What Does A Vehicle History Report Tell You?

It’s on everyone’s checklist. Before you buy a used car, be sure and get a vehicle history report.

But why? What does a car history report tell you?

A vehicle history report is a critical component of your car buying research and it can save you a ton of money by letting you know that the dream car that you’re looking at is actually a financial nightmare waiting to happen. It can indicate whether the proverbial grandmother who drove it back and forth to church on Sunday was actually an accident-prone race-car driver who worshiped at the temple of NASCAR.

For around $40, a vehicle history report from a company such as Carfax or AutoCheck.com can tell you quite a lot about a vehicle’s life – including its title, its accident history, service history, and odometer accuracy. There are some things it won’t tell you, and that’s why you will want to back it up with a pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic.

If you’re considering several different cars, both organizations offer packages that allow you to check out multiple vehicles.

Let’s look at some of the things that a vehicle history report will tell you, and some things it will not.

ACCIDENTS

Probably the most important thing it will tell you is whether there are reports that the car has been in an accident. Using data from motor vehicle departments, collision repair facilities, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, and others, the reporting companies are able to put together a pretty good picture of the severity of the accident. Airbag deployments are typically reported, as is major structural or frame damage.

With this information in hand, you can direct the mechanic who is doing your pre-purchase inspection to look more closely at the parts of the car that may have been damaged. If the airbags were replaced, there’s little even a close inspection can do to tell you if the airbags that were installed are functional, subject to recall, or if they were recycled from another wrecked car.

If the car was properly repaired, it might be a great deal, but a collision alert on a vehicle history report should be a red flag that prompts further investigation.

OTHER DAMAGE

A comprehensive car history report will also indicate if the used car has been in a fire or flood. Both are good enough reasons on their own to walk away from the deal, as there can be hidden damage that makes the vehicle unsafe or unreliable.

Cars that have been stolen and recovered should also have that noted on their reports. You’ll want to look at the specifics of the report such as the time that elapsed between when the car was stolen and recovered. If a long time has elapsed, the car may also have to carry a salvage title.

TITLE INFORMATION

The title information contained in a vehicle history report is crucial. Not only will it tell you the history of the title, but it should show any vehicle title branding, such as salvage, junk, or rebuilt.

A salvage title shows when an insurance company decides that it isn’t economically viable to repair a car, but someone does it anyway and returns it to the road. Typically, you’ll want to avoid cars with salvage titles, as they are hard to finance, insure, potentially unsafe, and often expensive to maintain.

Other vehicle title black marks include police use, taxicab use, fire damage, hail damage, flood damage, or if a car was bought back by a manufacturer under a state’s lemon law. Title brands vary by state and can sometimes be removed by moving a car to a state with fewer rules about what cars need to have marks on their title.

OWNERSHIP

The vehicle history report will use public records and other indicators to show how many owners the vehicle has had, and whether they are private individuals, companies, rental agencies, or fleet operators. Used cars that had a single private owner are typically more valuable than multiple-owner used vehicles.

If the owner had a loan on the vehicle that is not paid off, the lien should be shown on the report. Never buy a used car until you have proof positive that any liens have been satisfied.

ODOMETER READINGS

Can you trust the odometer reading you see on the dash of the used car that you’re considering? A vehicle history report should give you some confidence in its accuracy, or serve as a big red flag if the numbers on the car’s odometer are lower than the report indicates that they should be.

Rolling back the odometer used to be a fairly common, yet illegal, practice. It’s not as easy to do it anymore, but some unscrupulous sellers will swap out the entire instrument cluster with one from a lower-mileage wrecked car to give the impression that the car that you are looking at has lower mileage than it does. Most motor vehicle departments require mileage to be reported during renewals or vehicle inspections, and those mileages are recorded on reports from Carfax and others.

SERVICE HISTORY

A car that is well-maintained is more valuable than one that isn’t, or one that doesn’t have good records of when it has been serviced or repaired. A comprehensive vehicle history report will tell you where and when services were performed.

If the vehicle that you’re looking at lacks a detailed service history, be sure to let your prepurchase inspection mechanic know, so that they can closely inspect parts of the car that should have received periodic maintenance.

SALES INFORMATION

The report will show when your vehicle first entered service, plus when and where it changed hands in the ensuing years. If you see a car that bounces all over the country, your senses should be raised, because moving a car around can be a method of removing black marks from titles.

Moving a car also helps to mask certain types of vehicle damage. For example, cars that are flooded by hurricanes are often found for sale across the country, where flood damage might not be considered.

REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION INFORMATION

Each time a vehicle is registered, renewed, or inspected, there should be a notation on the report. Depending on the state, the inspections can include odometer, emissions, and safety checks. Many states will also indicate the status of any liens.

Any gaps in registration status should be noted. They could indicate a time that a vehicle was stolen, abandoned, or undergoing a major reconstruction process.

RECALLS

Nearly every vehicle on the road these days seems to get recalled at some point. Some have to do with emissions controls, others with critical safety issues that can put you and your family at risk.

The key to using the information on the report is to ensure that any recalls have been performed on the vehicle that you are considering, or that you’re at least aware of any that need to be done.

WHAT DOESN’T THE VEHICLE HISTORY REPORT SHOW?

The vehicle history report is a snapshot in time. It won’t show anything that has happened to the car since each of the events was reported. If someone totals the car and gets it quickly rebuilt, they can potentially sell the car before anything is listed on the statement.

It also won’t show you who owned the car. Detailed information about car ownership is protected by state privacy laws, so you won’t be able to check out the supposed church-going grandma whose car you are looking to buy.

DOESN'T REPLACE AN INSPECTION

A car history report is not a substitute for a thorough, independent prepurchase inspection. It doesn’t matter whether you’re buying from a private party, a used car dealer, or a franchised new car dealer, you should always get a detailed mechanical examination. Even if the dealer tells you that the car has passed their 400-point check or is being sold as a certified used car, you need to get it inspected by an impartial third-party.

Consider the cost of the vehicle history report and prepurchase inspection insurance against a financial disaster of buying a lemon or putting your family at risk in an unreliable or even unsafe vehicle.

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