We're looking into a 2006 Pacifica and I'm hoping to try and get a carfax. If anyone is able to help, the VIN is

2A4GM484X6R869635

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Sorry Bob but you'll have to go through here.

http://www.carfax.com/

Boot legging a carfax is a flogable offence.

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previously on CG

http://www.corvette-guru.com/modules/ ... id=145911#forumpost145911

Yea, Tommy is so right. CARFAX will come down upon like a ton of bricks... sorry.

Yeah, people with carfax accounts responding to a thread like this can easily get their account closed. They search for this stuff.

Still though, someone might PM you if they want to help.

I though this stuff was public information anyways. Is it possible to get this type of info from the DMV?

Yes it is, but not as consolidated.

If the car has been in multiple states, you only get that reference and current data. You don't see the history. And you sure don't see the recall/maintenance data.

And most times, DMV will charge for this info. It is 'public,' but it is protected due to privacy issues.

CARFAX is a good way to go. I am a firm believer in the info provided. It has saved my ass a couple of times from making bad car decisions. It may not be perfect, but it sure isn't bad, either.

That doesn't really make sense. If it's protected due to privacy, where does Carfax get their info? How does paying for it override the privacy protection?

Sorry I just feel like arguing.:D

Argue away.

Laws vary from state to state as to what is and isn't protected. In one state, it is 100% public record, in another, it can be so protected as to not be available.

As far as DMV's are concerned, they don't want to be in this business. It's time consuming and they are already swamped to the point of being surly.

CARFAX, to make it work, required some states to change their laws. Mind you, these laws were written long before the Information Age, so they were very conservative in nature.

What made CARFAX work wasn't so much state laws for CARFAX, but for federal legislation that would have made the data public and freely available. But CARFAX saw the op and created a corporation before the Feds could enact the law! The law then died on the vine. About the only remnant was the VIN number lists after Katrina.

What makes CARFAX effective is their deal with the various mfgrs, they get the service reports now. This will be useful in a few more years as more and more data becomes available. Mind you, work done a Pepboys won't show up.

I didn't know they were getting so worried about this. From what I saw, it's 35 bux for one time carfax. Dealers can get it for 15. Local dealer said they'd do it for the 15. They don't subscribe as it's so inconsistant that they only have it for the customers that insist on it. I know it's a VERY fallable report, but you never know what might show up. I think I'm gonna rent some rack time and give the Pacifica a good look and go from there.

the newer the car, the better the data.

CARFAX is possible because of the standardization of VINs in 1981. Before that, VINs were not well regulated... not as today.

Remember the Shelby continuation cars? He got away with selling 50 or so 1965 Cobra's because they had VINs registered, but never built, in 1965.

I don't think that would fly with a modern VIN.

The newer the car, the more standardized the data, the more consistent the reporting. Also realize that not all states were computerized in 1981. Some data was, but most was still on paper file. California seems to have a cut off of 1992 on its online data. Haven't figured that one, but it could have been a swap of systems or a fully integrated state wide system was established.

You have to realize to computerize a DMV is a huge undertaking. In 1981, it would have meant a mainframe computer, and countless terminals and communications systems. It would have cost millions of dollars to do.

Today, it wouldn't, actually. I bet if you had a small state, say Delaware (which has a very good mainframe based integrated system) or Rhode Island or something like that, and create a modern system, a couple of servers per office, a few PCs (needed anyway) and a nest of main servers somewhere, a couple of cable modems and it's done. What in 1984 would have cost $8m could today be done for not much more than $1m, including software.

Other states, like FL, have zero DMV function. No inspections, no smog checks... just a registration function when you buy the car and that's it.

It's one reason why I would not want to buy a car from FL. Or if I did, that it had a couple of owners. This way, if it was a one owner car, there is little chance of odo games being played.

Yes, I have seen errors in CARFAX, but the errors are caused by the reporting of the data, not the presentation. In short, garbage in, garbage out. If you find an error, present it to the DMV that caused it, they will fix, and when the data is resent to CARFAX it will be fixed.

A friend had a 1987 Toyota MR2. Cute little go-cart, really. But it had a wacky report on its CARFAX. We figured it was some kind of dupe entry from Delaware DMV... and one day, I asked someone at DMV to confirm it (was on other semi-official business)... we were trying to fix some other reporting issue, and decided to check this one, too. And yes, there were a number of dupe entries. IIRC, my contact indicated there were tons of these in the system! So CARFAX isn't to blame, it's the source of the data - your state DMV office.

Remember, CARFAX only reports what they are given. If it isn't given, it doesn't exist.

Way back in 1984, I bought my 2nd car, a 1981 Toyota Celica GT coupe. Red/black vinyl, AC/PS/PB/5sp/AM-FM-Cass/Trunk rack/Sunroof. Nice ride for a kid in school.

Well... a few years ago, I ran the VIN, cause my "GT" was lacking some features of other GT's. And I was right... Mine was only an ST (the base) and someone put a damned GT label on it. CARFAX gets that data straight from the mfr, something that DE DMV couldn't do in 1984! They had to depend on the data from the NJ title, which had a typo on the VIN!! I don't remember the typo, but it wasn't major (the last 2 numbers were swapped or something, where the GT id was somewhere else in the VIN, IIRC). Whatever the case, I bought and paid for a GT... and the ST was about $1000+ less in value. I will say this, they gave me way too much in trade for my piece of shit Pacer ($2100!) so I wasn't going to complain much. The Celica lasted me 6 years and over 60k miles, so no real issues to bitch about. Hit twice, hard, once my fault, another time their fault).

The last I have on the car is a report for a salvage title in Indy c1994. Whomever bought the car after the kid I sold it to was going to be in for a few surprises... the head and flywheel were 1980 parts, same with the Edelbrock intake! The flywheel was so I put a higher clamping clutch on. I told the kid I sold it to all about the changes, may even gave him a cheat sheet... but if didn't give that to the next owner... oh, well. They were in for a wake-up call. Oh, yea, all the emission controls were gone. learned that lesson... it was gutless... needed a high-flow cat to improve back pressure a touch.