# Buying a new car for my family need help with it **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** explorer, ford\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751 "2010-03-28T15:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bfears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@bfears](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bfears)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/1 "2010-03-28T15:41:59Z")
I am trying to buy a new car for my family. I was trying to get a car fax for it and i just cant aford it can any one help me out with the carfax 1fmzu73e4yua82455 email me a [fearsbean@yahoo.com](mailto:fearsbean@yahoo.com) thank you very much ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/2 "2010-03-28T16:00:58Z")
If you are buying a NEW car, all you need is the Consumer Reports NEW CAR Buying Guide. It describes, size, relialbility records, power, fuel consumption, etc. Maybe you are looking for a new USED CAR. In that case, Carfax is better than nothing, but still not too reliable, in that important things are often missed. In all cases the car you want to buy should be checked out by a competent mechanic; it’s well worth the expense. My mechanic, who builds dragsters and restores old cars, charges $119 to inspect the vehicle so you know exactly what shape it is in. Happy shopping! ---
**Author:** ![Joe-Guy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joe-guy/32/124_2.png) [@Joe-Guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joe-Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/3 "2010-03-28T16:01:03Z")
If you can’t afford to pay for a car fax, how can you afford to buy a car? ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/4 "2010-03-28T16:04:25Z")
First, if you really do want one of these reports I have found Autocheck to be better (and less expensive) than carfax. Second, as noted by Docnick, you’re much better off getting a good mechanic to look it over. Those reports are hit and miss for good info. ---
**Author:** ![bfears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@bfears](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bfears)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/5 "2010-03-28T16:10:22Z")
I just try to save money any way possible because with the econmy you have to pinch every penny. And with two kids and a wife and all of the bill I really dont wont to pay for something if i can find out with out taking money from my family. There no sense being rude about it ---
**Author:** ![bfears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@bfears](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bfears)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/6 "2010-03-28T16:12:00Z")
Thank you ---
**Author:** ![Joe-Guy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joe-guy/32/124_2.png) [@Joe-Guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joe-Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/7 "2010-03-28T16:29:22Z")
I did not mean to be rude. My point is that part of buying a vehicle can involve paying for information like a car fax or paying a mechanic to check it out. It is like paying insurance. It can be a good investment. I interpreted your post as a solicitation for others to pay for your car fax. That doesn’t sound to me like a post from someone who currently can afford to purchase a car. Not intending to be rude. Just being honest. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/8 "2010-03-28T17:17:09Z")
You’re making a big mistake by putting a lot of faith into reports like this. They’re often incomplete and many times the info may be flat wrong. I also don’t mean to be rude but I agree with Joe Guy. A CF report is not even pocket change when compared to the cost of buying a new car and the amount of interest you will be paying on that note. What I would be far more concerned with is the APR on the note, the terms as to how many years on the note, and what the “real” MSRP is rather than the cost of a CF report. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/9 "2010-03-28T17:19:54Z")
I concur 100% with ok4450. ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@andrew\_j](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrew_j)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/10 "2010-03-28T18:30:09Z")
If a dealer selling ask them to provide. They can and if they don’t want to tell them you don’t trust vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/11 "2010-03-28T19:52:03Z")
The people selling damaged or misrepresented goods have learned to get around “CarFax” and similar services. It’s just eye candy for honest sellers…If you really must have one, get the SELLER to provide it… ---
**Author:** ![Manolito](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/manolito/32/3070_2.png) [@Manolito](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Manolito)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/12 "2010-03-29T04:55:57Z")
I concur that Autocheck tends to have a bit more info than CarFax, particularly collision repairs, and costs less. I never trust the ones that dealers show me, those reports would be too easy to edit. If they put it on their website I trust it more, because they would not want to get caught editing it, and you could print it from their website to prove it was falsified. For the 10-year old cars that I have been looking at, there are often multi-year time gaps in those reports. Long enough for a car to have been totaled, rebuilt, retitled in a state that does not have salvage titles, and then retitled back in my state. Since the CarFax is clearly missing some events in the car history, it could be missing those events. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/buying-a-new-car-for-my-family-need-help-with-it/46751/13 "2010-03-29T05:39:25Z")
I developed a real bad taste about CF some years ago when I ran all of my vehicles and my family members vehicles through it and found some very serious errors on about half of them. The worst was my old Subaru which I had wrecked and rebuilt (windshield forward and on a Salvage Title for half a dozen years) and CF stated the title was clear and clean. The funniest one was my first SAAB 900 that was shown to be “currently stolen”; which was news to me and the original owner that I had purchased it from.