Carfax has been the go-to product for used car buyers who need to check the history of potential purchases for years now, but that could change soon. Autocheck, a similar vehicle history reporting service, claims it has twice as many reported accidents as Carfax.

When you’re shopping for a used car, the biggest variable is the vehicle’s past. Some sellers are honest and keep meticulous records, but it’s impossible to tell on your own which sellers are honest and which are hiding something. That’s why services like Carfax and Autocheck are invaluable to used car buyers, who can easily be tricked into buying cars with hidden damage by unscrupulous sellers.

“It’s clear that not all vehicle history reports are equal when it comes to reported accident information,” Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive, Autocheck’s parent company, said. “With two times the number of reported accidents as the competition, we are clearly giving consumers a better means of understanding events in a vehicle’s history that could affect its value, reliability and safety.”

Whenever you buy a used car, we recommend that you delve into the vehicle’s history. Autocheck and Carfax both provide a valuable service that every used car buyer should take advantage of. Buying a subscription to both services during your used car search is definitely worth the price, which is a small percentage of what buying a lemon would cost you.