FocusCanada Forums

Full Version: How to get a free vehicle history report (before you buy)
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Borrowing this from a Lifehacker blog (clicky here).

Quote:To check out a used car's history before you buy it, you can order an AutoCheck or CarFax report for $30 or $40 or use this hidden search technique to get a free report.

Reddit user oinkinstein revealed this tip for running the vehicle history report.

First, get the VIN for the car
Then search for dealer autocheck inurl:vin
Click on the first search result (right now it leads to an autoexact.com site, but this trick works with other sites as well)
Replace the VIN in the URL with your own. Note that if there's any other information after the VIN, such as an id=####, just replace the VIN and keep the other info intact.
VoilĂ ! You'll get the AutoCheck report from Experian with the basic details of the car, along with any reported accidents, title issues, the last reported odometer reading, and the full history of the car. Good to know when you're used car shopping.

definitely good to know!
(06-14-2013, 01:19 AM)darkpuppet Wrote: [ -> ]Borrowing this from a Lifehacker blog (clicky here).

Quote:To check out a used car's history before you buy it, you can order an AutoCheck or CarFax report for $30 or $40 or use this hidden search technique to get a free report.

Reddit user oinkinstein revealed this tip for running the vehicle history report.

First, get the VIN for the car
Then search for dealer autocheck inurl:vin
Click on the first search result (right now it leads to an autoexact.com site, but this trick works with other sites as well)
Replace the VIN in the URL with your own. Note that if there's any other information after the VIN, such as an id=####, just replace the VIN and keep the other info intact.
VoilĂ ! You'll get the AutoCheck report from Experian with the basic details of the car, along with any reported accidents, title issues, the last reported odometer reading, and the full history of the car. Good to know when you're used car shopping.

definitely good to know!

just tried this for my own car although some stuff is right alot of it is inaccurate.. KM are WAYYYY off apparenlty i only have 167,xxxkm lol and for owners it says N/A.. although i did find out my car was made in mexico lol
Your car was most recently re-manufactured in Ontario in someone's basement -- that's hardly mexico Tongue .. good to know. I wonder how that report measures up with carfax..

Anyone care to donate a carfax report for comparison? Would be good to know how equivalent these things are, if at all.
Hmm I like this will do it when I get home tn
Nice little trick Smile
I am surprised that you can do that. I guess they are to lazy to fix.
interesting... works for my 2 cars, but doesnt show odometer readings or anything else overly accurate LOL red car had an accident and that isnt shown. also my st was registered with ministry the day it was built at ford... somehow i put tags on it that same day in cambridge LOL
you get what you pay for Smile
Doesn't it only show the correct kilometers if you bring it to a dealer to get maintenance done? When I did my carfax it showed everything up until I bought it.
Cool.

I've got clean records on both the 05 and Sarah's 01.
The 05 scored a 78 and the 01 scored a 53

Both show no mileage and are correct on the lease and manufacture dates. But the 01 and the 05 have both had a claim on insurance on the car. Sarah's was an accident that should have showed and mine on the 05 is a fire claim but I figured it wouldn't show due to the fact the dealer didn't record anything and deemed it clean record when it left Fords name in 2011

Thanks