Is carfax useless in Canada?

[canuckcarguy]

A friend of mine purchased a 30 day unlimited carfax account, so just out of curiosity, I pulled some VINs. I have a US model 4Runner that has been legally imported and I've had it Alberta registered for 2 years. But Carfax shows it still registered in California, and doesn't show any Alberta registration, even though they show a mileage report from the last time I got an oil change at an Alberta Toyota dealer. The mileage report is inaccurate.

A friend's commercial 3 ton delivery truck shows as being US registered and never brought into Canada, even though he has the Canadian RIV inspection sticker on the door, it was registered for 2 years in Manitoba, and he's had it registered for a year here in Alberta.

My weekend work truck, which as far as I can tell was purchased new in Alberta, appears to have the correct information on the Carfax file.

I know that Carproof is more detailed and seems to carry more US information, but is Carfax generally this out to lunch in Canada?

[Dave P]

Yes it is

[ExtraSlow]

I just did a carproof on a used vehcile and I was amazed at the detail that was in it.
I could see how many owners (by watching "new vehicle registration" tags) see that it had always been a local car (by checking the location of the regstrations) and see it's accident history (one claim for $450, several years ago that wasn't theft, fire or collision)

In summary, carproof rules! Very happy with it.

[SScott]

Its not 100% useless, you can find out if its been in an accident, and where its from etc. but like ExtraSlow said, carproof has way more detail.

Its a shame carproof doesn't have a monthly membership rather than car by car charges

[dr_jared88]

Originally posted by SScott
Its not 100% useless, you can find out if its been in an accident, and where its from etc. but like ExtraSlow said, carproof has way more detail.

Its a shame carproof doesn't have a monthly membership rather than car by car charges

It's 100% useless. You may if you're lucky see an accident on there. I made the mistake of trusting a carfax and bought a vehicle that was supposedly clear. Went to register it and the thing was a total loss! And carfax's buy back guarantee is retarded too. It took me a long time to get anything from them and I had to jump through so many hoops. I just about gave up. I don't know how many times I had to explain to them that we don't have titles on our vehicles.

Anyway point of the story is, DO NOT TRUST CARFAX for Canadian vehicles.

[freshprince1]

Not useless, but nowhere near as complete as Car Proof. I fyou're going to purchase one, definately purchase Car Proof.

[Sentry]

Never heard of car proof, but I had a friend with an unlimited 30 day CarFax account run my VIN and the last update was 20,000km ago when the thing was still in Ontario in 2008.

[thetransporter]

Originally posted by Sentry
Never heard of car proof, but I had a friend with an unlimited 30 day CarFax account run my VIN and the last update was 20,000km ago when the thing was still in Ontario in 2008.


http://forums.beyond.ca/st/278406/look-for-free-vin-number-check/

[canuckcarguy]

I heard that carfax can offer subscriptions because they buy a whack of data all at once, then distribute that data when a customer asks for it. That also means they're not as up to date.

Carproof apparently only buys the information for a vehicle when it's specifically requested, so they incur a cost every time a search occurs. Subscriptions wouldn't work for them.

I just can't believe that carfax can offer a buyback guarantee if they don't even assemble the right information.

[A790]

When I was selling my Saab the carfax said that the odometer had been rolled back. The carproof said otherwise, and all the maintenance documentation that I had (way back to 2004) said otherwise as well.

Never use carfax for Canadian vehicles.

[canuckcarguy]

Carproof is about $40 for the basic report. Carfax is roughly the same price for an unlimited number within a 30 day period. I guess you get what you pay for.