Best way to do a vin check

[Wylie6G72]

Just be aware.....Carfax doesn't give you the whole story. Nothing can, aside of the owner.

I'm pretty sure the '09 Mazda I just bought was in a minor fender-bender at some point, and the Carfax is spotless. The body shop did a top-notch job, but I can still see things that are a little "off". The paint on the fender ledge under the hood is extremely clean and glossy, and the fender bolts have had a socket wrench on them at some point. The former owner was a fairly wealthy man, so I'm guessing he paid for the repairs out of pocket to keep insurance out of the picture.

The only way to know what you're really buying is a close-up inspection, including underneath.

 

[01rangerxl]

That's very true, but if there is data, it's interesting to see it, especially when free.

The mycarfax site does seem to leave out ownership changes and such, and obviously a wreck or service that's never reported to a source of info won't show, but it still gave me a lot of info I didn't have before.