So You've Been Shown a Report - What Does it Mean?

Morning Drivers,

If you've read my questions to ask when buying a car post then you know how important I think documentation and reports are. If you've been watching T.V. lately then you may know to ask for CarFax not car flaps. :)

The question is what are the various reports a dealer might show you, what do they tell you and what is the best one?

There are three main reports that a dealer may show you and they are:

1. ICBC report

2. CarFax

3. Car Proof

At the minimum I urge you to insist on seeing an ICBC report. An ICBC report pulls data from ICBC's records and will let you know if there's been any ICBC claims on that vehicle. This is a good start and really inexpensive at only $20. If your dealer won't provide more than an ICBC report (look for another dealer) it would be worth paying for one yourself.

CarFax is very popular in the USA. Price-wise it's the mid-range report costing $35 (if you're car shopping and think you might check several cars they offer a bulk purchase of 5 reports for $45). CarFax may show you how many owners the car has had and sometimes even where any collisions may have taken place. That being said, the reports are not as thorough as they could be for Canadian cars.

CarProof is the report recommended by the Vehicle Sales Authority and ICBC as the most comprehensive report available. So, of course, the cost is $65 for a full report. CarProof is the only car reporting company to have live access to their information suppliers and access to ICBC reports. That being said a CarProof report will only tell you where the vehicle has been damaged if that's information provided by the insurance company (ICBC does not provide this information however cars coming out of Alberta do). And it reports every time a vehicle has had it's insurance renewed but does not indicate if this is a change in ownership. At Winston Auto Group, we believe that the number of owners is irrelevant compared to getting a full vehicle accident history.

Both CarProof and CarFax are designed to be user friendly and are easy to read. CarProof has a summary for each province and the USA. Anything that registers is in red so you will be sure not to miss it.

Winston Auto Group pulls a CarProof on every car in it's inventory and will show this report to anyone interested in purchasing a vehicle. Car dealers have a responsibility to do their due diligence in discovering the history of the vehicle they are going to sell you. Clearly there are limits; as any dealers I've met are not clairvoyant; however, printing off a thorough report for their own peace of mind before selling you a car is not only easy it should be a priority.