Re: VIN lookup??

[Phil and Judy Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

>
>I'm thinking about getting a 200, does anyone know of a good source of car
>histories based on VIN#?   I tried Vinguard but they came up with nothing,
>so I
>made 'em not charge me $20.  If you do you use them get them to agree to no
>charge for null records.  ADP supposedly has a db but they don't appear to
>want
>to talk to consumers.
>
>BTW - I found the Audi VIN codes on the net.  They follow.

>Leigh Anderson

Thanks for the VIN code info.

I recently used Carfax ($12.50) to search for VIN info on the 200tq I'm
getting.

http://www.carfaxreport.com/cgibin/kbb.com

They turned up nothing other than the original sale information (Illinois,
2/92, 32 miles). I was relieved that there were no discrepancies on record
(as far as they could search). Is that what you meant by "came up with
nothing"? If so,  that would seem like wanting your insurance premiums back
'cause you never had an accident? Or did you really get _nothing_?

Anyway, Carfax is another source of VIN-based info.

Phil
************
Update on my earlier (above) comments:

On thinking about this a bit more, I realized that (a) Carfax does not
request info from you on the _current odometer reading_, and (2) their
report does not show any info on re-sale of the vehicle subsequent to the
original one.

So I just called Carfax customer service and inquired about whether or not
their reports would show date/mileage of any subsequent (normal) retitling.
They said "NO", but that info would be on a _special_ report available only
to dealers who subscribe with them. I complained that such data would be of
potential value in determining possible (recent) odometer rollbacks. He
agreed and looked up the "full data" on _my_ report, which in fact had no
other re-title info beyond the original one in Feb. '92. So in my case
(after a complaint) I found there was evidently no previous re-titling. So
be aware that the _full history_ may not be available to you through these
services. At least, however, you do supposedly find out about the blatant
discrepancies, such as salvage, flood damage, totaling, lemon-law buyback,
etc. Anyway, the $12.50 wouldn't otherwise go very far in the care and
feeding of your Audi. :-(

Phil

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