carfax saved me from making a mistake

Feb 21, 2006 4 Replies

If not for carfax.com, I might have purchased a car that 1) was a rental vehicle; 2) was involved in a collision; and 3) was originally purchased in the Washington DC area (I'm in California). I definitely don't want to buy a rental vehicle, nor do I want to buy a car that was in a collision.



VIN report - not bad for $25.



(I do not work for / am not affiliated with carfax in any way. Just posting information that may be useful to others.)



It is also helpful to purchase only from the owner at their home, after first inquiring "about the car for sale" - (ans. "which one" disqualifies).

The guy was the third owner, but he told me he was the second owner. I got the feeling he didn't even know it had been a rental vehicle, or that it had been in an accident. But at least he was upfront about being from the East Coast.

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news:1140556863.147577.83790 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

A rental vehicle isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's nice to know the whole story.

On that note, what about lease vehicles? Are those who lease vehicles obligated to change the oils and coolant regularly, on their own dime, or are these covered by the dealership?

I'm just trying to gauge how much incentive those guys have to maintain their vehicles.

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