Carfax Reports for FREE!!

There were mileage mistakes in the CarFx that I bought before buying my TR, and the seller proved it.

CarFax is not perfect, and you should know that before you buy one.

 

1) I have used carfax on several occasions. I never used it as proof a car was good, only to see if carfax had anything bad reported.
2) I have some extra roast beef if anyone wants it.

 

This is a minor issue. I'm still worrying if Izzy will be returned to the hair dresser's daughter

 

I've used Carfax before for cars I've purchased and had an inspection done by a Ferrari mechanic.

Can't we all get along?

 

Carfax info should be free because that really is the value of the information you get...worthless. Now if you have a friend who is in the insurance business that is the information to get. All you need is the vin and you can get any claim ever filed on the car right down to windshield replacement.

 

Not Free, at least give them a little credit, lets' give them a $1:00

 

I wouldn't mind paying for the information if it had value.

 

+1 As long as it's "True value" I don't mind paying either, for a reasonable price of course.

 

It seems to me the insurance industry would make a larger profit by making the information available on any particular vehicle. The insurance company could make money from selling the information about any claim and they could save money on claims because vehicle owners would not turn in as many claims hoping to circumvent the system.

 

IMO, the reason that this happens here is because it's a community, and a lot of people here are freinds.

This about this... if your best friend had a lifetime of free carfax reports, and you wanted to run ONE... would you pay $20+ or would you call him up? I would call him up.

If you were the friend that had unlimited carfaxes, and your best buddy asked to run one, would you actually be like "oh my god, you're a horrible person for defrauding carfax, go pay for it you ******* I'm not running any VINs for you". I would hope not. And that's why people in this community run them for each other.

I agree with the person who said it's like having a cell phone with unlimited use, and disagree with teh person with the all you can eat analogy. If your buddy wants to make a call, do you let him use it or do you tell him to go find a payphone?

IMO, I think that the people who ask for carfax run just one....and if no one ran it for them, then they wouldn't have bought carfax, so they don't lose any money. That's my theory. Because if someone is car shopping, and needs carfax, they will buy it. It would be way too much hassle to get a free carfax on multiple VINs. For example, for me, I only asked for a carfax of my own car for the hell of it once when someone here said they have an unlimited account. And that's it. If not for that person, I wouldn't have ever gotten one. SO carfax didn't lose money.

 

.....ANDDDDDDD some people are friendly and some people are not. SOME people don't like when others are friendly with each other either.

 

You are 100% correct of course. IMHO

We live in a new culture of entitlement: It's like someone coming up to your driveway, getting into your car, driving it for awhile and then when you complain they say "whats the big deal you weren't using it." Only problem, it doesn't belong to him and it isn't his decision to take it without permission.
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We live in a new culture of entitlement: People think they are entitled to others property. Technology makes it so easy it doesn't seem all that bad.

I'm in the music business. I have experienced several cases of people using the music I wrote and recorded for a movie or ad campaign without ever getting permission. It's flattering but it's not theirs to use. Kids download hundreds of songs and can't understand why the writers or artists complain. New Flash: Downloading is here to stay. The downloaders have won. The writers and artists lost. I admit it, but please don't say it doesn't have an affect like, the owners of NAPSTER tried to say. TOWER RECORDS IS CLOSED ! Stealing is Stealing .
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We live in a new culture of entitlement. When a person steals from a department store and uses the excuse " well they won't ever miss it, they are so big"
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We live in a new culture of entitlement. ..."Look at the RIAA.. they fight over 99c songs... then sue people for $220,000"...~shahedc.

No, RIAA is trying to protect the writers and artists when their music is being STOLEN ! The courts award punitive damages and criminal fines when the behavior is egregious.
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We live in a new culture of entitlement.

Originally Posted by Steveny360"
""I wouldn't mind paying for the information if it had value.""

So stealing something is based on whether the thief determines it has value ?

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So, to sum up.

Steal all the carfaxes you want. Because:

1. They aren't of much value anyway
2. They are a big company and won't miss it anyway
3. It's just a little info over the net. It's so easy, no big deal
4. Steve Jobs and RIAA are bad guys and Carfax should be responsible...


Just my opinion, I could be wrong

Regards,

Stew

p.s. crybabies and whiners need not respond. (you know who you are)

 

You are assuming that I have ever accepted a carfax without paying for it which is not the case. In fact I have based my opinion on a carfax membership which I purchased. With that purchased membership I ran several vin numbers from cars that were totaled by me and repaired by a body shop that I use to be a 50% partner in. Further more I ran several other vins of cars that did not belong to me but were repaired at the same shop. All the cars came back with a clean carfax. Thus carfax has no value. Apology is in order.

edit. running the same vin through a friend who owns an auto insurance company returns the real report of the vehicles history. Information that actually has value. The information that carfax should be selling.

 

Come now. The cell phone anology isn't even close. You are buying minutes. There is nothing in the contract with the cellphone company that says it's only for you. If you want to give those minutes to someone else that's fine. The carfax (just like the buffet) is an agreement for your use only.

Is the buffet going to miss one slice of roast beef? Of course not. Will carfax go bankrupt if you run your buddy's vin? Don't think so.

There are degrees of everything, but if you are being truthful you have to recognize it IS theft of services. But then again, 36mph in a 35mph zone IS speeding.

 

By jove, I think he's got it.

 

If I hurt your feelings in any way I apologize. I didn't assume anything about you or your behavior. I am only commenting on the statement you made. Originally Posted by Steveny360""I wouldn't mind paying for the information if it had value."

However, the value of a product is subjective. If someone dosen't feel a product has a value then they have a simple honest choice. Ask for their money back and or don't use or recommend the product again. If someone continues to use the product without paying for it then it is stealing.

Regards,

Stew

 

I truly feel what carfax promises and what they deliver are two way different products. The commercials carfax runs on tv make it seems as though they can flush out unscrupulous sellers and that is just not true. There are so many ways to route around carfax that it would make a persons head spin.

I did ask carfax for a refund and they refused to give it.

On a separate note but like kind... I recent wanted to change companies who do background checks for my tenants. Several of the agencies returned clean background checks on people who I KNEW for a fact had evictions, judgments and had been arrested for felonies. I knew this because I evicted them filed a judgment and also had them arrested for a felony. AGAIN I was refused a refund because the companies believed they were doing the "best" they could do. I just get so tired of businesses selling useless information, but that doesn't mean I would steal it. Why would I even want it if it had no value.

 

It would be nice if Carfax offered a service where one can look up say 20 car VINs over time and not be limited to one month of time.
I took me 2 years to locate the "perfect" NSX for me and it was out of state.
If I were looking for a Chevy Surburban, for example, then yes possibly 20 would show up within miles of my home and today.
The birds I usually hunt are rare and patience is most often a virtue.

 

Yes, but when you go to the Carfax site (at least the last time I checked), they offer to let youi use unlimited services for a month for $29. There is no fine print until after you select that.

 

(bold added for emphasis)

This statement seems to treat the carfax material as copyrighted. Two questions, then, for the learned:

1) Where and how, then, does "fair use" come into play?

2) Lets then assume the presentation, organization, transmission, and original material are all the intellectual property of carfax and therefore copyrightable. Fine. But carfax is selling information obtained from government sources (DMV records, for example), which is not copyrightable. Where and how does this fact come into play?

 

"You" being the operative word...

Oh well. The concept isn't that difficult. The buffet analogy should have been enough to clarify it. Guess not.

Next topic.

 

Sharing a Carfax with someone is like sharing a slice of pizza or a store giving away a free sample. I bet Carfax is thrilled that friends will occasionally run a Carfax for another friend. They're not going to do it every time, and when that person needs another Carfax, where will they go...? To Carfax...! I can't believe this is that big of a deal.

 

I will bet you a $1000 dollars that someone from carfax has read this very thread. Carfax surfs all the car forums and looks for people stealing their service. They will publically and privately let people know they are watching. They also pull memberships for offenders and will lock a vin that was asked to be checked.

Carfax has exchanged emails and PM's with me on another car site because I gave my opinion about the value of their service. I am not implying they were nasty.

 

Tell Carfax that some of their information - especially on Ferraris - is woefully inaccurate. And, for a free account (ROTFL), I'll help them out a bit.

 

They don't want your help they want your money.