CarFax vs Carproof

[neely]

Whats the diff between them? Looks to me like they both provide the same services however you cant get the unlimited searches on carproof.

JT3HN86R2X0198734

curious to see what this bad boy brings up
email or pm
[email protected]

[alpha]

as far as I understand carproof has the option of getting ICBC claims information, and is aparently much better for searching canadian vehicles. recently I was about to buy a car that had supposedly had a carfax report done on it that was clean. but when I ran a carproof report it detailed that the car had been in a collision with a payout of over 21grand.
good thing I did a carproof report!
the next search I do will def be with carproof for sure.

[neely]

Originally posted by alpha
recently I was about to buy a car that had supposedly had a carfax report done on it that was clean. but when I ran a carproof report it detailed that the car had been in a collision with a payout of over 21grand.

so you did do the carfax yourself or took someones word on it? The carfax site says it has access to insurace companies records and dmv 's from all over north america- which is why i didnt get why carproof was a HELL of a lot more money for 1 time use.

[gaijin]

I got shafted with carfax once. Rebuilt status. Didn't show up in carfax, was suspiciously smudged out on the guy's registration card, and I didn't run any other checks.

So I went through carfax's guarantee thing, and they actually bought the car back. Took a bit to sort out the exchange issue (they originally paid me out in American at rate A, but by the time it reached me, it was only worth rate B, which was a fair bit less than I had paid, but when I mentioned it, they sent another check to cover the difference), but all in all, it was a fairly painless process. I was pleasantly surprised.

I'd say run carfax as a basic sanity check, but if you seriously think you're going to buy a car, do a check through the Registry or some other method, just to be sure. Carfax is great for unlimited, but when it comes down to it, you want to double check with a different source.

[Lo Pro]

what about carfax for american vehicles? one of my buddies is picking up a new ride from Cali, and he just ran carfax?

[The Cosworth]

dont post vins!

[Mitsu3000gt]

On 3 seperate cars, I used carfax AND carproof. On all 3 cars, carfax said they were perfect, and on all 3 carproofs I learned each car had been in one or more accidents, one having more than $13,000 of front end repairs done to it. Saved me from buying a POS more than once, I'll never use anything else. It's specifically for Canadan cars.

[me&you]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
On 3 seperate cars, I used carfax AND carproof. On all 3 cars, carfax said they were perfect, and on all 3 carproofs I learned each car had been in one or more accidents, one having more than $13,000 of front end repairs done to it. Saved me from buying a POS more than once, I'll never use anything else. It's specifically for Canadan cars.

Exactly!

Don't bother Carfaxing a Canadian car... they miss more than they get.

9/10, Carproof is better on US cars as well.

[TomcoPDR]

Adding my current expereience (Sept, 2007)

Looking for a (new to me) used work truck... narrowed down to one over the internet, got the VIN.

Got the Carfax (garbage) done by free offer by someone that got the unlimited... came up nothing.

Spent the money on credit car and purchased the $44.95 (everything except for ICBC since owner said it's Alberta truck all it's life)... and came up with a LIEN, and an accident worth $9,000 two years ago.

For sure Carfax and CarPROOF

Also, I got a friend to do an Alberta VIR (Vehicle Information Report) for me as I'm not working in Alberta at the time... came up with the same thing as carPROOF (lien)

If you're spending a decent amount of money on a vehicle (that's not a "beater")... do NOT cheap out. (I spent $45 CarPROOF and $30 Alberta VIR =$75 and ended up not getting the vehicle... way better than $$$$$$$$ worth of pain and embrassment of buying a lemon; IMO)

[Wraith]

I had a Carproof, Carfax AND the Alberta registry check thing done when I bought my car. I still have the two documents (carproof and carfax) so I'll make them into images and post them up so you can compare the two

In my case, they each presented information that the other didn't have. The best thing you can do is probably pay for a Carproof and get someone with Carfax to do it for you for free.

Oh and for the Alberta VIR, don't be dumb like me and check out a VIN number from a car in another province since they only check in-province registrations

I'll post them up sometime tomorrow.


edit:

Carfax:
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/7598/cfaxaz7.jpg

CarProof:
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1638/cproof2ym2.jpg

hope this helps

[steve_canuck]

I'd go for carproof. Here is my story:

We checked out a Civic today and we were pretty sure it had been in an accident- we just weren't sure of the severity and overall the car still looked great.

My wife did a search on Carfax and it showed no accident records - just ownership transfer and renewals with mileage reports.

We did the same search on Carproof and it showed an accident claim for over $14K. Needless to say, we didn't buy the vehicle.

Carfax might be fine in the US, but in Canada it seems to lack information. If you do a search, you will find some media reports (CTV and CBC) which show that Carproof works better in Canada than Carfax.

Cheers,
Steve

[shakalaka]

I know this is an old thread. But is the position still better for Carproof being better than Carfax?

[JustinGTP]

I feel that Carproof is better for cars in Canada.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by shakalaka
I know this is an old thread. But is the position still better for Carproof being better than Carfax?

Yes, every dealer in Canada uses Carproof, no one here uses Carfax.

[JustinGTP]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2

Yes, every dealer in Canada uses Carproof, no one here uses Carfax.

How can you make that claim? Brasso Nissan has Carfaxes for all of their used cars....

[shakalaka]

I just ran a carproof on the car I am looking to buy. Don't know if I am gonna do the same with carfax yet or not. The car seems mostly clean with few accident records that seem kinda normal anyway. If someone can run me a carfax then I guess we can see if they are much different or what.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by JustinGTP


How can you make that claim? Brasso Nissan has Carfaxes for all of their used cars....

They're wasting their money then, Carfax has nothing on it for Canadian cars.

[Weapon_R]

Carfax is not a good source for canadian cars. Carproof is your best option at this point but it's expensive and one-time use.

[A2VR6]

I personally think carfax/carproof is a good way to weed out and narrow down potential cars since you can get many/unlimited reports. Then when it comes down to a couple cars then I use carproof.

[Mibz]

My Jeep had a clean CarFax but a miscellaneous repair for $400 from 2002 on the CarProof. It's little things like that which make me like CarProof more.