Be Careful When Buying a Used Car

When you go out to buy a used car many people tell you to go online and run a carfax. There have been incidents when buyers have been burned. I am sure that many of you have heard about carfax.com which is recognized as being most important tool when buying a used car. But how accurate is Carfax. Many people have relied on carfax when buying a car but they end up spending more money when they rely on carfax. Here is one example of a person who bought a 1999 Chevrolet Corvette.

Lee W. of San Bernardino, California thought his 1999 Corvette had a clean and clear title when he bought the sports car two years ago. It's also why he paid $18,000 for the vehicle. Lee says he felt confident spending the money because the Internet Company CARFAX checked the Corvette's title and history.

The CARFAX report stated the car's title was clear and clean and had never been in an accident," Lee says, adding he paid CARFAX about $20 for the vehicle history report, which checks for salvage titles, flood damage, odometer rollbacks and other problems. He said the report said that it was a nice, clean car.

When Lee registered the Corvette, though, he discovered the CARFAX report was wrong. His Corvette was a "stolen recovery" vehicle with a branded title.

The car was stolen in Virginia, Lee says, adding a state inspector uncovered the theft when he ran the Corvette's vehicle identification number (VIN) in the National Insurance Crime Bureau database. He told the inspector that he ran a CARFAX when he bought the Corvette, and the inspector said this information should have been flagged on that report.

The car now has a branded 'restored/salvage' title, which depreciates its value by $3,000-$5,000"Lee sold the Corvette last month, and disclosed this information to the new buyer.
The price was going to be around $20,000, but he had to sell it for about $5,000. He says "CARFAX cost me thousands of dollars."

Many people read web pages like http://ezinearticles.com/?10-Reasons-To-Get-A-CarFax-Report&id=308898 which supports carfax. You have to be careful.