# I'm new and car shopping... accident on vehicle history ok?



## Laughmore (Jun 1, 2018)

I'm shopping for a car that is uber-eligible for some sweaty side hustle action. Salvage title is an obvious no go, but what about an accident reported with an otherwise clean title (according to Autocheck)? I'm finding really good deals on vehicles with this profile from private sellers.

I keep coming across nightmare threads in which drivers are deactivated after a VIN audit by Uber. My car purchase is guided 90% by rideshare eligibility, and so I'll be really sad if I'm deactivated soon after I start driving!

Is there a way to be sure that my new car with a clean title and an accident in the history won't get flagged? Am I being silly?


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## rbkg40 (Oct 10, 2017)

Clean title is ok, no salvage or rebuilt title


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## Atom guy (Jul 27, 2016)

I bought a car with an accident on the Carfax, and had no problem driving it for Uber for 2 years until the ****** crapped out at 190,000.


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## henrygates (Mar 29, 2018)

So long as the title is clean (not salvage) and it's repaired, it's fine.

Most cars will have an accident at some point.


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## sirius black (Apr 20, 2017)

henrygates said:


> Most cars will have an accident at some point.


 No they won't. It's less than 20%.


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## mikes424 (May 22, 2016)

Many reputable dealers and some individuals will let you take the car to the mechanic of your choice for an inspection. If unsure, it is a good idea.


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## Brian-drives (Jan 13, 2015)

Couple of things .
1. Uber uses "AutoCheck". A Carfax is as useless as a 3 dollar bill .
2. If you cannot afford the car with out doing Uber do not buy it !!!
3. Read # 2 agin , this time outloud.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

An older Prius with 150k+ miles checked out by a reliable mechanic is your best bet. Make sure it hasn’t been in a hurricane (Houston imported).


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

I bought a car at CarMax and they showed me a clean Autocheck report which they claimed was more accurate than the Carfax report. Of course later I pulled the CarFax report and it showed damage. Dealers will rip you off. All of them.


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## Julescase (Mar 29, 2017)

sirius black said:


> No they won't. It's less than 20%.


Maybe less than 20% REPORTED. But believe me, more than 20% of all cars have been in an accident during its time on the road.


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## sirius black (Apr 20, 2017)

Julescase said:


> Maybe less than 20% REPORTED. But believe me, more than 20% of all cars have been in an accident during its time on the road.


. 
Oh, That's fo sho true, but it's still not most cars..... unless you live in Italy.


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## Christinebitg (Jun 29, 2018)

Got a followup question for you guys. (Forgive me, I'm new. Been driving for two weeks.)

I have two cars. One is just fine, and I'm using it.

The other one got totalled by Hurricane Harvey. I took the money ($11k) and had it repaired ($8k). I turned down an additional $3k in salvage value, so the title never changed hands or got reissued. 

I know the insurance claim will show up, of course, but the title is clean.

Can I use this car?

For those who are wondering, it's a 2008 Acura RDX.

Thanks!

Christine


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

As long as it passes Uber’s inspection it should be good to go.


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## Christinebitg (Jun 29, 2018)

My other ride didn't get inspected at all.

Would the insurance claim showing up be a reason I'd have to get it inspected by Uber?

C


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

Christinebitg said:


> My other ride didn't get inspected at all.
> 
> Would the insurance claim showing up be a reason I'd have to get it inspected by Uber?
> 
> C


I don't know. All cars in my market have to be physically inspected annually.


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## Doughie (May 6, 2017)

Laughmore said:


> I'm shopping for a car that is uber-eligible for some sweaty side hustle action. Salvage title is an obvious no go, but what about an accident reported with an otherwise clean title (according to Autocheck)? I'm finding really good deals on vehicles with this profile from private sellers.
> 
> I keep coming across nightmare threads in which drivers are deactivated after a VIN audit by Uber. My car purchase is guided 90% by rideshare eligibility, and so I'll be really sad if I'm deactivated soon after I start driving!
> 
> Is there a way to be sure that my new car with a clean title and an accident in the history won't get flagged? Am I being silly?


Be careful with used cars with clean Carfax titles, especially if the price is below market. You're better off running Autocheck. Some cars have clean titles after an accident but when they're sold at auction the auction house lists them with frame damage. Dealers buy them cheap and seell them with a clean Carfax. You might get a clean Carfax and title but Uber will eventually find out about the frame damage report and deactivate the car. Running an Autocheck usually shows auction reported frame damage.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

What's more important is you are financing is never write down or say any words like uber or Lyft at all


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## roadman (Nov 14, 2016)

Laughmore said:


> I'm shopping for a car that is uber-eligible for some sweaty side hustle action. Salvage title is an obvious no go, but what about an accident reported with an otherwise clean title (according to Autocheck)? I'm finding really good deals on vehicles with this profile from private sellers.
> 
> I keep coming across nightmare threads in which drivers are deactivated after a VIN audit by Uber. My car purchase is guided 90% by rideshare eligibility, and so I'll be really sad if I'm deactivated soon after I start driving!
> 
> Is there a way to be sure that my new car with a clean title and an accident in the history won't get flagged? Am I being silly?


Buy the cheapest piece of shit if you plan to do uber.

Not sure why you want to do uber it has gone downhill. You'll see.


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## mikes424 (May 22, 2016)

1.5xorbust said:


> As long as it passes Uber's inspection it should be good to go.


Might be good enough gor Uber, but I have my doubts. Took my old car to Jiffy Lube and my newer one to the people Uber allows to inspect at a Green Light hub.

Among items to be inspected are brakes and front end. Brakes cannot be inspected without removing tires and for front end inspection cat needs to be on a lift. Neither was done. I think all they did was check seat belts, eyeballed the tires and see that the doors worked.

To be safe, have your own mechanic check out the car for you


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## possibledriver (Dec 16, 2014)

My market has no inspection. I had to fill out a "self inspected" form


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

possibledriver said:


> My market has no inspection. I had to fill out a "self inspected" form


Next thing you know they'll have a self pay program.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

sirius black said:


> .unless you live in Italy.


I never saw too many collisions in Italy. Yes, they drive crazy, especially at Roma (except for Sunday nights during the summer, when the traffic is so bad that you can not drive fast), but I never saw too many collisions. I used to see two cars come at each other down an alley that had been there since Rome was an empire. One of the drivers had his head turned behind him and was swearing at someone behind him. The other driver was looking up the dress of a women who was standing on a stairway. Neither car would hit the other.

I lived in an old fortress town in northeastern Italy. Most of the streets were barely wide enough for one car.


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## sirius black (Apr 20, 2017)

Another Uber Driver said:


> Neither car would hit the other.
> 
> I lived in an old fortress town in northeastern Italy. Most of the streets were barely wide enough for one car.


I travel over to the Adriatic side a few times a year, and probably spend 10% of my time there. I look at all the other cars in the parking lot on my way in to work in the morning, and I swear every low-mid range vehicle had some sort of ding on it. I had a conversation with my coworkers about how they had respect for the higher end cars, and tend to give them more room, but light "taps" in traffic are normal.

It really is something readjusting to US driving after being over there. I actually miss driving a 5-speed, trying to maneuver into a roundabout at 50km/hr in morning traffic. It's remarkable that there aren't more major wrecks, but I've seen plenty of bumper cars happening. It all works for them. They absolutely know how to merge, unlike Ohioans .


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

mikes424 said:


> Might be good enough gor Uber, but I have my doubts. Took my old car to Jiffy Lube and my newer one to the people Uber allows to inspect at a Green Light hub.
> 
> Among items to be inspected are brakes and front end. Brakes cannot be inspected without removing tires and for front end inspection cat needs to be on a lift. Neither was done. I think all they did was check seat belts, eyeballed the tires and see that the doors worked.
> 
> To be safe, have your own mechanic check out the car for you


Uber doesn't inspect for safety. They inspect to make sure the car meets the requirements they set forth, and make sure there's no major body damage. Minor damage may be noted for insurance purposes. They don't want you making claims on their dime that they aren't actually responsible for.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Laughmore said:


> I'm shopping for a car that is uber-eligible for some sweaty side hustle action. Salvage title is an obvious no go, but what about an accident reported with an otherwise clean title (according to Autocheck)? I'm finding really good deals on vehicles with this profile from private sellers.
> 
> I keep coming across nightmare threads in which drivers are deactivated after a VIN audit by Uber. My car purchase is guided 90% by rideshare eligibility, and so I'll be really sad if I'm deactivated soon after I start driving!
> 
> Is there a way to be sure that my new car with a clean title and an accident in the history won't get flagged? Am I being silly?


There is no fool proof way of being 100% certain but you can reduce the odds of buying someone's problem. Of course use a search company that checks title, insurance accident history.

Avoid cars with:
-Multiple owners
-multiple accidents
-Salvage title
-Used car dealers that don't sell manufacturers "certified" used cars (most don't)

Right now the auto auction houses are flooded (no pun intended LOL) with cars that were flooded in Texas hurricane. Even my friend who has his dealer's license is having a hard time with this.

The most important thing is WHO owned the car (how they took care of it) and unfortunately you aren't going to know that buying from a dealer or a car that has had multiple owners. For this reason I only buy private party sales. With 6 people in my house I have bought a lot of used cars over the years. Avoid Craigslist as its a lemon farm. It's hard to find a good used car at a decent price but with effort and patience you can do it.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

sirius black said:


> I travel over to the Adriatic side a few times a year, and probably spend 10% of my time there. cars in the parking lot had some sort of ding on it. , light "taps" in traffic are normal. It's remarkable that there aren't more major wrecks, but I've seen plenty of bumper cars happening. It all works for them. They absolutely know how to merge,


I was in _*Le Alpi Carniche*_ most of the time. That is a part of Italy that few people consider when they think of Italy, unless they were in the Air Force (or the occasional Navy steam fitter---sometimes the Navy will assign steam fitters there to work on the heating systems). If you read the local dialect, it looks like a Frenchman's attempt at writing Italian. It does not sound that way, but it looks that way. If you look at the poems of Massimo Croatto, you will see what I mean. He often wrote in Friulano.

I would not be surprised if some of those dings came from walls, as there are alleys all over Italy that have been there since at least Medieval times, if not from when Rome was an empire. (In fact, the main sewer in Roma is the one that was there BEFORE Ancient Rome became a "republic". It was either Tarquinus Priscus or Numa Pompilius who ordered it built, depending on whom you read.)

Still, I did notice that nobody bothered with the little taps that occurred in traffic. There had to be a serious impact before anyone would actually get out. Here, if you even tap ever-so-slightly the vehicle of a black car driver, an Uber SUV driver or a cab driver, the front door will fly open, he will roll into the street with one hand on the back of his neck, the other on the small of his back, writhing in "pain" and screaming for his lawyer.

They do know how to do the squeeze better over there. It is similar to how you drive a rotary in Massachusetts. You open the throttle, keep both hands on the wheel and go. The other thing that they do better is deal with the flashy arrows. It does slow the traffic, but usually no slower than thirty five KpH, or so, as a rule (often no slower than forty). People wait until the last minute, it is their turn to squeeze and they zipper right in. Here, when you see a flashy arrow, you had better turn off, get off---do ANYTHING to avoid it. People are trying to squeeze all down the line, drivers will not let in people---there is a reason that I often call those things "disaster arrows".


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## mikes424 (May 22, 2016)

SuzeCB said:


> Uber doesn't inspect for safety. They inspect to make sure the car meets the requirements they set forth, and make sure there's no major body damage. Minor damage may be noted for insurance purposes. They don't want you making claims on their dime that they aren't actually responsible for.


I stand partially corrected. Vehicle inspections are more stringent in some cities like Chicago. But some of the authorized inspecters like at the Green Light Hub only do a cursory inspection and pass the car without doing a full inspection.


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

mikes424 said:


> I stand partially corrected. Vehicle inspections are more stringent in some cities like Chicago. But some of the authorized inspecters like at the Green Light Hub only do a cursory inspection and pass the car without doing a full inspection.


Exactly. Uber is not testing to make sure that your car is street legal. Your city or state does that. Uber just wants to see it at the city or state authorize the vehicle as far as safety is concerned, and their inspection is strictly cosmetic and comfort and making sure that doors and windows and AC all work and that you have proper number of seat belts for the number of passengers you will be authorized to carry.

And no one is concerned about how well your engine works, or if it's going to break down on you in a week. For that, you have to hire a mechanic to look at the car before you buy it.


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## MyJessicaLS430 (May 29, 2018)

Laughmore said:


> I'm shopping for a car that is uber-eligible for some sweaty side hustle action.
> 
> Is there a way to be sure that my new car with a clean title and an accident in the history won't get flagged? Am I being silly?


Ask yourself how much by percentage you use the car for Uber. I bought mine as a 4-yr old CPO way earlier before I started doing Uber. Even being a CPO, there is a minor backing accident history with the first owner. Buying from dealers is not necessarily hassle-free, but this gives you a certain level of confidence; although you have to pay for the confidence.

My understanding is that as long as the damage did not impact the main frame or components of the car, you should be fine. Be more cautious if there was a recent flooding in your city. People need to get rid of their cars, so do dealers.


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## SHRPR (Jul 13, 2018)

according to rideshareapps. com, ANY vehicle that is driven by an Uber Driver must have a clean title.


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