We have partnered with Carfax for many years, and it is an excellent resource for looking into the history of used cars. You can see accident reports, recall information, and any repair records that dealers wish to share with Carfax. It gives you good insight into the history of a vehicle.
It’s important to note however that a Carfax history report can never be viewed as comprehensive or complete. Carfax only shows what information is supplied to them, but not every accident or damage event or service repair order is acquired by the company. There are thousands of sources for vehicle data: DMVs across 50 states, county/municipal/city databases, police reports across every segment of the country, manufacturer and dealership data, etc… Carfax does a good job of finding this info and aggregating it per vehicle, but they can’t promise that every report has every bit of info you would need to see.
Carfax itself cautions users to only use their reports as one tool in the selection process. Inspecting and test driving the vehicle also should factor into the process. The best thing you can do when shopping for a used car is to do your homework, and then work with your dealer to utilize all of the research to make the most informed decision.