Hello to all in Rover-world! About to join the ranks with an 06 LR3 HSE and have found amazing resources and advise on many the threads here. Thanks to all the input and shared information.

My question is regarding history reports. I ran an AutoCheck report rather than CarFax because it's cheaper and upon initial search claimed to have more "reports" on the vehicle. My concern is that all the "reports" are just title events, and required state inspections. Not a single report of any repairs done, service, etc. Perhaps I wasn't sure what to expect from the search but wondering if that is normal? Anyway to know or search service records if not provided by owner? Trying to do my best not to get burned and based on all the research I have done, it all checks out. Just want to make sure. I plan to have it inspected Thursday morning by an independent, LR certified shop for a pre-purchase inspection.

I'm not one to mooch off of others but I've seen others ask about a CarFax from those with an unlimited type account. If anyone is wiling to do that I'd appreciate it but if what I have is sufficient don't want to trouble anyone for a repeat of what I have.

Thanks and hope to provide more input once I take the Rover plunge.

 

Carfax is basically only useful to see the number of previous owners and whether or not it's a salvage title. Otherwise useless.

Any car you look at, ask for the VIN (or find it), find out where it was serviced and have the dealer pull records for it. For any rovers, pay for a pre-purchase inspection at a dealer. Both of these things will give you a very accurate picture of the vehicle.

 

Thanks Dav. I have it scheduled for a pre-purchase inspection with an independent shop that specializes in LRs. I started with dealership but none in Houston will perform any kind of inspection for a private party sale. All three are owned by same corporation and refuse. The shop I found, British Unlimited, has a stellar reputation and some of the best reviews/recommendations I've ever come across for an auto mechanic. Hoping that will protect me well enough.

Current owner says he usually uses the LR dealership closest to him so will give them a call and see if they will provide records. Wasn't real happy with their response to my request for an inspection so not holding out much hope I'll get anything from them. I have VIN and ran a title check and the AutoCheck history. All seems legit with no red flags of any kind. Just hoping I could get more history on the service that's been done.

 

That sucks. Such a poor business attitude. Even if the dealer near me charges $$$, they have been fairly (not completely) open about what they do, have done good by me more than once. That earns them repeat business, and this disco usually needs quite a bit of work...

Hope the indy shop works out. They aren't exactly the most complicated things ever, but they can hide some expensive issues as you know.

Lastly, you may consider asking the owner to borrow the car, or pay him to take an afternoon/morning and drive to the nearest willing dealership (buy him/her lunch or whatever). I know... weird request. I actually bought mine before getting it inspected but I had a good deal on a truck I knew had been very well-cared-for. A chevy dealership that had a white one actually let me borrow it for the weekend for free. So of course I drove up to DC and did an inspection! Didn't buy that one but it was money well spent to avoid a bigger bill..

 

Unfortunately you can't rely on any of those systems anyways. The type of information you're looking for has about a 50/50 change of being reported anyways.

Especially considering the fact that these are mostly being worked on my 3rd party / independent shops which don't report to the majority of these services in the first place.

I was lucky enough to befriend the service writer who happened to run the previous range rover sport I purchased, and knew all of the service history.

I had since sold it for the LR3 - but again, come to discover that the same guy at the same dealership was the service writer for that original customer as well! Even more bizarre considering BOTH vehicles were purchased 3rd party/used car dealer WELL outside of the normal dealership zone (~50+ miles). As such I was really lucky and able to obtain the ENTIRE (I think like 40 page?!) PDF service history for the vehicle since it rolled off the showroom floor. THAT is the type of information you need.

In fact you'll probably have better luck tracking down the initial dealership from some random carfax records, then contacting the dealership directly. Even if you make it sound like you need a new diff and want to pull up some records real quick to see if it had been done yet - something like that.

 

Carfax gives service history also...

 

I used this. It is free and i would assume just as complete as the others.
I checked alot of VIN's from craigslist to ebay, never was told I had to buy anything.
Check Any VIN – It’s Free | Free VIN Check | Free Vehicle History

 

That's the way customer service seems to be in Houston. I'm glad I'm out of there now. I've had work done at British unlimited. Louis is a good guy. I had him redo the whole front end just before moving away.

 

When I was searching, I would pull up the carfax and AutoCheck for each vehicle I was looking at. Yes, it did add up $$, but as was mentioned, reporting to either one is voluntary. I got burned once a couple of years ago on a Camry that had a clean carfax (didn't bother with AutoCheck back then) but when I went to trade it in, the dealer found AutoCheck had a report of "possible frame damage" reported by an auction house. Neither report mentioned any accident nor was there any sign of frame damage with the car on a lift. From then on, I always pull both and it is indeed a 50/50 shot. Neither should be solely relied upon but only used as a guide. I've seen stuff show up on one but not the other. Also saw cars in person that were clearly repaired but both reports were clean.

 

Thanks to all for your responses and advice. I ran the AutoCheck and thanks to a kind member here who aided in sharing their unlimited Carfax account, I was able to get that as well. All checked out well and following a good inspection by Steven and Louis at British Unlimited in Houston, I am now the proud owner of an '06 LR3 HSE. Had them also do a complete flush and change of all the fluids (basically 90K service) and it performed flawlessly on the drive back to Chicago. Now hoping after living in Texas for her entire life she acclimates to the northern winters! LOL!