State Data Now on Web for Used-Car Shoppers

Venturing into the used-car market has always been a big gamble, exposing consumers to lies about a vehicle’s ownership history, odometer reading and even major accidents that left permanent damage.

But California has begun to make public its vast databases that should enable consumers to find facts about the cars they would buy.

There are two great repositories of vehicle data in California: the Bureau of Automotive Repair and the Department of Motor Vehicles. The bureau has made huge strides toward opening its records to the public in the last year, and the DMV says it is planning to do the same thing.

In recent months, the bureau has announced that it is posting the smog-test histories of all vehicle registered in the state on its Web site (www.smogcheck.ca.gov), indexed by either the vehicle identification number or license plate.

And under legislation introduced this year by state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), the DMV would have to make available some of the history of vehicles registered in the state, including whether it has been declared a total loss by an insurer, purchased by an automotive dismantler or classified as unrepairable.

The bureau’s Web site is already running. It gives an abbreviated history for a vehicle by showing each time it has been smog tested, as well as the location and date of each test and the pass/fail record.

The data can be used to determine whether a used car was originally sold in California, the counties in which it was driven and the approximate dates it was bought and sold, as each sale is accompanied by a smog test.

Although it is not as complete as the Internet vehicle histories sold by private companies, the bureau’s data can provide some important milestones in a vehicle’s history, and it is available for free.

“We designed it with the intent of educating consumers,” said acting bureau chief Patrick Dorais. “It provides important information for somebody buying a used car.”

The site is getting about 20,000 hits a month, Dorais said, meaning consumers are grasping the importance of the information in shopping for used cars.

The new Internet database is combined with several others the bureau has posted on the Web for consumers. Among them is a listing of licensed repair garages, complete with complaints filed against the businesses and any disciplinary actions taken by the bureau.

An even bigger treasure trove of information exists at the DMV, but so far the agency has not posted any vehicle-specific data on its Web site. But DMV chief Steven Gourley met last week with Speier and agreed to support the effort, according to officials in Speier’s office.

Under Speier’s legislation, SB 1743, the state would tighten its sloppy control of salvage vehicles.

A state investigation of the auto body industry disclosed in hearings in January that 43% of auto body repairs involve fraudulent billings, much of it involving totaled vehicles.

The DMV would be required to disclose to the public, at no cost, the identities of vehicles that have been totaled or classified as unrepairable by insurers or been sold to dismantlers.

Ken Miyao, deputy DMV director, said the agency is looking at how to satisfy the requirements of Speier’s bill, preferably by posting the information on the department’s Web site.

Miyao said he hopes the DMV can join a federation of states, operated by the Assn. of American Motor Vehicle Administrators, that exchanges data on vehicle histories, including odometer readings on cars when they are sold.

If the DMV would loosen the strings on its data, it could, for example, post on the Internet a vehicle’s entire ownership history. It could show when an out-of-state vehicle was first registered for use in California. Given the problems with interstate auctions of lemons and wrecks, such data could provide a warning to potential buyers.

At the same time, wouldn’t it be useful if the DMV would post on the Internet the driving history of individuals?

State and federal law prohibits the DMV from disclosing the addresses of individuals, but it would not necessarily prohibit disclosure of names.

After all, such data already is public record, released by the DMV to individuals if requested by letter, and to various private corporations that have an account with the department (including the Los Angeles Times).

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Ralph Vartabedian cannot answer mail personally but responds in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Write to Your Wheels, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. E-mail: ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com.