interpreting autocheck / carfax reports

[rraven]

I've been running Autocheck reports on the cars I've been looking at, and I just want to make sure I'm reading these things right...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but every time "title" appears on the report, it means the car changed hands, right? So according to the following report, this car was bought new in 96, bought by the 2nd owner in June 98, 3rd owner in Sept 98, and 4th owner in 2002.

Meaning there's probably something wrong with this car, since now the 4th owner's looking to sell. Or could some of those instances of the title changing hands be between dealers?

Autocheck sez:
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Date Location Mileage Description
1996-06-27 pittsford, NY registration event/renewal
1998-06-02 pittsford, NY registration event/renewal
1998-06-03 melville, NY title
1998-07-14 rochester, NY registration event/renewal
1998-09-09 NY 39444 title
1998-09-10 rochester, NY title
2000-05-23 hilton, NY registration event/renewal
2001-12-20 liverpool, NY 80410 vehicle in dealer inventory
2002-04-25 fayetteville, NY registration event/renewal
2002-06-06 NY 86220 title

Glossary of Descriptions Found for This Vehicle (full glossary)
Description Full Definition

Renewal Vehicle had registration renewal event reported by state DMV.
Title Vehicle had title registration event reported by state DMV.
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Oh, and autocheck is exactly like carfax, right? No advantage in one over the other?

[YogsVR4]

Your assessment is right on the changing of hands. However that does not mean that there is something wrong with the car. There could be, but its not indicative. You'd want to check out any car with a mechanic before you bought it regardless of the number of times it changed hands.

[autosmith]

An old posting, but maybe this will help somebody else.

Autocheck has far less data and far less important data than Carfax. They pump up their data by using Registration data. However, registrations can be reported for annual renewals, for address changes, for ownership changes, for name changes and many other administrative reasons.

So, in the example that started this thread, you can't assume that these registrations represented ownership changes. On the flip side, Carfax now provides estimates of the number of owners.

Autocheck is often cheaper - but as with most things in life - you get what you pay for.