When buying a used car, it is important to ensure that you always get the best deal possible. After all, buying a vehicle is a huge financial decision that is likely to impact your finances for a long while. It is important to get it at the right price, which has seen an increase in the popularity of avenues for checking used vehicles such as Carfax and AutoCheck.
As such, we will go over the pros and cons of each to help potential buyers decide which website to get their next car from. The information discussed will help you make a better decision about your vehicle.
The Pros and Cons of Carfax
PRO: It’s a trusted brand
Carfax has become so prevalent in the used car industry that customers have been known to ask for it from their dealers. There might be no need to explain how it works at all, depending on the circumstances.
It is also known for its intense level of detail, with data from over 100,000 sources in both Canada and the USA. this includes motor vehicle agencies, dealerships, police departments, and so on. To date, Carfax has roughly 18 billion records.
PRO: It offers a detailed maintenance history
Carfax is the only vehicle history report on the market that checks a used car’s maintenance history. It can give you a report of how dedicated the previous owner was to keeping the car well-maintained, how it has broken down, and how it has been fixed over the years.
This, of course, depends on how meticulous the previous owners were about maintaining both their car and its records. That being said, there are still valuable insights to be gleaned from whatever information to be gleaned.
CON: It’s expensive
Due to its status as a premium name in the industry, Carfax charges a premium. It is known to be several times more expensive than AutoCheck. While in many cases, buyers see this as a worthwhile expense, it might nevertheless deter others.
This is why many have decided to instead save tons of money by purchasing a complete NVMTIS vehicle history report for only $14.99!
The Pros and Cons of AutoCheck
PRO: It offers a comprehensive AutoCheck Score
This score is a patented metric by which used cars are checked. The Score attaches scores to cars in numbers between 70 and 90. This is affected by accidents, mileage, damage, and the vehicle’s history of theft, repossession, use as a utility vehicle, and so on. Essentially, it is much like a credit score; the higher the score, the better the history.
PRO: It’s less expensive than Carfax
The retail price of a AutoCheck is $24.99 versus $39.99 for a CarFax report. These are numbers you cannot ignore if you are on a limited budget or buying vehicles in bulk as part of a commercial fleet.
However, with zipVIN you can get a vehicle history report for only $14.99 per report! Save yourself tons of money and buy a discounted AutoCheck report directly from zipVIN.
CON: It isn’t as widely recognized
Customers understand Carfax and are familiar with the brand. As such, you might have to train your sales representatives to be able to sell AutoCheck to your customers at the drop of a hat. This is an additional hurdle to your success that takes some creative strategizing to get around.
Conclusion
There is no definite answer to this question. At the end of the day, each has its own advantages and disadvantages that are up to you to consider. You have to ask yourself (and perhaps your customers) what they value in vehicle history reports.
At zipVIN, we find that both Carfax and AutoCheck are very detailed and you can’t go wrong with either. If you want a complete vehicle history report at a discounted price, you can get an NMVTIS complete vehicle report for only $14.99!
We have what it takes to help you avoid buying used cars with costly hidden problems.
