FAQ

A vehicle’s brand (or status) is determined by an insurance company and/or within provincial guidelines and applied by provincial vehicle registration authority to note the vehicle’s structural and/or mechanical integrity status and therefore its ability to be registered and/or operated within the province.

Branding is applied by the province each time the vehicle is registered. Along with a CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report, we also recommend:

• Having the vehicle inspected by a qualified mechanic/auto body professional,
• Checking the vehicle's most recent provincially-issued registration document,
• And/or contacting the province to further verify the vehicle's current brand and to ensure a negative brand is not applicable at time of next registration.

CARFAX Canada reports reflect the vehicle’s past and present brand/status, as reported to us by participating data partners at the time the report was ordered.

The vehicle’s brand/status will be reported in the following areas on the report:

• Last registered in:
• Registration
• Detailed history
• Other damages

The brand/status language appearing on CARFAX Canada reports may differ slightly from brands/statuses used by provincial vehicle registration authorities as each province has their own terminology/criteria for brand/status. For more information on these variances, please contact your Provincial Vehicle Registration Authority.

Before you buy a used car, we recommend that you get a CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report, take a thorough test drive and have the vehicle inspected by a qualified mechanic or auto technician to make sure the vehicle is functioning properly. We would also recommend speaking with your provincial vehicle registration authority to further ensure vehicle can be registered with and operated in your province.

If a vehicle has been reported to the Canadian Police Information Centre (operated by the RCMP) as stolen and has not yet been identified as recovered will appear as “stolen” on our reports. 

If a vehicle is showing on the report as stolen but has since been recovered and cleared from CPIC’s records, a new history report would need to be run as our reports are a snapshot in time and only reflect the information available to us at the time the report was run.

We receive actively stolen vehicle data exclusively through the Canadian Police Information Centre. You cannot report this information directly to us. 

To report your vehicle as stolen, please contact your local police department.

In most provinces, a vehicle can never be re-branded as Normal once it's been branded Salvage. The vehicle can only be re-branded as Rebuilt once appropriate repairs have been confirmed to have been completed through a provincial inspection, or it can be branded as Non-Repairable if an inspection determines the vehicle cannot be repaired as required.

Known exceptions:

• Some provinces may brand a stolen vehicle as Salvage but may return the vehicle to a Normal status based on the results of a provincial inspection,
• In cases where a province has branded a vehicle as Salvage in error

Before you buy a used car, we recommend that you get a CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report, take a thorough test drive and have the vehicle inspected by a qualified mechanic or auto technician to make sure the vehicle is functioning properly.

For questions/concerns related to a vehicle’s brand, please contact your provincial vehicle registration authority.

A motor vehicle registration authority has noted that a vehicle’s ownership has been transferred from one party to another.

Transfer of ownership from a dealership, wholesale auto auction or other similar business is not typically identified as a “new owner reported” on a CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report unless the vehicle has been actively plated and/or confirmed to have been used by that business for “business/commercial” use (such as a loaner vehicle, service shuttle, etc.)

CARFAX Canada does not receive, nor can we obtain, personally identifiable information for vehicle owners. Names of the vehicles previous owners will not be displayed on a CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report.

To verify if a vehicle’s seller is also the current owner of the vehicle, please verify the registered owner listed on the ownership/registration document and/or please contact your province’s vehicle registration authority.

When the search was conducted, a registration status was not found. If there are no registration records found, please check the VIN plate on the vehicle to ensure it’s the same as found on the history report.

A vehicle is branded Salvage when:

• Damage occurs that affects the structural and/or mechanical integrity of the vehicle, or
• The cost of repairing the vehicle for legal operation on public roads exceeded the fair market value it held prior to the vehicle being damaged

For more information on vehicle brands, please see: Brand

Before you buy a used car, we recommend that you get a CARFAX Canada Vehicle History Report, take a thorough test drive and have the vehicle inspected by a qualified mechanic or auto technician to make sure the vehicle is functioning properly. We would also recommend speaking with your provincial vehicle registration authority to further ensure vehicle can be registered with and operated in your province.

Vehicle has been identified as sold by the registered owner.

If the owner of a vehicle moves out of province and takes the vehicle with them, the province they are leaving may brand the vehicle as moved.

The vehicle was registered or its registration was renewed by a vehicle registration authority (state or provincial). 

Typically, this is just renewal of the license plate/license plate sticker, though could also involve a change of ownership. Record of a renewal with the motor vehicle department could also be an indication that a transaction - such as name or address change - was completed.