CarFax® Canada Report (formerly CarProof®): The Key for Transparency

If you have ever purchased (or sold) a vehicle in Canada, you may have heard about CarProof® Reports. Well, they are the top authority in Canada for vehicle information, insurance claims, accident reports, and liens. It is a prestigious organization that customers can quietly rely on when it comes to vehicle history. The company will be re-branded to CarFax® Canada during this month October 2018, so, from now on, I will refer to it as the new name.

CarFax® Canada Accident Reports in Our Lease Takeover Marketplace

Starting on September 2018, LeaseCosts Canada Inc. is providing the Accident Reports service to the listings in our marketplace. Vehicle submissions that include the CarFax® Canada Report will feature a small icon on the listings and, when expanded or on the vehicle specific page everyone will have access to open the full report:

CarProof (CarFax Canada) Integration with LeaseCosts Canada

Screenshots were taken using the former CarProof® logo, while listings will feature the new one.

Customers who select the Report, are required to post the VIN of their vehicles, in order to speed up the listing and approval of the submission.

Importance of the CarFax® Canada Report

If you haven't ever heard before these reports, don't worry, I will explain in the next lines: basically, the same way banks, credit card agencies, lenders and companies that offer financial services rely on credit bureaus, CarFax Canada is the same, but for a specific vehicle.

All vehicles have a unique VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), like if it was a unique entity as you and I can be for a Credit Bureau. Well, manufacturers, all insurance companies, police institutions, banks, and dealers report to CarFax Canada when something happens to the vehicle, either good or bad.

This way, you can know:

  • Where it was built.
  • Where it was sold and registered.
  • How many times it was resold. How many owners.
  • When did oil changes happen?
  • If it had an accident and how much did the repairs cost.
  • If it had a recall done.

Still, everyone refers to it as an "Accident Report" as this is the most critical piece of information we all need to know. Just by identifying the VIN number, we can quickly conduct a research about multiple things, but not for the specific details.

It is a plethora of information like if you would have an x-ray of the entire life of the vehicle. Just take a look at this Sample Report for a 2007 Mazda CX-7.

About the author

Jorge Diaz is a passionate car lover, winter driver & Software Engineer. For the last 10 years, he has built Online Solutions used by more than 5,000 companies across the globe. He founded LeaseCosts in 2016 with the purpose of simplifying and helping Canadians to better understand the complex market of car leasing in Canada. You can connect with him at Leantrepreneurship.com.

Jorge is also the author of Car Leasing Done Right: A Canadian Guide for Understanding & Optimizing Vehicle Leasing Costs, released on Nov. 5th, 2021. It is available at Amazon.ca