Used car buying and leasing have gained footing in the manufacturing industry. With its advent comes the popularity of a major source of information for this transaction:The Vehicle History Report.

Of course, like anything happening for the first time, questions swarm people’s minds about what on earth is a vehicle history report. To help you keep your peace of mind, here are some answers:

A vehicle history report is your greatest source of information from CarFax about the history of a used car you want to purchase or lease. It includes the car’s insurance and DMV records. It’s where you can see if your car had major accidents, flood damages, or simply if the car is a lemon.

There’s simply a need for you to avail of the vehicle history report to know if your car has no issues regarding title and test passes for safety and emissions. You can also track if the car had accident history, too much mileage or anything that can pass off as evidence for heavy usage, and other valuable information that may have an effect on its functioning later on.

You need the vehicle history report, whether you’re selling or buying the car. In selling, you have to know the vehicle history report of your car to know the marketable price for it, based on usage and its standard market price. Buying, on the other hand, requires you to know possible problems the car may have due to some factors like heavy usage, accident history, and others. CarFax also offers a title guarantee. If in case there are some discrepancies on the car’s report or the title itself, you can ask for a payout.

And hey, the good thing is, all vehicle history reports go back to late eighties. Its database is that huge. If ever you wanna check on a car older than that, try to run the VIN anyhow.

Take note of the emphasis on APR: Check the annual percentage rate of the car. Making sure that it’s good will ensure a hefty saving for you.

Mileage is important. Calculate the nearest approximation you have for mileage. Underestimating it will make you pay soaring excess mileage rates; overestimating it will also make you pay more monthly than what’s necessary. Then you’ll be thinking I could have spent that money playing poker instead.

Figure it out; are you a long-range, high-mileage driver? If that’s the case, then you better include servicing as part of the package. You just have to pay additional on your monthly payment for this. But if you only have short trips in a city terrain, then you can pay on your own for the annual service and any additional ad-hoc bills.

Check if tax is part of the monthly payment; and if it is, how much are you being charged for it?

Sometimes to end the agreement is better than staying on with the contract. Just make sure that the penalties will not be more expensive than the interest and monthly payments til the end of the contract.

If you happen to have a personal contract purchase policy included in your contract and you want to give up your vehicle, you can opt to sell it to a buyer of your own choice; then you can sell it with a slightly higher price that will guarantee you profits.

They say the street-smart is more likely to survive; this is all the more true in car leasing. Knowing the nitty-gritty about dealers and some hidden issues in car leasing will be a surefire way of going through leasing hurdles unscathed.