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The influential advocacy magazine Consumer Reports raised questions recently about the accuracy of vehicle history reports.
A study of used-car-history reports found many returned “clean” results for damaged cars, the publication stated.
To test the accuracy of history reports, CR ordered them for dozens of damaged vehicles advertised online. The vehicles’ owners disclosed serious dents or other accident-related damage along with vehicle identification numbers and photos.
Some damaged cars got “clean” reports from all five services: Carfax, Autocheck, the free VINCheck from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and two services providing information from the federal government’s National Motor Vehicle Title Information Systems database. In most cases, the titles for those vehicles were not branded with the word “salvage” or any other term to indicate that they had been in a wreck.
“Salvage,” or similar branding on the vehicle title, is required by many states for most vehicles with extensive damage. But even extensively damaged vehicles can escape the “salvage branding.” That can occur, for example, if the car isn’t covered by insurance or it was owned by a rental-car company.
The full report is available in the July issue of Consumer Reports.
“Many dealerships provide free history reports to consumers,” said Anthony Giorgianni, associate editor of Consumer Reports. “The reports provide useful information. But it’s what they can miss that should worry you.”
The vehicle history providers said they’ve provided the same advice for years.
“They said exactly what we’ve always said – that Carfax vehicle history reports aren’t the end all and be all of what you have to do,” said Larry Gamache, Carfax’s communications director.
Buying a trouble free car requires three steps, Gamache said. These are buying from a reputable dealer, running a vehicle history report and having the vehicle inspected by an independent mechanic.
Putting together the reports remains challenging, Gamache said. The companies work with numerous sources of information with varying degrees of accuracy.
That only captures the reported problems. Many accidents lack an official record, Gamache said.
A key service of the reports is they increase honesty just by their existence, he said. Consumers trading in vehicles, for example, are more forthcoming with information when they know a history is being pulled.
Edie Hirstein, product manager for Experian AutoCheck, said her company offers a score based on the vehicle history report. This allows consumers to easily understand the overall condition of a vehicle rather than comb through the entire report.
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