eBay Motors begins offering free vehicle history reports from Experian
Consumers wary of purchasing vehicles off eBay may take a bit of comfort in the online auction site's announcement that all vehicles built since 1981 will now include free vehicle history reports effective today. The "AutoCheck" information, supplied by Experian Automotive, will detail whether vehicles have been involved in major accidents, have salvage titles, have been stolen or repossessed, have had their odometers tampered with, or have seen special duty as a taxi or police vehicle. Of course, the service is only able to detail information which has been reported, a common complaint about vehicle history reports. Nicolas Franchet, senior director of U.S. vehicles at eBay Motors, says the free reports will help build the level of trust between the buyers and sellers. "We're interested in being the best place to buy and sell your car online," Franchet said.
Those familiar with eBay Motors will recall that the site has offered vehicle history reports from CarFax, Inc., when supplied by dealers. Those reports are still be available via a link, but the new AutoCheck data supplied without charge is now automatically displayed in a shaded area below the vehicle image in the body of the listing. For more details, check out the official press release after the jump or eBay Motors.
[Source: Experian Automotive | Image: Sean Gallup/Getty]
PRESS RELEASE:
eBay Motors Launches Free Vehicle History Reports Exclusively through Experian's AutoCheck
Vital Information Provides Used-Car Buyers Peace-of-Mind and Auto Sellers a Competitive Advantage
SAN JOSE, Calif., November 11, 2009 – eBay Motors (www.ebaymotors.com) (NASDAQ:EBAY), the No. 1 online automotive marketplace worldwide, now offers free vehicle history reports through an exclusive agreement with Experian's AutoCheck. By offering free AutoCheck vehicle history reports on all listings for used cars no older than 1981 eBay Motors provides an unmatched level of trust and transparency for online auto shoppers, in addition to cost savings for buyers and sellers.
The free AutoCheck reports also give both automotive dealers and individual sellers a competitive advantage not found anywhere else on the Web, adding to other eBay benefits including Power Seller and Top-seller designations, customer support and dealer training.
Since used vehicles represent 81 percent1 of all U.S. vehicle sales, buyers rely on vehicle history information to make educated, confident purchase decisions. AutoCheck reports offer added assurance to consumers in the decision-making process – in fact, when provided a vehicle history report more than 80 percent2 of used-car shoppers are more confident in the dealer and their decision to purchase the vehicle.
"With the unique features and in depth vehicle history data provided by the free AutoCheck reports on eBay Motors, the online vehicle purchase experience has never been more transparent," said Nicolas Franchet, senior director of U.S. vehicles, eBay Motors. "Now buyers have a much deeper level of confidence in their purchase, at no additional out-of-pocket costs. This relationship with Experian solidifies the powerful trust and safety systems and policies that have been built by eBay over the past 10 years, including seller feedback, vehicle inspections and vehicle purchase protection.
"The combination of eBay Motors' vehicle-selling resources and AutoCheck's full vehicle history reporting service empowers online shoppers and sellers with the information critical to making a confident used-vehicle purchase," said Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive. "We are excited to continue and grow our relationship with eBay Motors by providing their users with the peace of mind they need and deserve when buying or selling a used car online."
AutoCheck's depth of information and exclusive features provide consumers with a compelling set of vehicle history data. Recent research has found AutoCheck to have two times3 the number of reported accidents as the competition, with exclusive information such as frame-damage announcements from auctions, in addition to reporting on important events like major flood damage or odometer rollback issues. AutoCheck also offers the industry's only vehicle history score: a number from one to 100 summarizing all the information in a vehicle's history in a way that is quick and easy to understand.
1Analysis from Experian Automotive for Q2 2009
2Blackstone Group 2006
3Pipal Research's Vehicle History Report Data Comparison Study, July 2009
About eBay Motors
eBay Motors (www.ebaymotors.com), a part of eBay Inc., is the Internet's largest marketplace for buying and selling all things automotive. The site offers everyday cars for everyday drivers, as well as collector cars, motorcycles, auto parts and accessories. eBay Motors is consistently ranked the #1 automotive site on the Web by Nielsen//NetRatings*.
* According to Nielsen//NetRatings (September 2009)
About Experian Automotive
Experian Automotive, a part of Experian, delivers information services to manufacturers, dealers, finance and insurance companies, and consumers. Experian® helps automotive clients increase customer loyalty, target and win new business, and make better lending and vehicle purchase decisions. Its National Vehicle Database, housing more than 625 million vehicles, along with Experian's credit, consumer and business information assets, meets the industry's growing demand for an integrated information source. Experian's advanced decision support services help clients turn this information into improved business results. Experian technology supports top automotive businesses, including eBay Motors, CarsDirect.com, CarMax and NADAguides.com. For more information on Experian Automotive and its suite of services, visit our Web site at http://www.experianautomotive.com.
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, empowering them to explore new opportunities and innovate together. eBay Inc. does this by providing the Internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and communications. Since its inception, eBay Inc. has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the world, including eBay, PayPal, Skype, StubHub, Shopping.com, and others. eBay Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Power Beauty Soul 5:41PM (11/11/2009)
This is a good move. Just another eBay initative to separate sellers peddling junk and high quality sellers. It's a going to be harder for some to bury the fact that their car is a lemon-law buyback and that's why it's $10k cheaper than the competition.
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tankd0g 5:48PM (11/11/2009)
Most scams on there are with stolen vin#s and no actual car at all.
paul34 8:54PM (11/11/2009)
Agreed. I've seen this over the past few days and it actually is very helpful. It certainly makes more sense as to why that car is at a "too good to be true" price, the second you see that it had been in an accident or such previously.
solarspots 5:55PM (11/11/2009)
It's hard to believe average car buyers look seriously at ebay. Do they?
what's the average price range of vehicles sold?
Maybe they want my MINI Cooper S.
ps. how does one create their own password here?
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Sean 5:59PM (11/11/2009)
Good question (about the password).
I've been trying to log in to the user page for about a year, but no amount of emails to the support address have gotten me anywhere.
Tony 6:01PM (11/11/2009)
Yeah no kidding about the only be able to report what is reported to them. I did a Carfax report on a 1995 Jaguar XJS I bought and it came back clean. Only after I had the front wheels pulled off did we find accident damage to the front suspension which had indicated a pretty severe hit on the front corner. The repairs were never reported and god knows if the kms on the dash are actual or not. DO NOT take any info from Carfax or Carproof or any of these companies as gospel! Take the car into a trustworthy mechanic to have a good go over before you pay. As far as I'm concern these companies are as bad as used car salesmen, lots of smoke and mirrors and small print.
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Aloysius Vampa 6:07PM (11/11/2009)
What are these 'Special use reports'? I'm looking at a 911 C4S right now and that's what I see.
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Eric 8:03PM (11/11/2009)
Darn. Tried to game it to see if I could get a free report on any car with only a VIN. It seems it is secured well enough that this can't be exploited. About the only thing I was able to discover, is a way to show the report independent of the referring page (e.g.,
http://sgw.motors.trinity.ebay.com:8081/?X-EBAY-SVC-SERVICE=vhr_experian&ptn=e&ha=AQAAASTlrvHgAANXUDBBQjI5ODQ3VTc4MzM2Mjo6MTI1Nzk4Njk2NzgxN/q99iBnp7KUgcLdocNnb414ltTG&json=0&vin=WP0AB29847U783362&seller=princetonporsche&item=320445723917&r=0.5002000266686082&cb=vjo.dsf.assembly.VjClientAssembler._callback1&_vrdm=1257986976485
)
Note the json=0? It's usually json=1 coming from ebay.
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mike 11:33PM (11/11/2009)
Ebay has the right idea on this one. I imagine some of the other popular car buying sites like www.autotrader.com, www.repofinder.com, and www.cars.com will follow suit.
"The free'er the better"
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Doc 10:28AM (11/12/2009)
Wouldn't you rather have a CarFax Report?
http://www.ebaymotorssucks.com/?p=177 LOL!
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Need More Lutz For GM 5:08PM (11/12/2009)
This is great news! Hopefully this will help put CarFax out of business, I hate those a-holes.
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