ok. i've got to weigh in on this. i purchased in january an unlimited one-month subscription. i was in the market for a w126 chassis benzo and as you know the search takes you far and wide to find a good one given age, mileage, yada. in fact, one month is not enough time to find the right one.
anyway ,,, in the month of january, i must've researched 40+ cars - maybe 50? - and i received a nastygram from carfax questioning whether or not i was using the subscription for personal use or commercial use! i had to sign a statement (which i did) saying that i was using the subscription for only personal use. i was (obviously) indeed using it for only personal use as i was looking for a w126. but my point is they didn't believe me that i was researching for personal use -- which is why - i guess - they limit you to an unlimited monthly subscription to 1x/ 6 mos.
they advertise unlimited use - and whilst they gave me unlimited use - they questioned my behaviour and made me attest to the usage. that angered me slightly as i felt they were questioning my integrity. i told them in my statement - that if they did not believe me - to go look at my history usage and they will see that the research i was doing was primiarily on 86-91 w126 chassis cars (and not all kinds of different makes and models as one might expect if i was using the subscription in a commercial manner). anyway, i wanted to share that with you. i never did buy a w126, by the way!
the information contained in these reports IS helpful and in my experience (40-50 reports as discussed above) 90% complete and accurate. i uncovered things by talking to perspective buyers that were not contained in the carfax report. so -- i think the carfax reports are good and directionally correct - but not an eden of sorts to provide 100% comfort. and to be fair, i don't think carfax ever put themselves out as the end all be all in car history, either.
there. i feel better now.