Free/cheap way to get a car report?

Dear LHs,

I’m looking into potentially buying a 2020 3LT Stingray Coupe with about 1,600 miles on it; the deal is being facilitated by a dealership between a willing seller they know and myself. I asked for a CarFax report, and they said since the vehicle is not in their possession yet, they can’t provide it, though they assured me the vehicle is in mint condition. While I believe the dealer is being honest, I’d still like to double-check everything before I spend close to 100 grand on a used car. To that point, similar to how there are ways to get a credit check for free (via the government yearly check or through your CC provider), are there similar (or more money-saving) ways to get a car history report?

Thank you,
Renaughty93

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Buy a CarFax yourself if you’re that impatient/really need the history report. They’re really not costly.

Also, carfax is not the sacred truth as to whether a vehicle is a good buy or not…

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If you’re paying $100k for a used car, $40 seems like a very cheap price for reassurance. Just pay it…

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Check Bimmerpost. People sell them for $5 usually. They may or may not send it though so you have that risk.

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Well, when you put it that way… :rofl:

In all honesty, I probably will end up doing that; but since this is LH, figured someone might know something I don’t to help me save some change

There used to be a slew of links out there that bypassed the paywall for Autocheck and even Carfax. You used to be able to run them for free but they both cracked down hard.

@Batistuta ’s angle is the best - I’ve run them before for a few bucks via Bimmerpost. If you have any account it may be worth it but if not, just pay full price and move on. Your time has to be more valuable than trying to decipher a way to save $40.

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I’d rather invest that money into a PPI from a independent third party well versed in hoonigan damage on the stingrays.

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As other people have said, Carfax and other vehicle reports can be wrong or missing info. If I were spending that much money on a used car, I’d be spending a few hundred w/ a good mechanic of my own choosing that I trust.

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Thank you everyone, sound advice. I see that I was missing the forest for the trees

I can run autocheck but not Carfax. Just send me a message

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Just saw you are at IL. Isn’t there a law in IL that caps the sales tax at $1,500 if you buy it from a private seller instead of a dealership?

I’m not sure, I’d have to check. I don’t know who the seller is, just that they are a state representative…

My suggestion is to buy a carfax for $40 and spend $250-$500 on a very good inspection (3rd party). IF they won’t agree to that I personally wouldn’t risk it, especially not for $100k.
You might find out the car had paint work done etc and It might not even show up on the carfax yet (or ever…)

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Best way to get a free AutoCheck report is to put in an online appraisal w/ carmax and they’ll attach it to the appraisal. But this might not be able to work unless you can get the pics or possibly get some pics from online.

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Check Bimmerpost. Last time I used someone there, it was $5 for each report and the guy send the report before I even paid

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I’ve used this site:

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