I am going to bring a couple cars in for pre-purchase inspections soon. I was wondering if anyone would be so kind as to run the VINs to check if there is anything major going on in the maintenance history before I bring them in. There would be a six pack or cash in it for you if you could help me out. Thanks!
i can see what i can do, i work at a dealership. ill ask around on tuesday and see if i can run a few carfas reports.
Checking maintenance history is well and good, but don't abuse the Carfax licensing. If you're going o spend thousands on a car, you can buy a report or two yourself.
I think the opening post is referring to maintenance history that dealer ships can run via the vin to check tech bulletins and recalls and such. It is completely different then the carfax.
Yes, I am hoping to find any specific issues with the cars in addition to if they were salvaged/in accidents (and other carfax info). I was told that Toyota dealerships can search any work done and inspections at other Toyota dealerships- not sure if it is the same with Subaru. I brought in a car last week for pre-purchase inspection and found that it needed head gasket work and 2 axles replaced. It would have been really nice to have know that before spending $130 if it was in a prior record.
How would you have known? It woud have been suggested to the customer, not put into a document, things like "what a car needs" dont go into any public record.
My thoughts exactly, but anywhere I took my VW has "suggested maintenance" items at the bottom of the invoice....Like a big note at the bottom that says COOLANT IN OIL, HEAD GASKET REPLACEMENT SUGGESTED. FRONT RIGHT AND LEFT CV BOOTS TORN, AXLES WORN. SUGGEST REPLACEMENT.
I found what I needed- thanks for everyone's input. I was going to look at a forester and called the nearest dealership to see when it had last been serviced and if there were any notes. The service person said that they had found rust on the engine and that it needed to be rebuilt, as well as other associated problems. In my experience at dealerships, they typically do a general inspection and document things that they recommend taking care of or keeping an eye on. In this case it saved me 5 hours of driving, money in gas, and inspection costs at a dealership.
