Cash for Clunkers VINs on Carfax

My last blog entry, way too long ago, concerned Carfax and the unreliability of their reports. Well, Carfax has put themselves in the news again and I just couldn’t help but comment. I just read on a local news agency’s internet page that Carfax has put all the Cash for Clunker cars’ vehicle identification numbers (VINs) on its website and has set it up so those VINs can be searched for free. Cash for Clunker cars were supposed to be destroyed, at least the engine and transmission, and of course should not be showing up for sale. Carfax’s apparent press release noted these cars are going to start showing up here and there – a point on which I am in full agreement with Carfax.

The article I read didn’t have a link to it, so I went to the Carfax site. Not surprisingly, I spent about ten minutes searching for it and could not find it. It wouldn’t surprise me if Carfax is making it intentionally difficult to access so that frustrated consumers will just decide to buy a regular Carfax report on the car. I could be wrong. Maybe the website is set up so that no reports are sold on Cash for Clunker vehicles but instead when a person tries to buy a report on such a car a huge warning pops up. I hope so. But knowing what I know about Carfax, I have my suspicions.

Anyway, I found the link in another news article. The free search can be conducted here.

With almost three quarters of a million vehicles “retired” in the Cash for Clunkers program, I promise you that some greedy businesses are going to be selling these vehicles all over the United States – including Indiana.