don't check trans fluid? It'll be dirty.
Don't check underneath? It'll be leaking.
Don't check AC? It'll be dead.
Don't check.... you get the idea.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

As for DIYers, if you don't keep a detailed maintenance log and parts receipts with dates and mileage, you are no better than a part-time dealer who brings a car home from an auction with nothing more than a VIN check report.  I cannot stress this enough.  

Very good point....

sherlock9c1 wrote:

I recently worked on a car where the previous owner, though an avid DIYer, kept nearly ZERO records of what had been done to the car and it was painful to figure out exactly was going on and what the real problem was.

I'm guilty as charged on that front.   I maintain and repair everything that needs to be done but would be hard pressed to prove it in a court of law. Well, there's always my order history at RockAuto.com.  

Guess being an engineer dealing with documentation, spreadsheets, logs etc. day in and day out, I leave that stuff behind in the office when I'm in my own garage.  

This was a while back now, but when I was looking at buying my Sebring I got a carfax report on it and it mentioned a few times "vehicle serviced". Nothing seemed out of place to me so I bought the car. For the next several months I had the car in and out of the shop for transmission work. I checked the carfax again a year or so later (friend had an account) and compared it to the one I printed when I bought it. I was annoyed to find the 2 mentions of "vehicle serviced" were changed to "Transmission overhauled" or something to that effect. I hope they are better now because that would have influenced me to look for another car.

Olds Weighty Eight wrote:

sherlock9c1 wrote:

I recently worked on a car where the previous owner, though an avid DIYer, kept nearly ZERO records of what had been done to the car and it was painful to figure out exactly was going on and what the real problem was.

Well, there's always my order history at RockAuto.com.  

Ha! Yeah....and I can always say "look at this thread on the forum". Luckily I am pretty good about keeping records and mileage on when/what I repaired. But I sure do post up the pics and details (and that has to help, right?)

haha   

If you haven't yet started a log, start now. Like I said - pocket size spiral bound notebook, write the make/model/year/VIN on the front cover, then inside just put the date and what's going on.

I've gotten myself into a rhythm on it and it's effortless now to write down what's been done. Rock Auto receipts mean nothing unless you've actually got the vehicle written down on it, and even then it doesn't tell you when you ACTUALLY installed the parts. I just found a line lock from Summit Racing .... that I bought 10 years ago.

I keep a log on all my cars, just to prove where all the money went  
Pete

Dutch Pete wrote:

I keep a log on all my cars, just to prove where all the money went  
Pete

just don't let your wife find it,   

To late....   but she loves to drive these old wagons, so no worry's here
Pete

When I traded my wifes last car in with 160,000 Miles, the dealer pulled a carfax on it and it was nearly blank. It had the very first free oil change the dealer included and then one other random service like a trans flush, everything else was done by me or a mechanic on the side for cash. The dealer asked me if we ever changed the oil, and I busted out laughing, and said "ya, i doubt it would run 160,000 miles on 1 oil change!" He even laughed a bit.

Car fax great for big fixes and fixes performed at large places that report everything.

That just proves my point that you need records of some sort. One way is to have it maintained at a Mitchell-subscribed repair shop. Another is simply to keep records yourself. Most people just don't.