Topic: Used Car price in its branded dealership vs others

[Northernridge]

Maybe it is just me, I do not keep the receipts or reports dealer gave after servicing my vehicle...Or at least I do not keep them for 4 or 5 years...

Some people do, some don't.  Many people do take their car to the same place all the time, and they will often print off all the past receipts for the owner.  FOIP means they can't for someone else.

I used to carefully save all the service records, but now I'd just go to the shop and have them print the history for me if I were selling.  They have no problem with this.

I do the same thing. I've wondered about leaving all evidence of my service history in the hands of the dealership...but that's what I do.

[Cord]

Occasionally someone will trade in a car and provide us with a stack of work orders from years of servicing. They usually go straight into the shredder for two reasons. First, privacy laws mean we can't just hand those documents over to a prospective customer and no one is going to spend an hour with the whiteout and photocopier to "clean" them. Second, although forum types and private sale buyers revere the presence of service records, it really makes no difference to us in terms of being able to sell the car.

[Gardiner Westbound]

It seems most used car dealers make you pay for carproof report these days.. do they usually provide it for free when you actually go in and show genuine interest?

AutoCheck, CarFax and CarProof are the major history providers. Retail prices: AutoCheck US$30, CarFax US$35, both much less for multiple reports. CarProof retail pricing is ridiculous at C$50 each, no bulk retail pricing. Dealers need histories to do business. Their cost is negligible, $0- $7 each. The zero cost reports are supplied by the auction house. Reputable dealers share them with shoppers cost-free.

Be mindful they can be falsified by copying, pasting, withholding and substituting pages. If the salesman provides a CarFax confirm its contents with a fresh AutoCheck or CarProof report.  Some dealers attempt to charge consumers for them, typically $25. Politely give him one only opportunity to supply it free of charge, then leave. If the sleezoid treats you dishonestly and poorly before he has your money, imagine how you will fare if you have a post-sale issue with the car.

[mrthompson]

We bought our used Grand Caravan from a small rural Dodge dealership.  The salesman offered us the name and phone number of the previous owner, an older gentleman.  We declined to contact him.  My father in law test drove a used Ram there recently and he was given the same offer to contact the previous owner.

Small town living. 

[Cord]

Dealers need histories to do business. Their cost is negligible, $0- $7 each.

Incorrect. Dealer cost on the least expensive CarProof report (CarProof Claims) is $25.

[Gardiner Westbound]

Dealers need histories to do business. Their cost is negligible, $0- $7 each.

Incorrect. Dealer cost on the least expensive CarProof report (CarProof Claims) is $25.

Why would a dealer pay $25 each for history reports when the retail cost for unlimited AutoCheck reports is US$45 for 30 days?

The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario (UCDA) has a $7 deal. Auction cars come with them.

Regardless, dealers need history reports to comply with the MVDA and conduct business. Don't do business with  any dealer who won't helpfully and graciously share them cost-free.

My “Whopper of the Year Award” goes to the salesman who claimed dealer cost is $125 each! I didn't mishear him, he said $125. Just for me he “ran it” and let me look for free. I gave him full marks for showmanship, establishing a trust relationship with the customer not so much.

http://www.autocheck.com/consumers/gatewayAction.do?siteID=0 (Mouseover "Purchase Reports”) 

[Cord]

Dealers need histories to do business. Their cost is negligible, $0- $7 each.

Incorrect. Dealer cost on the least expensive CarProof report (CarProof Claims) is $25.

Why would a dealer pay $25 each for history reports when the retail cost for unlimited AutoCheck reports is US$45 for 30 days?

The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario (UCDA) has a $7 deal. Auction cars come with them.

Regardless, dealers need history reports to comply with the MVDA and conduct business. Don't do business with  any dealer who won't helpfully and graciously share them cost-free.

My “Whopper of the Year Award” goes to the salesman who claimed dealer cost is $125 each! I didn't mishear him, he said $125. Just for me he “ran it” and let me look for free. I gave him full marks for showmanship, establishing a trust relationship with the customer not so much.

http://www.autocheck.com/consumers/gatewayAction.do?siteID=0 (Mouseover "Purchase Reports”)

Because CarProof is the history report of record in Canada and has much better information than Carfax or AutoCheck. I hit the button to purchase multiple CarProof reports daily for the dealership. I can assure you that we pay $25 for each one. If you don't believe me, I can always post a screenshot of the cost page. For the record, we provide free CarProof reports on our entire inventory both on paper and online. Last year we spent approximately $20,000 for CarProof reports. This year will be more.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Because CarProof is the history report of record in Canada and has much better information than Carfax or AutoCheck. I hit the button to purchase multiple CarProof reports daily for the dealership. I can assure you that we pay $25 for each one. If you don't believe me, I can always post a screenshot of the cost page. For the record, we provide free CarProof reports on our entire inventory both on paper and online. Last year we spent approximately $20,000 for CarProof reports. This year will be more.

Market place had a segment on Carfax. Not worth the paper it's printed on. CarProof seems to be pretty good from what I've heard.

That is one shirtload of outlay for CarProof reports! 

[Gardiner Westbound]

Because CarProof is the history report of record in Canada and has much better information than Carfax or AutoCheck. I hit the button to purchase multiple CarProof reports daily for the dealership. I can assure you that we pay $25 for each one. If you don't believe me, I can always post a screenshot of the cost page. For the record, we provide free CarProof reports on our entire inventory both on paper and online. Last year we spent approximately $20,000 for CarProof reports. This year will be more.

Gotta hand it to CarProof. They've done a terrific marketing job. In my view the premium cost is not justified. Perhaps it makes sense to you as a marketing tool.

CarProof and AutoCheck are both hooked up with Experian PLC, the British global information company.

My dark side wonders how many times the dealers who sell these reports to shoppers sell the same report. 

[Cord]

Experian only provides U.S. info to CarProof.

My dark side wonders how many times the dealers who sell these reports to shoppers sell the same report. 

So far, your dark side is the only place anyone has paid a dealer for a CarProof report. Your market must be a lot different than mine. Here, practically every car listed on Trader has a free CarProof report.

[johngenx]

Only cheap cars and dirt lots don't prepurchase CarProof reports. Honestly, on a $15k+ used car, it's not hard to bury another $25 in the price, while shoppers feel honed if they shell out for every car they're curious about. It's a selling feature and it's cheap. When we were Highlander shopping every one had it available, paid for by the dealer. If I were selling the Corolla I have documentation showing we're original owners but I'd probably still spend the small dough to get a CarProof. I'm going so spend time, and maybe money, doing detailing and other stuff, so why not?

[Gardiner Westbound]

Experian only provides U.S. info to CarProof.

My dark side wonders how many times the dealers who sell these reports to shoppers sell the same report. 

So far, your dark side is the only place anyone has paid a dealer for a CarProof report. Your market must be a lot different than mine. Here, practically every car listed on Trader has a free CarProof report.

Post No. 19 initiated this topic. That correspondent said, "It seems most used car dealers make you pay for carproof (sic) report these days.. do they usually provide it for free when you actually go in and show genuine interest?"

It doesn't matter to me how much a dealer elects to pay for the service, I want a complimentary copy. My concern is for my total transaction cost, if it's excessive I won't buy.

[Cord]

Post No. 19 initiated this topic. That correspondent said, "It seems most used car dealers make you pay for carproof (sic) report these days.. do they usually provide it for free when you actually go in and show genuine interest?"

Surely you have more evidence than that of the practice?

[Gardiner Westbound]

Post No. 19 initiated this topic. That correspondent said, "It seems most used car dealers make you pay for carproof (sic) report these days.. do they usually provide it for free when you actually go in and show genuine interest?"

Surely you have more evidence than that of the practice?

Not my role. Don't care.

[Triple Bob]

We bought our used Grand Caravan from a small rural Dodge dealership.  The salesman offered us the name and phone number of the previous owner, an older gentleman.  We declined to contact him.  My father in law test drove a used Ram there recently and he was given the same offer to contact the previous owner.

Small town living. 

I sold my Exige to a dealer, who then gave my details (without my consent) on to the next owner.  He called me up one day.

New Owner: "Did you used to own this Exige?"
Me: "Yes"
Owner: "Did you ever track it?"
Me: "A couple of times, nothing major though, no offs." (compared to usual Lotus track usage)
Owner: "Really, only a couple of times, it has an awful lot of stone chips..."
Me: "And..."
Owner: "The dealer said he would fix them"
Me: "Soooo......"

No idea what he wanted me to do about it, he had already taken it home from the dealership by then... 

[tooscoops]

we get the occasional trade in where the owner is happy to chat with or provide all the previous information on the car. usually we let him know that would be great! thanks, we'll mark it ono the file!...

but its not worth the issues that could arise in many cases, so it rarely actually happens.

two days ago i got a phone call about a car on our lot from the previous owner... he wanted to let me know that it was listed as having a trailer hitch when it actually didn't.... not sure why he was tracking the car so much, but people feel pretty connected to their cars.

oh, and for the carproofs, i keep a copy in the file and if someone wants it, i will copy it for them. it seems to be fine even though its not an actual download from that day or anything. falsifying a carproof is actually something that is considered fraud and you can get in some serious trouble, so i think for the most part, you're safe there.

[Gardiner Westbound]

oh, and for the carproofs, i keep a copy in the file and if someone wants it, i will copy it for them. it seems to be fine even though its not an actual download from that day or anything. falsifying a carproof is actually something that is considered fraud and you can get in some serious trouble, so i think for the most part, you're safe there.

A photocopy of the history report the dealer obtained when the car came into his possession is ideal for my purposes. I'm primarily interested in the report date and the purchaser's name. It may tell me if it's an auction car and the date it came into inventory. Anything approaching or over 90-days should have been discounted.

When I'm shopping I know I will be ordering numerous reports so I sign up with AutoCheck for 30-days unlimited reports @ US$45. If the VIN isn't in the advertisement I call the seller and ask for it, run an AutoCheck, and get back to him if it's clean. If I go to look at the car I'll already have the history report in hand to compare with his report.

If the dealer gives me a difficult time about the report, it's incomplete, or areas have been obscured, I can deduce his ethics are flexible, it would be probably be best to shop elsewhere

[neil]

I have a carproof sitting in the file for every car on the lot.  I have to justify my Doc fee somehow.   Free to see to all and the status is fully disclosed regardless of history.

And as Cord has stated, it's the most reliable CANADIAN report.

[donamorisn]

i think it is more important to prefer brand when used car price in its dealership.

[tooscoops]

good thing there was a smiley there or i wouldn't know what that meant.

oh wait.. i still am not too sure. ah well