Carfax redesigns report with Canadian dealers in mind

It looks like Carfax means business.

The U.S.-based vehicle history report company said it would target mid-June for a large push into the Canadian market that includes a Canadian-specific redesigned report, improved info from additional provincial data sources and the launch of its Carfax Advantage Dealer Program.

Larry Gamache, communications director, also said Carfax would include access to lien reports from Carfax for the first time for dealers north of the border.

“We’ve had a big focus over the past few years on expanding the scope and depth of the information we are able to report for vehicles bought, sold and registered in Canada,” he said.

He noted that aside from a physical redesign, the new reports would have small “Canadian” adjustments like ensuring odometer readings are in kilometres as well as info specific to vehicles owned and registered in this country.

And what’s the price for all the new information? Carfax said the per-history report price would be $20, which Gamache categorized as a “significant discount” over any other vehicle history report being offered in the marketplace.

“We’ve heard from our Canadian dealers for many years. We have hundreds of dealers who use Carfax and so many vehicles that are sold in Canada are sourced in the U.S., but there was a need to make the product and the information more user friendly in Canada.”

Tied in with the mid-June offensive will be a rollout of the Carfax Advantage Dealer Program in Canada.

The subscription-based program has been available to U.S. dealers since April 2011 and offers participating dealers unlimited access to Carfax reports. Those reports can be shared with buyers or posted online for every vehicle in the inventory.

The company feels that level of transparency is a selling point for dealers who will help them stand out from competing stores.

He said they would start getting the word out this spring by promoting their new features to Canadian dealers.

There are subsequent plans to roll out a more consumer-focused marketing campaign to let Canadian vehicle buyers know about the service.

This latest activity from Carfax follows the October 2013 hiring of Jon Arnett as head of Canadian operations.

“This is about giving better accessibility at a really incredible and competitive price for used-car dealers in Canada. They’ll be able to get access to vehicle history information from all across North America, the lien information they need all at the lowest price,” Gamache said. “Bottom line, they’re getting better data at a better price.”