Carfax and CarVertical both provide vehicle history reports; however, the difference lies in cost, coverage, and the approach taken in the reports.
In this article, we will delve into the differences between Carfax and CarVertical and suggest which one is the best choice in 2025.
Overview of Carfax: Benefits, Pros, & Cons
Carfax is the leading source for getting vehicle history reports, primarily in the United States. The Carfax reports are compiled from 151,000 sources, including various auctions, Department of Motor Vehicles (DMVs), numerous insurance companies, inspection firms, service shops, and police records.
Benefits of Carfax
- Trusted by dealerships & showrooms: Carfax reports are widely trusted by car dealerships and showrooms all over America and Canada, making it a strong credibility tool when buying or selling a vehicle.
- Large data coverage: Carfax reports gather data from a vast number of sources, which helps it cover every nitty-gritty detail about the vehicle. Access to billions of records provides comprehensive insights into a vehicle’s past.
- Damage insights: Carfax reports provide damage details about the car. Functional damage, salvage title change, and different red flags.
- Buyback guarantee: Eligible Carfax reports come with a buyback guarantee if significant issues are later discovered (conditions apply).
- Offer bulk packages: Carfax offers a different set of packages to make it easier and affordable for customers. Our website provides three sets of packages, which are inexpensive and easy to obtain.
Samples of Carfax Report
Accidental History:
Title History:
Ownership History:
These are the three main sections shown in a Carfax report. Check out the Carfax sample report, generated by our tool.
Limitations of a Carfax Report
- Costly: A Carfax report can cost you more than $44 per report; however, you can buy the same history report from our website for just $3.
- Not 100% accurate: Minor damages or repairs are mostly not found in a Carfax report, making it an inaccurate report.
- Less coverage from shops: Independent mechanics or small repair shops may not share records with Carfax. If a vehicle was maintained outside large dealership networks, its service history could be incomplete. This creates gaps in the overall picture of the car’s condition.
- Title change risks: In some cases, vehicles with salvage or flood titles are moved across states to “wash” the title. If Carfax does not receive accurate cross-state updates, the report might miss this red flag. Buyers could end up with cars that have serious hidden histories.
- Sense of security: As Carfax reports are not guaranteed, it also does not guarantee that the car is safe or does not have any issues. Therefore, it is recommended that you hire a certified mechanic to inspect the vehicle.
CarVertical Overview
CarVertical is a genuine and reputable vehicle history report tool, and it is more than a VIN decoder. It allows you to compare the history between two cars if you buy a bundle on their website. The CarVertical report provides you with mileage, damage, title check, and safety. It also provides a mileage graph to help you understand better. Besides individual reports, CarVertical offers bundles, VIN decoding tools, motorcycle history reports, and business solutions (including API integration, dealership packages, and affiliate programs) to meet the needs of different customer segments.
Samples of CarVertical Report
Benefits of CarVertical
- Reports bundles: Same as Carfax, CarVertical also has report bundles, allowing you to save money and check multiple history reports at once.
- Mileage verification: CarVertical provides detailed mileage verification and tracks the record across inspections. This reduces the risk of paying too much for a car that has been tampered with.
- Data coverage: CarVertical tracks information about the vehicle history from 900+ sources. This is especially useful for imported cars, where hidden problems often go unnoticed in local checks.
- Market value: The market value feature on the CarVertical report provides you with the car value and estimated value. By uncovering accident history, outstanding loans, or stolen vehicle records, CarVertical helps users avoid buying cars that might cause financial or legal trouble later.
- Safety recall: The CarVertical report provides safety recall, sourced from NHTSA, and gives you a rating regarding the car’s safety.
CarVertical gives both buyers and sellers confidence by uncovering hidden details, ensuring fair pricing, and making the used car market more transparent.
Limitations of CarVertical
- Limited regions: CarVertical is widely used in the European areas; however, as compared to Carfax, it does not have full access to the database. If a vehicle comes from a region with poor reporting systems, the history report may miss important details.
- Not accurate: Such as Carfax, CarVertical also get their information from showrooms, insurance companies, police, and registries.
- Delays in updates: Some institutions and service providers take weeks or months to update their databases. As a result, very recent accidents, title changes, or ownership transfers might not appear right away.
- Not trusted: CarVertical reports provide a lot of details about the car; however, you still can’t trust the reports and would need a mechanic’s inspection.
What is Best for you: Carfax or CarVertical?
Carfax and CarVertical are both great vehicle history reports. However, if you are based in the USA and need a quick vehicle history report, you should go with Carfax reports. Although if you have a European car, CarVertical would be an excellent choice.
Moreover, Carfax is more trustworthy and gets information from a large number of sources as compared to CarVertical.
