Carfax?

paying full coverage insurance on an old vehicle is a fools game.
premiums outweigh the vehicle worth very quickly - and you lose your
vehicle in the event of all but the teeniest fender bender. save the
money and just get third party. then you can make your own decision on
whether to repair, and pay for it out of your savings.

 

It is still useful information.

 

It is still useful information.

 

how? it can't be relied on for proof of condition, either good or bad.
why would you spend the money on carfax when you can spend it on
something reliable i.e. physical inspection?

 

how? it can't be relied on for proof of condition, either good or bad.
why would you spend the money on carfax when you can spend it on
something reliable i.e. physical inspection?

 

If you have the knowledge, you can act on it. This is really basic
stuff. Ignorance isn't bliss.

 

If you have the knowledge, you can act on it. This is really basic
stuff. Ignorance isn't bliss.

 

indeed, ignorance isn't bliss. but with carfax, the ignorance not only
remains, but one can be misled.

 

indeed, ignorance isn't bliss. but with carfax, the ignorance not only
remains, but one can be misled.

 

Perhaps you may not believe a Carfax (or autocheck.com) report that
shows either (1) five owners in ten years (though the seller says he
is the only owner); or (2) odometer tampering; or (3) a salvage
vehicle. I would rely on such information. Hence for my purposes, any
of these would rule out the car for me. If the Carfax comes up clean
on these points, then there is still doubt in my mind, but less so.
Remember how KBB values a vehicle as well, and that KBB tends to be
the standard for valuing a vehicle. Any title that is a "salvage"
title or shows odometer tampering means the car cannot be valued in
KBB's eyes. You can call people ridiculous for not being interested in
a salvage vehicle or a vehicle with unknown mileage, but these people
are a large part of the car buying market. What they say rules when it
comes time to sell a car.

On insurance, the premium goes towards more than just damage to one's
vehicle. Sure consider the value of the car, and your deductible, when
reviewing that part of the premium going towards paying for damage to
one's vehicle. But one cannot just compute the annual premium, note it
will exceed the value of the car in X months, and say one is
overpaying for insurance.

 

Perhaps you may not believe a Carfax (or autocheck.com) report that
shows either (1) five owners in ten years (though the seller says he
is the only owner); or (2) odometer tampering; or (3) a salvage
vehicle. I would rely on such information. Hence for my purposes, any
of these would rule out the car for me. If the Carfax comes up clean
on these points, then there is still doubt in my mind, but less so.
Remember how KBB values a vehicle as well, and that KBB tends to be
the standard for valuing a vehicle. Any title that is a "salvage"
title or shows odometer tampering means the car cannot be valued in
KBB's eyes. You can call people ridiculous for not being interested in
a salvage vehicle or a vehicle with unknown mileage, but these people
are a large part of the car buying market. What they say rules when it
comes time to sell a car.

On insurance, the premium goes towards more than just damage to one's
vehicle. Sure consider the value of the car, and your deductible, when
reviewing that part of the premium going towards paying for damage to
one's vehicle. But one cannot just compute the annual premium, note it
will exceed the value of the car in X months, and say one is
overpaying for insurance.

 

what does the number of owners matter??? you only need one careless one
to screw a vehicle up.

what does that really matter? inspection will show if the vehicle has
been properly maintained. you only need one careless...

i don't get the problem with salvage. sure, some can be garbage, but
that shows up on inspection.

fyi, my crx is salvage. the one prior lady owner had turned it in for
the $600 california dmv clunker fee, and the junkyard wheeled it into
their "whole vehicles" pound, then immediately sold it to me for $1000.
the vehicle is all original, excellent condition [apart from paint
because it lived outside], and well maintained. it's straighter than a
vehicle damaged on the dealer's lot and repaired before first
registration. but it's "salvage" because it had been de-registered.

that's like people wanting "natural" diamond vs lab-grown diamond. if
the latter is still crystallized carbon, flawless, cheaper, and doesn't
come smeared in blood, i see absolutely no problem with it, yet the
brainwashed masses think otherwise.

why not? i don't understand why paying more to /not/ own your own
vehicle in the event of an accident makes sense.

 

what does the number of owners matter??? you only need one careless one
to screw a vehicle up.

what does that really matter? inspection will show if the vehicle has
been properly maintained. you only need one careless...

i don't get the problem with salvage. sure, some can be garbage, but
that shows up on inspection.

fyi, my crx is salvage. the one prior lady owner had turned it in for
the $600 california dmv clunker fee, and the junkyard wheeled it into
their "whole vehicles" pound, then immediately sold it to me for $1000.
the vehicle is all original, excellent condition [apart from paint
because it lived outside], and well maintained. it's straighter than a
vehicle damaged on the dealer's lot and repaired before first
registration. but it's "salvage" because it had been de-registered.

that's like people wanting "natural" diamond vs lab-grown diamond. if
the latter is still crystallized carbon, flawless, cheaper, and doesn't
come smeared in blood, i see absolutely no problem with it, yet the
brainwashed masses think otherwise.

why not? i don't understand why paying more to /not/ own your own
vehicle in the event of an accident makes sense.

 

Jim, I think your goals for owning a car are different from others'.
In particular you seem feel that how the market values a car is
irrelevant, hence odometer readings and salvage status are irrelevant.
Fine for your and some people's needs. Not for mine and others',
though. I want a car for which a price has been "set" by a resource
like Kelly Blue Book. KBB.com will not spew out a price for cars with
unknown mileage or having salvage status. Your argument is probably
more with kbb than anything else.

 

Jim, I think your goals for owning a car are different from others'.
In particular you seem feel that how the market values a car is
irrelevant, hence odometer readings and salvage status are irrelevant.
Fine for your and some people's needs. Not for mine and others',
though. I want a car for which a price has been "set" by a resource
like Kelly Blue Book. KBB.com will not spew out a price for cars with
unknown mileage or having salvage status. Your argument is probably
more with kbb than anything else.

 

again, i think you're the victim of kbb's self-promotion propaganda.
kbb is simply "reported" prices [dmv taxes anyone?], not actual market
transactions.

example: honda crx.
here in the san francsico bay area, kbb has a 91 crx si is listed as
$2130 for "excellent condition". what an utter crock! a real "street"
price of that vehicle in good shape is $4k - $6k. i've seen people
selling non-rolling crx shells here on craigslist for $1500. and i have
personally witnessed people outside a seller's door waving $100 bills
and bidding the price of for-sale crx's up to 2 or 3x asking.

bottom line - consider whose interests kbb pricing may serve. and
consider how they get their "data".

 

again, i think you're the victim of kbb's self-promotion propaganda.
kbb is simply "reported" prices [dmv taxes anyone?], not actual market
transactions.

example: honda crx.
here in the san francsico bay area, kbb has a 91 crx si is listed as
$2130 for "excellent condition". what an utter crock! a real "street"
price of that vehicle in good shape is $4k - $6k. i've seen people
selling non-rolling crx shells here on craigslist for $1500. and i have
personally witnessed people outside a seller's door waving $100 bills
and bidding the price of for-sale crx's up to 2 or 3x asking.

bottom line - consider whose interests kbb pricing may serve. and
consider how they get their "data".

 

First I'd have to consider how you get your data, the paucity of it,
whether what you are talking about is ricers, etc. ;-)

 

First I'd have to consider how you get your data, the paucity of it,
whether what you are talking about is ricers, etc. ;-)

 

ricers aren't buyers/sellers?