On the name. CARFAX is a registered trademark of CARFAX, Inc. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CARFAX, Inc., and we don't claim to reproduce their data. We use the name here only because it's what people search for when comparing vehicle history reports — and we think you deserve a straight answer rather than a sales pitch.
How to compare any two providers
Four questions that matter more than the price on the button.
Where does the data come from?
Ask whether the provider includes NMVTIS, the federal title database that aggregates state DMV title and brand records. Title brands are the highest-stakes item in any report — a salvage or flood brand changes what a car is worth and whether it can be insured. Our reports include NMVTIS-sourced title data alongside insurance, auction, service, and recall records.
What does it cost to check five cars, not one?
Buyers rarely look at a single vehicle. Pay-per-report pricing quietly discourages checking the whole shortlist, which is exactly when a report is most valuable. Our credits never expire and work out cheaper per car as you buy more, so checking a fourth car costs the same as the first.
Can you still read the report next month?
Some providers time-box access after purchase. Every report you run here stays in your dashboard permanently, printable and re-shareable, so you can revisit it when you resell the car years later.
Is the output actually readable?
A report full of raw record dumps shifts the analysis onto you. Ours is written for a buyer standing in a driveway: a plain-language risk score, a timeline instead of a table of codes, and an Intelligent tier that spells out what the records imply.
What Carma Reports offers
Facts about our own product — compare them against whoever else you're considering.
Credits that never expire
Packs from $25. A Basic report costs 1 credit, an Intelligent report 3. Buy once, check cars whenever you need to — nothing lapses.
Two depths of report
Basic covers the documented record in seconds. Intelligent adds AI web research on the VIN, image damage analysis, a risk score, and ownership-cost projections.
NMVTIS title data
Title and brand records sourced through the federal NMVTIS database, cross-checked across states rather than a single jurisdiction.
Permanent, printable reports
Every report stays in your dashboard, formatted to print or save as a clean PDF for a mechanic, a lender, or a future buyer.
Email a report to anyone
Send a report to a co-buyer, mechanic, or seller with one click. They open it on a private link — no account needed on their end.
An API for dealers
Postpaid, key-authenticated API access for dealers and marketplaces that need reports inside their own systems, billed monthly.
Not sure yet? Read a complete sample report before you spend anything, or compare the pricing tiers.
One honest caveat
No vehicle history provider — us included — sees everything. A report reflects what was reported. Damage repaired out of pocket, with no insurance claim and no police report, may never enter any database anywhere. Because providers license overlapping but different data, one can surface an event another misses.
For a car you are close to buying, the strongest approach is a history report to rule out the obvious problems and tell you what to ask about, followed by a pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic. Any provider telling you their report alone is sufficient is selling you something.