How to Read a Carfax Report

A Carfax has eight sections, dozens of fields, and a lot of jargon. Here's how to scan one in two minutes.

At-a-glance summary

Top of page one. Icons for Carfax Buyback Guarantee eligibility, open recalls, accidents, titles, odometer, services. Green check means clean. Yellow triangle is a flag. Red X is severe. If three or more have warning icons, you probably don't need to read the rest.

Accident history

Each accident has a date, state, severity (minor, moderate, severe), and tags for what Carfax knows: airbag deployment, structural damage, specific damage area, towed or driven. What matters:

• Severe + structural damage: walk, unless the price is 40 percent under market
• Airbag deployment: verify the airbags were replaced
• Three or more accidents in five years: hard-driven car

Title and brands

Every title ever issued, by state, with brands. Walk-away brands: salvage, junk, non-repairable, flood, lemon law buyback. Negotiate on: rebuilt, prior taxi, prior rental.

Odometer

Every reported mileage reading on a timeline. Normal is 10,000 to 15,000 miles per year. Red flags: mileage ever decreases, or stays flat for three or more years.

Service records

Only service that got reported to Carfax (mostly dealers and chain shops). A car with zero entries isn't necessarily unmaintained. A car with dense dealer service that stops abruptly often was parked for a while.

Ownership

Owner count, use type (personal, commercial, lease, fleet, rental), ownership dates. Red flag: four or more owners on a car under ten years old, or a rental tag that wasn't disclosed.

Open recalls

NHTSA recalls tied to the VIN that haven't been fixed. Dealers do these free. Not a dealbreaker, just plan the fix.

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