8 Great Alternatives to Carfax for Vehicle History Reports

With over 1 billion vehicle history reports provided since 1986, Carfax has become almost synonymous with checking a used car‘s background before buying. The detailed Carfax reports can give you peace of mind that the used car you‘re considering hasn‘t been totaled, flooded or had its odometer tampered with.

However, sole reliance on Carfax has its limitations. For starters, Carfax doesn‘t have access to all information sources on all vehicles. There have also been documented errors in some Carfax reports, which while rare, shows they are not 100% foolproof.

That‘s why savvy used car buyers use alternative services to complement Carfax. Cross-checking multiple vehicle history report sources helps ensure you get the full picture on a vehicle‘s background.

This guide looks at the top 8 alternatives to Carfax and provides tips on getting the most out of using multiple vehicle history report services.

Why Use Alternatives to Carfax?

While Carfax is the best-known vehicle history report provider, relying solely on them has some limitations:

Not all information sources report to Carfax: Carfax has data sharing partnerships with over 34,000 entities across North America, including auto manufacturers, dealerships, collision shops, etc. However, some information sources don‘t provide data to Carfax. Using alternate vehicle history report services widens the pool of data sources checked.

No service has fully comprehensive information: No vehicle history report service has fully comprehensive information from all possible sources. Each has varying degrees of coverage of different types of records depending on their data sources. Using multiple alternatives ensures the widest breadth of data is checked.

Errors can occur: While rare, Carfax does make mistakes in some reports or miss some incidents that get reported elsewhere later. Checking other vehicle history reports guards against this.

Alternate insights: Some competing services take a different data analysis approach from Carfax. This alternate insight can sometimes provide additional context, or even contradictory information, which is important to factor into your buying decision process.

Cost savings: Running a single Carfax report costs around $40. Some competing services offer lower cost reports or even free VIN checks and basic vehicle history reports. Using them first allows you to save money upfront. You can always run a Carfax later if you decide to get serious about purchasing the particular used vehicle.

So in summary – tapping alternative vehicle history reports is useful for guarding against blindspots in putting together the full history of a used vehicle. Let‘s now look at some of the top options.

Top Carfax Alternative Services

1. AutoCheck

Owned by data giant Experian, AutoCheck is one of the largest alternatives to Carfax. They claim to check over 34 billion records across North America.

Key Features:

• Access to Experian‘s extensive credit database
• Unlimited reports for 30 days with their Unlimited Reports package ($54.99)
• Auto insurance quote integration from Progressive and Esurace
• iOS and Android apps

AutoCheck offers similar core information to Carfax – ownership history, accident indicators, mileage timeline, title checks, etc. Given Experian owns them, they also have good credit data access not leveraged by competitors.

However, a common complaint is their presentation of information is not as slick or easy to interpret as Carfax reports.

Cost

• $24.99 per report
• 5 reports for $49.99
• 30-days of unlimited reports for $54.99

So on a per report basis, they work out marginally cheaper than Carfax. Bundling options also available for dealers to provide AutoCheck reports to buyers.

2. VinDecoder

VinDecoder provides basic free VIN checks along with affordable paid vehicle history reports. This makes them one of the cheapest Carfax alternatives.

Key Features:

• Completely free VIN checks with basic overview
• Low-cost vehicle history reports ($6.99)
• Mobile friendly responsive interface
• No account signup required

For the free VIN search, VinDecoder provides a basic summary of key details on that vehicle, including specifications, safety ratings, warranties, recalls and common issues.

To access their full vehicle history report, you need to pay their roughly $7 report fee via credit card. This affordable report price point is a standout and facilitates using their service alongside more comprehensive paid alternatives.

Information in the full reports includes title checks, accident history, number of previous owners, fleet usage indicators and odometer verifications.

Presentation is simple yet effective – an easy to scan mix of visual indicators and text commentary explaining report findings. It covers key areas consumers care about without information overload.

3. National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB)

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) offers completely free VIN checks as a public service. They are a non-profit organization that facilitates the prevention, detection and prosecution of insurance crime and fraud.

Key Features:

• Free VIN searches to check stolen or salvage records
• Covers all 50 states and Washington D.C.
• Simple pass/fail checks – no comprehensive history

As a free service focused specifically on helping prevent fraud, the NICB reports are basic. Their reports don‘t provide comprehensive histories. Rather, they let you instantly check if a particular vehicle has been flagged as stolen or a previous total loss insurance claim (salvage).

The major benefit is it is a fast, free indicator to avoid purchasing illegally sold recovered theft vehicles or poorly repaired/unsafe salvage units.

4. EpicVIN

EpicVIN is targeted primarily at dealerships to equip sales staff with detailed vehicle histories during the sales process. But they also market heavily to consumers by offering free VIN checks.

Key Features:

• Totally free VIN searches for consumers
• Detailed reporting with visual timeline
• Carcare inspection integration
• Customizable reports

They provide more detailed and visual reports than the NICB focusing on the entire lifecycle of a vehicle. These include title transfers between owners, odometer changes, recalls and accident indicators.

For consumers, access to their free VIN check is simple with results in just 2-3 seconds.

EpicVIN makes money through a freemium model. They offer more advanced reporting, API integrations and custom branding of reports for industry users. But the excellent free offering for consumers positions them as a great first stop to complement other paid reports.

5. CarMD

CarMD differentiates itself by specializing in vehicle health and repair data. They leverage their status as a provider of integrated diagnostics tools that mechanics and workshops use to target this unique dataset.

Key Features:

• Specialized focus on health and repair data
• Proprietary CarMD vehicle inspection device data access
• Car repair cost estimates
• Diagnostic trouble code decoding

With many mechanics and workshops using their integrated diagnostic scan tools, CarMD builds rich data on the real-world mechanical state and repair history of vehicles.

Their free VIN look up provides a summary of recalls and common issues with that vehicle model. Paid reports ($39.99) then get into the detailed repair and health history for that specific VIN.

These insights help assess how well maintained a vehicle has been and forecast future repair costs. This is powerful complementary information alongside traditional history reports.

6. Carfax

After profiling all the major low-cost and free alternatives, the elephant in the room remains Carfax themselves.

In the vehicle history report space, Carfax is still the most recognized consumer brand by far. With over 1 billion reports produced to buyers since inception, their access to data is still market-leading in many areas.

Most competing services benchmark their capabilities against Carfax. So while 100% relying on them has weaknesses, using them in conjunction with other alternative reports is still advised.

Key Features:

• Broadest range of linked data sources
• User friendly report format
• Recall monitoring options

At around $40 per report, they are pricier than most alternatives profiled. However, occasionally Carfax runs deals like limited free reports or gift cards equating to discounts.

And crucially, many auto dealers elect to provide free Carfax reports to customers as a value-add service. So always check if a free Carfax comes with a vehicle listing before paying for your own with any dealer-listed vehicles.

7. CarProof

CarProof is the leading paid vehicle history report provider in Canada. They have access to information from every province and territory‘s insurance claims database as well as data from police agencies.

Key Features:

• Extensive data network across all Canadian provinces and territories
• Claims information from 87 insurance companies
• Accident and damage details

For US buyers close to the Canadian border looking at imported used vehicles, CarProof is worth checking. Many such imports have sketchy or unverified background histories once they cross stateside.

8. Car vertical

Carvertical has presence across Europe but does offer USA and Canada reports with focus on imports. They also uniquely provide VIN checks on vehicles from European and Asian countries if searching imported used vehicles from these regions.

Key Features:

• Import/export focused vehicle history reports
• 300 million car records globally
• VIN check for European and Asian imports
• Real-time data links to key vehicle databases worldwide

As a relative newcomer looking to disrupt the market, they offer an innovative report dashboard for both web and mobile. Their growth has however been hampered by severing ties to a Ukrainian government vehicle database previously central to their offering.

Pricing is marginally cheaper than dominant incumbents – €14.90 EUR (~$15 USD) per report in the United States.

What to Look for in Paid Reports

Free VIN checks undoubtedly have appeal. However, they focus only on singular issues like theft history or common problems. To comprehensively verify a vehicle‘s history, paid vehicle history reports are essential.

Here are key markers of a service that delivers quality paid reports:

1. Multiple data sources

Top-tier providers like Carfax link to thousands of unique data sources. While slightly fewer, key alternatives source data from between 30-50 feeds each also compiling records numbering into billions.

Verify any paid service taps numerous databases spanning:

• State motor vehicle agencies – Title and registration data, odometer readings, accident records
• Auto and insurance companies – Insurance claims including total loss reports detailing major damage
• Law enforcement data – Stolen vehicles and other relevant incident data

Single source paid reports or those drawing primarily from classified ad aggregators provide minimal value.

2. Understandable visual timeline

Quality history reports organize key events on an easy to understand timeline infographic. This gives you an at-a-glance overview across areas like:

• Ownership changes
• Odometer readings
• Damage incidents
• Recall events
• Registration renewals

Seeing key events linearly plotted better highlights gaps in history or contradictory readings pointing to potential risk areas.

3. Clear recommendations

Potent analysis separates the best vehicle history reports from superficial data dumps.

Good services explicitly call out vehicles with trust issues like:

• Signs of odometer rollback
• Outsized gaps in registration history
• Major unrepaired damage omitted from titles
• Other indicators of potential fraud based on sourced data

Clear-eyed recommendations of issues requiring deeper scrutiny provides major value.

4. Previous Owner Contact Capability

Quality reports let you optionally reach out to previous owners to gather more details before deciding to buy. This helps clarify questions raised from report findings.

Having everything packaged to contact last known owner contact info is invaluable. Note this is subject to owners consenting so not always available.

5. Security guarantee

Mistakes happen. So all reputable providers stand behind their reports‘ accuracy with clearly defined guarantees. This provides monetary protection should data oversight seriously misrepresent a vehicle condition.

For example, Carfax offers a buyback guarantee if they miss odometer tampering or total loss incidents.

Similar protections by alternatives demonstrate they stand behind data quality and align incentives correctly.

Vehicle History Report Buying Tips

Here are quick tactical tips on using alternatives to Carfax and other vehicle history reports when evaluating used vehicles:

• Take advantage of free VIN checks – Use free services like NICB and EpicVIN for every vehicle as a first step before buying costlier history reports. Also check free AutoCheck and Carfax offers which many dealers provide.

• Cross reference multiple paid reports – Layer in affordable paid reports like VinDecoder as added protection. Ultimately run at least Carfax or AutoCheck along with one other paid report to cover all bases.

• Compare reports closely – Note any contradictory findings between reports and use this to negotiate. Push the seller to explain these discrepancies.

• Check reports before test driving – Don‘t take the time to physically inspect or test drive vehicles until you‘ve screened them via reports. Why sink more time into an unsafe rebuilt wreck?

• Confirm VIN matches the car – Carefully match the VIN printed on various locations on the vehicle itself before running reports. Fraudsters can show Carfax reports for a clean car attached to a cloned VIN vehicle that‘s actually salvaged.

• Recheck before buying – Rerun all reports right at time of sale signing to confirm no new suspicious activity has occurred if there‘s been a lag between first check and closing the purchase. Criminals can continue illegally "washing" flagged vehicles until the vehicle transfers owners.

Using Vehicle History Reports is a Must

While Carfax popularized the used car history report industry, relying on them alone risks missing part of a vehicle‘s past. Their competitors have robust offerings meeting different consumer needs – from basics like VinDecoder to repair insights of CarMD.

Tapping multiple sources closes gaps in information. Even better – having contradictory reports from different providers strengthens your negotiating position on flagged vehicles.

So utilize a blend of free and low-cost vehicle history report alternatives like those profiled. Mixing comprehensive options like AutoCheck with specialized ones CarMD gives the most complete picture.

Cross-checking multiple services takes minutes but provides that added peace of mind over a vehicle‘s history. Considering vehicles are on average people‘s second most expensive lifetime purchase – that minimal extra effort is absolutely worth it!