The short answer is “YES!” The reason why is because there is no way for you to look at a used car and tell what the vehicle’s been through.
The body shops of today do great work rebuilding a vehicle, there are some companies out there that all they do is buy insurance total loss cars, rebuild them and take them to other parts of the country to sell back to the general public. Reviewing a vehicle’s past upfront can keep you from buying someone else’s problems.
It’s not just previously wrecked vehicles to worry about, there are thousands of flood damaged cars on the road any given day. These vehicles are purchased for pennies on the dollar, rebuilt, and put back onto a dealer’s lot for sale to the general public. If you don’t know what you’re looking at, you can end up owning one of these vehicles.
There are many dealers that provide you with a “free” report when you buy a car. They do this as a customer service in hopes of putting your mind at ease. Even if you’re offered one, I still recommend purchasing your own.
There have been many complaints filed, and fines paid by dealers, for creating false reports and providing out dated reports to consumers. This will not help you if you end up buying one of these bad cars.
My advice is to spend the money and avoid the situation altogether. The money you spend on the report may save you from losing thousands of dollars on a car. When you buy your own report you will not have to worry about the information being tampered with.
