Hi everyone..

Does any of you have carfax account? I need to check on a used MINI that I'll probably going to buy.

VIN#
WMWRE33433TD71178

Please help me get closer to my MINI...

Thanks,

D

 

you are stealing from carfax.

 

Ehh....true..


Talk to the seller! The seller should me more than happy to provide one, IF they're motivated. If its a dealer selling the car, offer to fill out one of those sheets where you agree on the price, payments, and down payment. Then ask them for a carfax report. Just don't sign the bottom of the sheet. Its no leagaly binding until you do, so dont let them push you into it!

 

Excuse me .....No he is not! He did not ask to utilize someone elses accout.....He asked someone who has paid for the service to use the service that they paid for and provide the information as a courtesy....this is NO diffrent that what was actually suggested (to get the seller to pay for this info and release it) and what nearly every legitimate dealer in the country does.

 

Thanks Planeguy, that's what I meant.

Qwertmonkey, where do I get one of those sheet at?>>agreement on the price, payments, and down payment sheet.
i'm an amatuer..this is the first time i'm gonna buy my dream car.

 

i imagine that the folks over at carfax would disagree. just take a look at their customer agreement...

let your conscience be your guide.

 

Right up front. Not only that, you should ask for the information of the previous owner. (and contact them) If they got the car at auction (not likely if it is a MINI) they may not know. But don't let them give you the run-around....collect information ask about 150 questions then sit down to talk deal. Information is power in negotiation and he who has it wins......so to speak, the car will still lose value quickly so in a way it is a no win But don't overpay up front to add insult to injury

 

I have an unlimited personal account with Carfax, and since I'm not receiving any financial gain from running the report, I'm not violating Carfax's ToS by running the report for you.

Send me a PM with your e-mail address, and I'll forward the report. But I'll go ahead and give you the broad strokes now. 2003 Cooper 'S', two registered owners (Florida & Michigan), and the car had about 7,000 miles as of April 2005. There's nothing negative at all on the Carfax report (no salvage title, accidents, outstanding recalls, etcetera). That doesn't necessarily mean that it's never been in an accident, but it's a good sign.

Scott

 

"my personal use" means to do reports for an acquaintance. yeah, ok.

 

carfax solved. thanks everyone.

let's motor.

 

Read Carfax's User Agreement - As long you're not charging for running the reports, charging for distributing the reports, or selling your username/password, you're okay - "Unlimited" means "unlimited". Also, if you're buying/selling cars professionally, or work at a bank/lending institution/insurance company and run Carfax reports as part of your job, than you need a business subscription instead of the monthly $24.95 subscription, but none of those categories apply to me.

The whole reason I got this one-month subscription was to help a friend find out more about some cars she was interested in buying. Was it wrong for me to run the reports for her, since I was the one that paid for the subscription and not her? Of course not.

Talk to a lawyer - "personal", in this context, only means "non-commercial". It's the same as if I ordered a pay-per-view event from my cable TV company and then invited 100 friends/acquaintances over to watch it. As long as I'm not charging anyone any money to watch the event, it's still "personal/non-commercial" use, and is completely legal, no matter how many people watch the event.

Carfax is keeping a running total of how many reports I've generated (six so far), and I'm sure they'll receive an automatic flag if I venture into a quantity that they consider "excessive". But unless and until that happens, I'm going to continue to offer to run reports for anyone on this board that wants one, until my subscription expires next month.

Scott

 

Glad to hear you got it taken care of. Sorry I didn't answer your question about the payment sheet, I was away from my computer.

I know its a little late, but just ask your sales man. Most will push you into filling one out. After that, all you have to do is sign and its sold.

 

if you bought it for your girlfriend than it's for her use and not for anyone elses.

 

Sorry carfax cop, your fighting a losing battle.

 

Honesty and integrity are never a losing battle.

 

No . . . just mis-placed.

 

Ok guys! We get it!

He's got what he needs, end of story!

 

Have you actually read Carfax's user agreement? I'll say this once more, and I'll try to be as clear as I can:

In the terms of the Carfax User Agreement, "personal" just means "non-commercial". As long as you're not charging people to run or distribute reports, or generating reports in conjuction with a business venture (like running a dealership, bank, insurance agency, etcetera), than you're okay.

Nowhere in the user agreement does it say that you can only run reports on vehicles that you're actually selling or considering buying. If Carfax didn't want you to run reports for friends, family, and associates, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for them to put that in the user agreement. But they didn't. Instead, all they say is that you're limited to non-commercial use.

I'm not stealing from Carfax any more than I'm stealing from my cable company when I invite someone over to watch a pay-per-view event that I've paid for.

And I really don't appreciate sanctimonius ***-clowns like you coming around and questioning my honor and integrity. I'm operating within both the letter and the spirit of the Carfax user agreement, and unless you can show me evidence otherwise, you can keep your opinions to yourself.

Scott Gardner

 

Amen, brother! Your offer to help fellow members with a carfax is appreciated.

 

I have to say, the quote from the CarFax site seems pretty clear.

"This 30 day Unlimited CARFAX Reports Plan is valid for 30 days from the date the first report is run, and is intended for my personal use only. Commercial use, resale and redistribution of CARFAX Reports is strictly prohibited and may lead to deactivation of my account and the imposition of additional charges for CARFAX Reports."

Personal is just that, not community use. Redistribution means 'providing to others'. They do not imply in any way that the free distribution of reports is aceptable. It's quite clear really. There are some who simply choose to 'interpret' to satisy their cause.

 

Well, you gave your own "interpretation" of their policy, based on which words you chose to put in boldface type. When I read "commercial use, resale and redistribution", I think that the word "commercial" modifies the words "use", "resale", and "redistribution". In other words, commerical use or commercial redistribution are prohibited, but non-commercial use and non-commercial redistribution aren't prohibited.

I also don't think the question is one of "personal" versus "community" use, as you have stated. It's "personal" versus "professional", or "personal" versus "commercial". If you're not making money from it, it's personal use.

There are plenty of other examples out there. If I subscribe to XM radio, I can loan my XM radio boombox to a friend for the weekend and let him listen to it, but I can't re-broadcast the satellite stream and charge other people to listen to it. That's the difference between "personal" and "commercial" use.

Scott

 

if you are so sure you are right, then go ahead and e-mail carfax and ask them if it's ok. if they say that you are right, post their answer and i will post a public retraction to my earlier comments.

 

Alright already folks!
I emailed Carfax and asked... I'll let everyone know what the answer is. Until then... chill!

 

Waiting with bated breath . . .

Honestly, does anyone really think CarFax is going to say "Sure . . . give it to whoever you want." Regardless of what the actual legalities are, CarFax will create an answer that protects their revenue stream. Kind of like asking the Fox to guard the hen house.

In my experience, ToS agreements are notoriously broad in an attempt to discourage the user from doing anything the provider wouldn't want (i.e. would reduce their revenue). In many cases, those broad terms are far from accurate or legally enforceable. Anyone who reads a ToS and thinks that the firm that wrote it (to protect it's business model) did so in a way that is 100% legally valid is naive (at best).

 

exactly. they wrote it to protect their interests and to protect them from people stealing their product. this thread is riddled with rationalization and "legal" justification for stealing.