CARFAX - Vehicle history reports

Discover your next vehicle with the CARFAX – Shop New & Used app. Search through an extensive collection of new and pre-owned cars from over 28,000 dealerships nationwide. Additionally, each pre-owned car listed includes a complimentary CARFAX Vehicle History Report.

Explore a variety of SUVs, cars, minivans, and pickup trucks in your area, all from reputable dealerships you can rely on.

With our app, you can:

- Browse millions of new, pre-owned, and certified used cars close to you

- Utilize advanced search and sorting functions to find your ideal vehicle

- Easily bookmark your favorite cars

- Receive notifications so you can easily keep track of vehicles you have viewed

All pre-owned and certified used listings come with a free CARFAX Vehicle History Report

A CARFAX Vehicle History Report Details

History-Based Value

The car’s History-Based Value is the first thing you’ll encounter in a typical Carfax Vehicle History Report. It evaluates a car’s value based on many factors listed later in this report. Other websites try to give you a value determined only by mileage and a rough estimate of a vehicle’s condition, but Carfax goes deeper. Our History-Based Value considers service records, title concerns, open recalls, past accidents, and the number of previous owners.

Carfax provides History-Based Values that detail your car’s trade-in or retail value if you want to buy. Typically, trade-in values are lower than retail values.

Vehicle Overview

The next section of the Carfax Vehicle History Report lays out the basics. Highlights include a brief top-level description of the vehicle with information including its model year, make, model name, trim level, vehicle identification number (VIN), body style, and powertrain. (Learn more about VIN Decoding.)

Here you’ll learn how many owners a vehicle has had, whether it was used for personal, commercial, or rental purposes, how many miles it’s been driven, and whether or not it’s ever had damage reported. This is where potential red flags are raised, with details provided deeper in the report.

The report can include dealership information if the car you’re examining is being offered for sale. That information can include verified reviews and ratings from customers.

Ownership History

The Ownership History area is where the data becomes more detailed. Here is the individual information showing when each specific owner bought the car, how long it was owned by each, where it was registered, and the estimated number of miles driven each year. The type of use – whether it was for personal or commercial purposes – is also indicated.

Title History

This section also provides info on an owner-by-owner basis. It’ll let you know if a vehicle has had fire, flood, or other damage that can result in a title defect. Remember that cars with salvage titles often can’t be retitled as roadworthy vehicles. In this section, Carfax also lets you know if the reported odometer reading is accurate.

Additional History

This area of the report centers on accidents and damage, from airbag deployment to structural damage to total loss. You’ll be able to discover if the vehicle remains under warranty or if there’s an open manufacturer recall that needs repairing.

Detailed History

The final section of the Carfax Vehicle History Report is the overall timeline, with a chronological list of key events. That list may start with the first pre-delivery inspection at a new-car dealership. Subsequent sales, purchases, accidents, and service visits can all follow. The Detailed History even tracks vehicle loans (often called liens), emissions, and safety test results.

Consider a vehicle with reported accident damage. The Detailed History may include a Damage Severity Scale, which can have two parts: The first is a graphic that locates where the vehicle was damaged, and the other is a scale that indicates how severe the damage was.

Learn more about How to Read Accident Information on a Carfax Vehicle History Report.

A Used Car Buying Guide

1. Figure Out How Much You Can Afford to Pay

As with shopping for a new vehicle, the first step is determining how much you can afford to pay. Unless you have cash on hand, this will be determined by the amount of your down payment, the value of your trade-in (if you have one), and your budget for a monthly payment.

Learn How to Get the Most Money for Your Trade-in.

A good rule of thumb is to spend 10-15% of your take-home income on car-related expenses. If you take home $3,000, you’ll have $450 monthly to spend on your car. Keep in mind that that’s just a guideline. It includes costs such as maintenance and insurance but not depreciation.

Also, keep your monthly payment target to yourself and focus on the total cost of the vehicle, or the person working on your financing could give you an exceptionally long loan term with high interest just to hit your monthly payment target.

Get pre-approved financing

Check with local lenders – banks and credit unions – ahead of time to help you set a target price based on what you can afford and to shop around and get pre-approved for the lowest available loan rates. Be aware that borrowers with excellent credit scores generally get the most favorable rates.

Learn more about How to Finance a Car, How Your Credit Affects Your Loan, and Used Car Leasing.

2. Research Which Used Car Is Best for You

You’ll need to determine which vehicles meet your needs and budget. A good place to start the process is right here on Carfax.com. The Car Research section on Carfax.com contains a treasure trove of information on vehicles from previous model years, including detailed reviews, fuel economy ratings, and how much those cars are being sold for right now.

Research Used Cars and learn more about New vs.—used Cars.

3. Browse Used Car Listings

From there, you can browse cars for sale on our Used Car Listings here on Carfax.com to get an idea of what’s available where you live and how they’re priced.

You can search for a specific make and model by body type or according to a set price range. From there, you can sort models in your search according to price, mileage, model year, or distance from your particular Zip Code.

See Carfax Used Car Listings and learn How to Buy a Car Online

Shopping is even easier with the Carfax App

Decide: buy from a dealer or a private seller?

If you’re cash-strapped and are looking for a well-worn model at the lower end of the price scale, you may also consider buying from a private party via an online listing site like Craigslist.

How to determine the best place to buy your used car

Consider a Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) car

Late-model and off-lease vehicles in top shape are often sold as certified pre-owned vehicles. They’re typically priced higher than non-certified models. Still, they’ve passed a stringent mechanical inspection, have been repaired or refreshed as needed, and most are sold with some warranty coverage.

Learn more about Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles

4. Check the Carfax Report

Perhaps the most essential benefit of Carfax’s Used Car Listings is: Each one comes with a free Carfax Vehicle History Report. Be sure to check the Carfax Report to see if that particular model has been in an accident, been declared a salvaged or flooded vehicle, or had multiple owners, and to confirm its maintenance records and miles driven.

Buy a Carfax Vehicle History Report

5. Figure Out a Fair Price for the Car You’re Interested In

The Car Research section of Carfax.com gives average transaction prices and price ranges for most models.

In addition, you can identify what a specific model is worth via our free History-Based Value service. This report produces a more exact value than other services by considering the year, make, model, mileage, location, condition, and other variables based on information contained in its Carfax Vehicle History Report. All you need to do is enter your Zip Code and the car’s vehicle identification or license plate number.

Based on these specifics, you’ll be able to determine a used vehicle’s average retail price and the car’s trade-in value, which is more or less a dealer’s cost. The third valuation estimate you’ll find is the “private party value,” which you can expect to pay for buying the vehicle from an individual on an “as is” basis. It usually lands between the other two figures. Use these estimates to help guide your negotiations with a salesperson or seller.

Each used car on Carfax’s Used Car Listings page will also indicate if the asking price is a great value based on average selling prices and data gleaned from the vehicle’s Vehicle History Report.

You can also use the handy Payment Calculator included with each Carfax.com listing to determine your monthly payment for that particular model, given the asking price, down payment, and the interest rate you’ve been quoted.

Find out the value of a car with Carfax History-Based Value.

6. Contact the Seller

Once you’ve isolated one or more used car listings on Carfax.com or elsewhere, contact the dealer to ensure the model is still in stock and confirm the asking price before heading out the door.

Carfax.com listings allow you to do this electronically. If you’re buying a car from a private party and are wary of venturing into unfamiliar territory to check out a car, arrange to meet the seller at a busy and brightly lit public location like a shopping mall parking lot.

7. Test Drive

Never buy a used car without proper examination and a thorough test drive to ensure it meets your needs and expectations and operates to your liking. Make sure to drive the vehicle on various roads at different speeds to check the acceleration, braking, and cornering. Test out all of the car’s features to ensure they work.

Learn more about How to Inspect and Test Drive a Car.

Take it to a mechanic

It’s always a good idea to take any used car you’re seriously considering to a mechanic to check it out and ensure it’s in good working order. They have the expertise and equipment to check for things you can’t see.

8. How to Negotiate for a Used Car

Never pay the asking price unless you’re buying a used car from a dealership that doesn’t allow haggling. You can almost always do better. And even if you are buying from a “one price” dealership, feel free to ask the salesperson to throw in a deal sweetener like extended warranty coverage.

A dealership salesperson will typically negotiate downward from the model’s advertised price. Likewise, private sellers usually advertise a used car at a higher price than they’re willing to accept. It doesn’t hurt to ask for the dealership or seller’s best price and work from there. At any rate, let the other party know you’ve researched the vehicle’s value beforehand.

Learn the Best Time to Buy a Car.

Start low

Begin the negotiating process by making an offer a little higher than the vehicle’s estimated trade-in value, or perhaps around 10-15% lower than the asking price, or whatever was thrown at you as the best price. Don’t bother throwing out an impossible “lowball” offer that will only insult the salesperson or seller and begin the process on a sour note.

See this month’s Used Car Incentives.

Be Ready for a Little Back and Forth

At this point, the seller may complain about being unable to come close to what you’re asking. With a bit of prodding, they will reduce the asking price by a certain amount, and unless you consider that a good deal, you should counter by raising your offer incrementally. You may go back and forth a few times in this manner. Salespeople may tell you they need to consult with the sales manager to get approval on a deal or come back with another offer.

Learn more about How to Negotiate a Car’s Price.

(If the whole car-buying process seems overwhelming, it is possible to hire an auto broker, to do it for you. For a fee, they’ll find a car and negotiate its price.)

9. Check the Paperwork

Once you’ve settled on a price, read the bill of sale before signing it; if you’re buying from a private seller, this could be as basic as a hand-written document that agrees to convey the vehicle from seller to buyer as is. If you’re buying from a dealer, check the numbers to see that they’re as agreed upon and that no extra charges have been added.

Make sure the title Is clear

Examine the vehicle’s title to ensure any car loan has been paid off and the person selling you the car is, in fact, the legal owner.

Learn more about Car Titles and Buying a Car With an Outstanding Loan.

Sign the paperwork

Have them sign the title and note the car’s current mileage and/or other required information – having a signature in the wrong place or having missing details can delay transferring ownership.

Register the car

A dealership will usually handle registering the car with the state you live in; otherwise, take the title to the nearest state motor vehicle facility as soon as possible to get it registered and licensed in your name.

What Customers Are Saying About CARFAX

"If I hadn't run the CARFAX Report on each of the four cars, we would have bought the wrong car. And that means we would have wasted/lost $4,000 to $5,000."

Robin S.

"CARFAX actually helped me to not buy the wrong car when the report showed that a car had been in an accident which deployed the airbag."

Steve M.

"Thank you CARFAX, I really believe you saved me $6,500. Your service was worth every penny. I will recommend your service to all of my friends."

Robert T.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a CARFAX Vehicle History Report?

Millions of consumers rely on CARFAX Reports every day to help them decide whether or not to buy a used car. Each report contains information about whether the car in question has been in an accident, has any open recalls, previous owners, service history and much, much more. 

2. Does CARFAX have a report for every vehicle?

CARFAX Reports are available for vehicles manufactured since 1981, when the 17-character VIN was standardized. CARFAX has information about cars and light trucks, though some information for other vehicle types may be reported to CARFAX as well. CARFAX Reports are powered by the CARFAX database – believed to be the world’s largest vehicle history database – containing billions of records from more than 100,000 domestic and international sources. 

3. Who is a Vehicle History Report for?

A CARFAX Vehicle History Report can be used by anyone who wants to check the history of a used car. You may use a CARFAX Report to check the history of a car you’re about to buy, or a car you own that you’d like to sell to a private party. Shoppers feel more confident buying a used car once they know its history. 

4. What is a VIN?

VIN stands for a car’s Vehicle Identification Number. A VIN consists of 17 characters and serves as a unique identifier for a specific vehicle. At CARFAX, you can use either a VIN or a license plate and state to get a CARFAX Report. 

CARFAX Value vs Book Value

Book Value:

Year, Make, Model, and Trim

Standard and Optional Features

CARFAX Value:

Year, Make, Model, and Trim

Standard and Optional Features

Vehicle Condition

Number of Owners

Accident History

Service History

Registration History

Open Recalls

Vehicle Use (Rental, Fleet, Personal)

How CARFAX assists:

- View reported accidents and service visits documented by CARFAX, providing you with ample details to inform your decision.

- Refine your searches using CARFAX data, such as information on 1-Owner or Well-Maintained vehicles.

- Access dealership ratings and reviews – sourced from verified customers!

Begin your search today!