I’d be remiss if I had a blog for used car buyers without mentioning CARFAX reports. Anyone who is looking to purchase a used car he should get a CARFAX report. Don’t pay for one, but get one.

How to get a CARFAX report for free? Easy. CARFAX makes it easy and so do their dealers. Here’s how:

1. Option I: Buy your car from a dealer that is a member subscriber of the CARFAX online dealership program. Participating dealers get a discount when ordering CARFAX reports. To find out if a dealer is a member, go to Carfaxonline.com and type in your zip code for a listing of member dealers in your area. Once you find out which dealers participate in the CARFAX online program, you know they get CARFAX reports for a discount. In your negotiation process ask them to throw in a free report. They’d rather throw in the free report than lose a potential car sale.



2. Option II: Use the CARFAX database and shop there for your used car. Their database contains a listing of used cars for sale throughout the country that are backed by their buy back guarantee. If you buy a car from their database and find that there are title problems, such as flood/fire damage or a salvaged or junk title, they will buy the car back (make sure to read the terms and conditions). Each car listed in their database has a link that says “free CARFAX Vehicle History Reports”
3. Option III: The final option is to go to any used car dealership and request a free CARFAX report even if they’re not a member of the CARFAX online program. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. If they refuse to give you a free report, leave the dealership and go to one that will.

Car dealers want to sell cars, not haggle over a CARFAX report. You stand a pretty good chance of getting one if you go through a dealership. Private sales require a different approach (we’ll discuss that in a future post).