I bought a 1month subscription to carfax while we were looking for the new truck. If anyone wants a carfax report let me know.

I might take you up on that if I can find the right car.

That's a generous offer.

Kudos to you!

Generous offer but you should be aware that you are likely violating the terms of the subscription and risk legal action as well as being assessed $24.95 per report that you redistribute.

I'd hate to see anyone here have to go through this unnecessarily.

Carfax subscription terms
I agree to pay a one-time charge of $29.99 (USD) plus applicable sales tax in the following states: CT, DC, HI, NJ, NM, NY, SC, SD, TX and WV, according to my card issuer agreement. 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. "Commercial Use" is defined as use by persons engaged in the business of researching, buying and/or selling of automobiles, the resale or redistribution of Reports, or any other business purpose as determined by CARFAX, Inc. Indicators of Commercial Use may include, an excessive number of reports run during a specific time period.
ANY COMMERCIAL USE OF CARFAX VEHICLE HISTORY REPORTS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND ANY SUSPECTED COMMERCIAL USE WILL LEAD TO THE SUSPENSION OF YOUR ACCOUNT, UNTIL YOU PROVIDE SUFFICIENT PROOF THAT YOUR USE IS PURELY PERSONAL; FAILURE TO DO SO PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT WILL RESULT IN THE DEACTIVATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT, WITHOUT REFUND AND MAY RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION. PROOF OF PERSONAL USE MAY INCLUDE; DETAILING HOW YOU ARE USING THE CARFAX ACCOUNT AND SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF THE SITES OR LOCATIONS WHERE YOU ARE FINDING THE VEHICLES THAT ARE BEING OFFERED FOR SALE. THE DETERMINATION OF PERSONAL USE IS AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF CARFAX, INC. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO IMPOSE, AND YOU AGREE TO PAY TO CARFAX, INC., AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF $24.99 FOR EACH CARFAX VEHICLE HISTORY REPORT THAT CARFAX, INC. DEEMS WAS ACCESSED FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.
I agree that my CARFAX Report purchase also shall be governed by all the Terms and Conditions of use of the CARFAX Web Site.

Interesting because carfax just deactivated my account because it assumed I was a business because I ran multiple searches. I was ticked off so they apologized and re-instated it after explaining that I was a private buyer. I wouldn't be surprised if they do that to you too when you reach a certain number of searches.

I did 4 in a row last night so they may do that to me. I figured since I have the service I might as well run it on all the cars I already own and put it in their file. We are getting ready to sell both Subaru's so it could be a selling point to have on in hand.

Hmmm ... what's the point of a 30 day agreement if they didn't expect one to run multiple reports????

What are you going to replace the Subaru's with?

Giving away information to your friends is "commercial use"?

You mean that a company sells a 30 day service for their product and then gets all chesty because someone uses it for those 30 days???

I've never heard of such a thing...


Sounds like Carfax must be owned by a gym membership company!





I could understand Carfax cancelling a "membership" if someone was re-selling their info for a profit, but that is not the case here.

There is a huge difference between sharing the info with your friends, and charging folks for it in order to make a profit.

In my opinion, running reports for complete strangers on a bulletin board is quite different than running a report or two for a family member or personal aquaintance. Carfax is in the business of aggregating data and selling reports. Whether someone resells the reports for a profit or not or simply allows others access to the reports, the unauthorized distribution of their product and/or service results in a financial lost opportunity that Carfax is otherwise entitled to.

I personally wouldnt risk incurring the potential of a $24.95 charge per report. The user agreement is pretty clear in my opinion on Carfax's right of recovery if they deem the use a violation.

I have seen this same topic discussed on other BBS and Carfax does indeed act accordingly if they suspect a violation of the user agreement.

Not trying to be the bad guy, or certainly wouldnt act as a whistle blower on this subject but just pointing out a possibility.

Next thing you know, sat radio and TV will want to charge more if you let others listen/watch with you!

I can understand carfax not wanting a person to share reports...

It burned me up when they deactivated mine for no legitimate reason. Truthfully, the thought of class action lawsuit on consumer fraud quickly entered my mind. They're lucky they reinstated it with extra days.

He already did. Big diesel truck and re-vamped Burb.

Roncat, I'm with you on this.

However, they should not assume that because someone generates more than even 5 or so reports on seperate cars that the reports are being used for a business purpose. I mean, isn't it possible, or even probable that someone may have to look through more than a few cars to decide which car one wants to wind up purchasing?

Car dealers have a different arrangement with Carfax (and I'm sure, a much different price structure).