Are you in the market for a used car?
Getting solid information on the pre-owned vehicle you want to buy can be a challenge.
This week on KMOX we're helping you determine what's a good route and what should set off alarms.
A key to a car's condition can sometimes be found in a vehicle history report.
"Carfax is a vital tool to us in the automotive industry, but you have to remember the only thing that is reported to Carfax or AutoCheck is services that you have at the dealer, not an independent garage, and also anything that's reported to your insurance company. So if it was in a wreck and they paid out of pocket, that's not going to show up." KMOX Automotive Expert, Greg Damon is with Sparks Tire and Auto in St. Charles.
Damon and others say a vehicle history report shouldn't be the only thing you use to determine which way to turn on a used car purchase.
"I wouldn't say it's the end all be all," says Autotrader Executive Editor Brian Moody, "I think it's a signal."
Moody agrees vehicle history services like Carfax and AutoCheck are just one tool. "Vehicle history reports don't catch everything, but they can give you a little bit of a sign as to what you're in for or how the car was cared for."
If you look at one of those reports and there's not a whole lot in them, he stresses, that should be a red flag. "In my case, I was looking at a 10 year old car and there should be a history."
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Moody adds, an accident report shouldn't be an immediate turn off. "There can be a very minor accident that, you know, you might buy a car that had been hit on the rear bumper. And the way today's cars are designed is they're designed to absorb the impact of even small accidents. It doesn't mean the car is cheap. It means that the car is absorbing it rather than the people absorbing it. So having to have the rear bumper replaced, repainted and the tail lights replaced, I would be ok driving a car that had that work done on it, but that has to be looked into. And sometimes quite honestly, if a person were to have an accident in their car and they had the capability of fixing it in their own garage, that wouldn't be flagged on a vehicle history report, you don't always know what you're getting."
Moody says having a vehicle history report is one piece of investigating the condition of a pre-owned car. You should also get an independent mechanic's inspection, and look for certification from a dealership. "Certification" is a big buzzword in the pre-owned marketplace.
We'll look at what that means, plus whether a car warranty is really worth what you pay in our final report Thursday at 5:22 am, 8:22 am, or 5:22 pm on KMOX.
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