On 9/24/09 4:30 AM, in article
1d3ba2e5-bfec-46be-bcbe-f2e4788900d1...oglegroups.com, "Elle"
<honda.lioness@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sep 23, 9:04*pm, jim beam <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>> On 09/23/2009 05:53 PM, Elle wrote:
>>
>>> Is there anyone with either carfax.com or autocheck.com service right
>>> now that could run one check for me? Please email me. I will pass your
>>> favor along to someone else somehow. Thank you.
>>
>> elle, with respect, neither are going to be anywhere /near/ as useful as
>> a proper physical inspection. *you know a little bit more about engine
>> inspection now than you did before. *with the honda d-series engine, you
>> can see if there's sludge/resin and you can see the cam lobes to inspect
>> for wear. *this is a good indicator of condition in the rest of the engine.
>
> Hi Jim. The purpose to me of these title check services is to offer
> some evidence for whether the car either (1) is a salvage vehicle (if
> it is, this is a car property insurance problem, for one); (2) has had
> more owners than the seller is claiming; or (3) has had the odometer
> tampered with. Carfaxdotcom and autocheckdotcom from my reading are
> not perfect, but to me they give more peace of mind. The physical car
> inspection is as important, absolutely. If I am not pleased with
> either the title check or the physical inspection, then I reject a
> used car. Believe me, my physical inspection checklist derives largely
> from reading here over the years. I am looking at 7th generation ( =
> 2001-2005) Civics with around 100k miles or less on them and documents
> to support length of ownership and maintenance, too.

I wouldn't put much stock in carfax helping with number 2 on your list. I
have seen the carfax for a couple of vehicles I bought new with less than 20
miles on the odometer and it aready showed 3 owners. The explanation from
the dealer was that transfers between dealers were recorded. If this is
happening already with a brand new car that has never actually been sold to
a consumer, I can't imagine what will show up on one that has been traded in
and resold a couple of times.

But then, the number of owners is really irrelevant. Its the maintenance and
accident history you are more interested in.