Tip

Not all forms of car damage are reported as accidents.


If, for instance during inventory in a dealership, a car is scratched to a significant degree, it may be reported to the vehicle history sources as damage, but may not show up in the records as accidents.

Tip

Always note the type of ownership record/use the car had or was put to.

Generally, personally owned vehicles are most preferred. Fleet/lease vehicles would be next in the order of preference.

Rentals may not always be properly maintained, but this may not always be the case.

Commercial vehicles are usually Taxis, but may be used as branded vehicles, or for other forms of transportation. These often have above average mileage for obvious reasons.

Tip

Flood & Water Damage

Often after major flood events like hurricanes or burst dams, the cars involved would be salvaged, this would show up in regular VIN reports from the major sources.

Sometimes unsuspecting buyers may buy cars which did not go through this process.

In one case, the buyer saw the pictures before the car was shipped and also had a clean title from the VIN report, but the owner noticed severe rust damage after 6 months of usage.

It was subsequently discovered that the county the car was registered and likely used in was one of the most severely hit during hurricane Harvey.

GAZZUZZ:
Nice tips... I am following, have a lot to share when u done

Thank you Sir.

It would be an ongoing thread, updated intermittently.

Tip

History reports are not always 100% accurate or comprehensive. They are a very important and necessary tool

They are merely tools to guide a buyer in the right direction. For instance if a VIN report states that a vehicle is a clean title, no flood, etc, that would be accurate or correct for most vehicles, but there are always exceptions.

There are many vehicles with clean titles which were in reality flooded or in sometimes serious accidents.

CarFax or AutoCheck do not manufacture the details in their database, they are gotten from many sources which most of the time report most information about the cars registered to them.

That is why there is always a disclaimer in each report.

Following pls

Always research all cars before purchase, irrespective of the source.

It is logical. Having as much information about a subject gives you an advantage while making decisions.

Sometimes there may be more to a car than auctions would disclose. A normal AutoCheck/CarFax VIN report may also not include those specific auction details.

A picture is worth a lot of words, so as often as possible one should seek comprehensive reports that include pictures of the vehicle pre-auction where applicable, or pre-shipment.

On that note, for a variety of reasons it may not be possible to access pictures for all vehicles.

Canadian cars and the notorious rust problem.

Canada has a rust problem. It affects cars, as well as other equipment used on their roads.

The reason?

The climate cools as one goes towards the geographical north. Canada is one of the countries quite close to the North pole, so they tend to have a lot of snow and cold weather. With snow and ice, come frequent road closures, and road salt is a very effective ice removal technique.

The combination of frequent road salting and frequent moisture, including sea air, allows rust to thrive. This also affects some US states, but Canadian vehicles tend to be worse off.

Tip

Lemon juice vehicles

Sometimes a brand new vehicle may have a persistent fault which a dealership or manufacturer would have tried several times to repair without success. Depending on the different states lemon laws, the car would be classified as a lemon vehicle, and the manufacturer would have to buy the cars back from the dealer.

These faults may be minor, but can also be severe, there have been lemon vehicles which tended to suddenly stop in traffic, putting occupants at great risk.

The unpredictability makes them a poor choice, but on the other hand lemon vehicles are similar to salvage vehicles in terms of value, they can cost far less than a similar optimally operating vehicle

Titles

The US or Canada Title is the equivalent approximation of the Nigerian Proof Of Ownership document.


If you have ever gone through the process of getting a VIN report or even trying to buy a vehicle from the US or Canada, you would have encountered titles.

There are many types and categories of titles, each US state or territory has different laws regarding titles, and it can all be very confusing for a non native.

The most common title we come across are Salvage titles, often from imported cars which were sold at auctions like IAAA, Copart, Impact Auto or any of the other smaller salvage auctions.

Different states have different laws about salvage titles. Generally states require a car to have sustained damage estimated to cost at least 75% of the value of the car at the time it was damaged.

A lot of cars have Salvage titles from Texas.

In Texas there is no set percentage of damage before a vehicle can receive a salvage title. In effect, a vehicle is considered salvage when repair costs, not including repainting, exceeds the vehicle's value at the moment before the damage. What this all means is the older a car, the more likely it can be considered salvage in the event of an accident.

Titles are complex, and will be further addressed subsequently.

Which Vehicle History Report Is The Best?

Car buyers are of 2 major categories, those familiar with the processes and steps to make good purchases, which includes dealers as well as end users. The other category is made up of novice car buyers, or buyers unfamiliar with important or relevant car buying steps.

Most seasoned buyers know enough about history reports to have a specific preference, usually AutoCheck or CarFax. We have found that both report types have various pros and cons.

The best approach would be to get both, but that can cost more than some buyers may be willing to pay, so a combined report that includes the best of both reports is ideal, an example of this is the CarGuideNG Premium Report.

Novice buyers may be tricked by other sources into buying reports from the US Government agency NMVTIS, which are rudimentary at best, and are not recommended.

More to come

I have a car from Dubai, can I get a history report?

Yes, and no.

Different regions have different systems with respect to vehicle history databases. North America has the most comprehensive databases of vehicle history information. The laws that made this feat possible have been in effect for dozens of years, however most countries do not have such accessible vehicle history resources.

While it is possible to gain access to some history for some cars from the middle east, especially accident or damage history, the reports for such cars may not be as comprehensive as reports for cars from North America.

ALWAYS HAVE ANY CAR INSPECTED

The history reports are just one step of the process. Another highly necessary step is the inspection.

Sometimes a vehicle may have been inspected professionally, the inspection findings would be part of the vehicle history report issues by CarGuideNG.

More to come

Mileage is not everything.

Mileage has a complex relationship with vehicle condition. Generally with mileage less is better, however this is not necessarily always the case.

We have a separate thread aimed specifically at mileage issues, so we may not go into them again, however as much as the mileage is an important factor, the general car condition is more important.

Lower mileage does not necessarily translate to a better car.

Pay attention to the vehicle specifications

In the past we have come across several vehicles manufactured and last seen in the countries they were used, as manual transmissions but subsequently converted to automatic transmissions on arrival in Nigeria.

It is very important to be provided the list of specific options and features which the vehicle was shipped with, to avoid this situation, but also to help make better decisions. A client may prefer AWD to 2WD, factory fabric to leather upholstery, etc.

More to come.

Japanese/Asian/Non - North American market cars

These include Right Hand Drive variants of popular models, Japanese Market variants typically do no't have the regular 17 digit Vehicle Identification Number. They have a Frame Number which may look like

History for such cars eg the Toyota Corolla Altis, may be inaccessible for obvious reasons, however they tend to be advertised after being imported and converted to Left Hand Drive.

Such conversion is acceptable when done professionally, otherwise may lead to electrical and other problems. The OBD port may also be inactive for code diagnosis for some such converted vehicles.

More to come

Insurance damage repair estimates

Sometimes for cars for some provinces in Canada such as Newfoundland & Labrador, the exact nature of damage may not be stated.

For such vehicles, the damage repair estimate is a good tool to estimate damage severity.

Na wa.. Na everyday i dey come here oh.. looking for new info

More to come boss