What Used Car Managers Don't Want You to Know
Brandon Hopkins
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Used car managers can be a sleazy bunch, trust me I used to be one! When you meet one of these managers on a used car lot beware. They have an arsenal of selling tools that you don't even know exist. There are however, easy to remember tips that you can use to protect yourself while shopping for a u 
sed car. Today we're discussing the CARFAX report.
CARFAX reports provide with the history of any used car. A complete CARFAX report will give you 4 key items.
First is a title check. The title of a vehicle should tell you if the car is a registered lemon, has been salvaged, was flooded or completely rebuilt. I have known managers who keep two sets of titles, the old title, and the new title. The old title has the vehicles old history and doesn't disclose anything. The new title would indeed show the status as being a "salvaged" vehicle, but they tend to forget to show you the new title. A CARFAX report will give you the status of the title regardless of what the actual title says.
Second is an odometer check. The most common need for this is a rolled back odometer. I have seen 2 vehicles with a rolled back odometer. One I could instantly tell something wasn't right, but the other would have fooled me. It was a 5 year old car that was registered in Montana. The odometer said 68,000 miles which is reasonable for a car 5 years old. When I pulled the CARFAX as I always did it showed that the vehicle had a smog check done about 300 miles away and the vehicle had 137,000 miles at the time! I asked the customer about the discrepancy and he walked out immediately! Without the CARFAX I would have been stuck with a vehicle with a rolled back odometer.
CARFAX reports provide with the history of any used car. A complete CARFAX report will give you 4 key items.
First is a title check. The title of a vehicle should tell you if the car is a registered lemon, has been salvaged, was flooded or completely rebuilt. I have known managers who keep two sets of titles, the old title, and the new title. The old title has the vehicles old history and doesn't disclose anything. The new title would indeed show the status as being a "salvaged" vehicle, but they tend to forget to show you the new title. A CARFAX report will give you the status of the title regardless of what the actual title says.
Second is an odometer check. The most common need for this is a rolled back odometer. I have seen 2 vehicles with a rolled back odometer. One I could instantly tell something wasn't right, but the other would have fooled me. It was a 5 year old car that was registered in Montana. The odometer said 68,000 miles which is reasonable for a car 5 years old. When I pulled the CARFAX as I always did it showed that the vehicle had a smog check done about 300 miles away and the vehicle had 137,000 miles at the time! I asked the customer about the discrepancy and he walked out immediately! Without the CARFAX I would have been stuck with a vehicle with a rolled back odometer.