[Joshuafragsdale]

I am new to classic cars and I just spotted a 72 Pontiac that looks nice. Even before I could get in a fever, I would also need to be able to verify its history like past ownership, accidents, or restoration history.

Classics don t have Carfax and such like, how do you tell the truth? Is there a solid solution in getting a report or background info?

 

[roorancher]

No.
Not unless the owner can provide it.

 

[provocating]

What roorancher said. I am fairly lucky I know the history of my car up to maybe 25 years ago, pictures and receipts, in communication with my cars restorer. I am going to buy another one in around 2-3 years and I am hoping for a 1-2 owner car

 

[provocating]

Oh, one thing you can do that will tell you a small bit about your car is do a PHS request and that will give you some original build info.

 

[Injuneer]

I am new to classic cars and I just spotted a 72 Pontiac that looks nice. Even before I could get in a fever, I would also need to be able to verify its history like past ownership, accidents, or restoration history.

Classics don t have Carfax and such like, how do you tell the truth? Is there a solid solution in getting a report or background info?

No idea how to do it….. but I bet one of the scammers promoting a rip-off VIN research report site will post soon. We see a lot of that here.

Examples:

https://www.firebirdnation.com/threads/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-check-for-salvage-or-branded-titles.573765/?post_id=1593221#post-1593221

https://www.firebirdnation.com/threads/do-reports-show-maintenance-history.573597/?post_id=1592506#post-1592506

 

[Injuneer]

Helpful link:

Steering clear of vehicle history report scams

The FTC has been hearing about a new scam targeting people who are selling their cars online.

consumer.ftc.gov

 

[Nicholas Hoff]

What model Pontiac are you eyeing? I ran into a similar situation with a '73 Catalina a while back—looked great, but had zero paperwork and the seller didn’t know much. I ended up using something called Classic Decoder. It actually pulled up state history and some old title records, which was surprising. Might be worth a shot in your case too, especially if you're trying to fill in the blanks without relying on guesswork.

 

[Injuneer]

There are numerous 1-star reviews on Trust Pilot/Classic Decoder site indicating their reports were pretty much worthless. The word "scam" was used frequently. Sure... many positive reviews, but why take a chance.

And this interchange of a brand new member requesting VIN lookup help, and yet another new member conveniently responding the next day with a link to a VIN lookup site has been done before.

 

[provocating]

There are numerous 1-star reviews on Trust Pilot/Classic Decoder site indicating their reports were pretty much worthless. The word "scam" was used frequently. Sure... many positive reviews, but why take a chance.

And this interchange of a brand new member requesting VIN lookup help, and yet another new member conveniently responding the next day with a link to a VIN lookup site has been done before.

Nicholas Hoff joined 1 day ago, posted in this thread regarding it in a positive way. Hmmm, I wonder. Also soon to never be seen again.

 

[Injuneer]

Did you check the links in my post #5? This is the third repeat in the past month of the exact same pattern. New guy asks about getting more info on a possible car he's interested in, a few posts later, another new member posts a link to a site that he claims provided good info. Note the member names…. supposed full names - how many people on a site like this do that? Maybe throw in a fake picture of a person or a car as an avatar to make it look real. Both hiding behind VPN's.

Huge waste of our time.