Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

Something that bad credit car loan buyers should be aware of is that new research shows that vehicle history reports from AutoCheck provide more reported accidents than those from Carfax.

New versus used

At Auto Credit Express, we realize that most bad credit car loan shoppers are probably going to end up buying a used car. There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary one is affordability. Since new cars lose between 20% and 35% of their value in the first two years, most bad credit customers can more easily budget for a midsize or larger used car than for a new car of the same size. Used cars are also much more reliable than they were even ten years ago and, if maintained properly, most vehicles can easily be driven for 100,000 miles or more.

The downside to a used car is that most of them are usually sold with very little time or mileage remaining on their manufacturers warranties. And while dealers are required by state lemon laws to disclose prior damage to a new vehicle if it exceeds a certain amount (which varies by state), there is no such provision for used cars that are sold “as is”. So how is one to know if the used car they are thinking of buying has a clean accident history or really a lemon?

The obvious answer to this question is to have an ASE Certified Master Mechanic perform a thorough inspection on the vehicle. But there is also a less expensive thing that can be done prior to the inspection that can tell you a great deal about the car before you lay out the big bucks for an inspection: it’s called a vehicle history report.

The importance of vehicle history reports

Vehicle history reports contain much of the information about a vehicle’s previous ownership including such things as odometer fraud, “title washing”, and maintenance procedures. Carfax® is probably the most well-known company, but there are also others, including one that owned by Experian Automotive (a division of the credit bureau company by the same name) called AutoCheck®.

As you can imagine, the competition among these companies is intense with each claiming that it furnishes the most complete and accurate reports and this week, AutoCheck fired another shot across the bow of Carfax.

New research

According to a study commissioned by Experian Automotive and conducted by the independent research firm Pipal Research, it was found that the vehicle history reports generated by AutoCheck contained nearly two times the number of reported accidents as those from Carfax.

“Experian Automotive has long been committed to listening to customers and investing in and growing our AutoCheck vehicle history database to meet their needs,” said Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive. “The findings of this new research are a testament to that investment, proving that we are providing the information that matters most to them.”

Report wars

The results of the report could mean a big boost for AutoCheck, since a report from the research firm The Blackstone Group shows that used car buyers are far more interested in vehicle accident information than anything else contained in a vehicle history report.

Not only is this information important to customers, it’s also important to car dealers. “By having access to more reported accident information when stocking their inventories and at the time of sale, dealers are better equipped to bring higher quality used cars onto their lots and be able to demonstrate that quality to consumers who place high value on this information,” Waldron continued.

The Bottom Line

While nothing will replace a thorough mechanical inspection of a used vehicle, a vehicle history report is also an essential tool in determining if the car you are looking at has been treated as well as it looks.

At Auto Credit Express, our business is to help people with bad, blemished, bruised and tarnished credit buy cars and reestablish their credit at the same time. For more information about used vehicles, or if you have any additional questions about the bad credit car loan process, visit our web site at www.autocreditexpress.com.

Tags: ase, ase certified master mechanic, autocheck, bad credit, bad credit car loan, car loan, carfax, experian, experian automotive, vehicle history report

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