I have a vague notion that “Carfax” can be a source of information about a vehicle’s maintenance history, but I don’t know how that works, or how reliable it is. And when I search for “carfax”, there seem to be other similar information sources with similar sounding names.
Is it free as one link suggests? That sound suspicious. I don’t mind paying for information if it’s real, and reliable.
The Carfax website emphasizes using the report prior to purchasing a used vehicle. Would it also tell me about service done on a car before I bought it 2015 (and still own)?
Does it only show service done at dealerships, or would it likely include repairs done at established independent repair shops?
Hit or miss. It picked up dealer-related info on one car I bought. It would be very unlikely to have anything done by independent mechanics. It does have public info (sale, registration, change of ownership etc.) I’ve found it useful for a general picture but not good for specifics of maintenance. It does cost a modest amount.
Carfax will not show work done at independent shops or any accidents that were paid for out of pocket that did not go through insurance.
when purchasing a vehicle, it is best to bring it to a reliable shop to have them look it over first. it will be money well spent.
That sounds like it won’t give me the particular info I’m most interested in. I actually bought the car several years ago, but without history. It’s worked out very well, and I had my regular mechanic check the car soon after purchase. Just had another pro shop do a similar inspection – now have a list of relatively minor things to resolve.
It’s about due for a timing belt, and I was hoping to find out exactly when the last t-belt change was done. Sounds like Carfax won’t tell me that, so I better get that done soon.
@George_San_Jose1 Not sure why you mention that. I always get test results with the receipt from the shops that do the testing. Couldn’t be much more direct than that.
As I stated previously, I was hoping to find out when the timing belt had last been changed before I bought this car.
There’s a good possibility it was replaced shortly before I bought it, based on what my mechanic saw when he started to change it just after I bought the car. Based on his observation, I decided to postpone that expensive repair.
But an actual record of the job would give me more assurance of that.
I guess Carfax is not likely to have that kind of information. I’ll bite the bullet and get it changed.
It seems like it would, as long as the shop replacing the timing belt entered it into the CarFax database. I’ve replaced the timing belt on my Corolla several times, diy’er, so that has never been reported to Car Fax. It depends on who does the job and if they report it to Car Fax. But I’d guess most timing belt jobs get reported. I think your plan to assume it hasn’t been done and get it changed is a good one. Might be expensive trouble ahead if it hasn’t been changed, but if you change it when it doesn’t need to be changed, considerably lesser expense & worse case you end up with a new timing belt, tensioner, and probably a new water pump, so you’ll be good to go on all those components.
Were I looking at a buying a used car, being on the frugal side, I’d just inspect the timing belt for wear, and decide to replace based on what it looked like. If the Car Fax report showed all the previous emissions testing results though over the years, HC, NO, O2, CO, and date of test & odometer readings I’d pay a lot of attention to that.
Car dealers subscribe to Carfax, there is no reason for small repair shops to exchange information with Carfax, they don’t sell cars. Car dealers provide vehicle history reports on used vehicles, it is a sales tool.
there is no reason for small repair shops to exchange information with Carfax, they don’t sell cars
And that’s part of what I didn’t know before posting this question. Thank you for helping to explain this. I’ve gotten the help I needed, and appreciate all the replies.
Was just hoping I could postpone that timing belt job a while, but I guess not.
Then again, given the bargain I got on this car when I bought it, I don’t mind spending money on it, even in its advanced age. It’s good on gas, easy on oil, and serves my needs very well.
The last vehicle I bought for my wife had a very clean CarFax report and the dealer was talking it all up, so I began showing hm that the hood and from bumper and a headlamp had been replaced and the shadow marks around the bolts and everything that said the vehicle had been in a (minor) wreck… I thin explained to him that I could do a barrel roll with a vehicle and fix it myself or at my buddies shop and as long as the dealer or ins was not told about it then Carfax would show as never been wrecked… I got my discount… lol
So CarFax only shows if something has been done at the dealer and or reported to the ins company… So a clean CarFax to me is not worth the paper it is written on… Only if it shows something bad…
But it will show you how many owners have owned it and what states and if it was a lease or not…
Unfortunately, many original owners, and many more second owners do not replace the timing belt when due–instead, they trade-in the vehicle right before the recommended replacement interval. The next owner is then either stuck with the cost of doing this necessary maintenance, or they drive the car, blissfully unaware that the timing belt should have been replaced, until it fails and the engine is ruined.
My point is that it’s very unlikely that someone who is planning to replace a vehicle would invest the $900+ that a timing belt job costs, since they wouldn’t recoup that upon selling or trading it in. And that is why any time you buy a used car, you should assume that whatever maintenance was needed or soon will be needed was not done.