Your state motor vehicle department may be able to give limited info when they are presented with the VIN.. Indeed, at times they can be most helpful... If a boy owns and races/abuses the automobile, then has the engine cheaply rebuilt, is CarFax going to learn of this and how ??? An accident, yes, most go thru the state system - police reports, etc, but not shade tree maintenance.. Factory recalls, yes, I would guess Carfax would learn of these things. Most car makes have their fan clubs/tech sites. Saab has an excellent one - all the weaknesses are public and known..

Rosewitch, England was definitely one of my favorite places I have ever visited. My folks took me there when I was 14, and I remember bits and pieces the Crown jewels, walking amongst the Stonehenge stones (roped off now, vandalism), Stratford upon Avon. Time for me to take my own 14YO. Im trying to think how I can get over there for a whole summer, LOL. Dlynn, I could have worked so much more. I didnt really look at night time stuff and there was loads to do. Greece: cant help you, but shoot Yasou a line, she went a few years ago. LOL Annie! Teresa, well go together. I wanted to explore more cooking and food shops/stores but didnt get to. Terri, here is more a link to Pictures of England, a website pointed out to me by Denise. I started it on Bourton on the Water, where we stayed for a few days. Thanks Sharon, I was actually thinking how can I even come close to posting her quality of travel guides, I dont do the pictures she does LOL. We might have sat at the same table in the Cheshire Cheeses dining room! Sawdust still there, but we didnt make it to the cellar. I missed a lot of the British Museum. It has changed.check out the new atrium. I couldnt keep up with DH and DS16. Afternoons, when I planned museums, I crashed. Next time! Pam, lots of people did more than we did per day! Theater every night, more attractions, I cant imagine. Gina heh heh yeah I need another vacation like a hole in my head. Speaking of whichDH has another week off in August. Nooooooooo! Kathleen, DH says he took an average of 200 pictures a day. Yup. Me, I just buy the post cards or Google the images, same thing (DARFC from the photo bugs here) Cathy, thanks for giving me the War and Peace moniker heh heh. Next time I go with CF friends! LindaC, I know. Im still exhausted. Speaking of the V&A, did you know there was a Dale Chihuly chandelier in the entrance room?

Cathrugg (& all!)- I just found out about "Clay-barring" cars this summer, when I was in a Cadillac forum for a while. GREAT info. there about all kinds of car stuff! Also...on Youtube, there's a few good videos on the subject. There's some where a guy in Europe is detailing a $1.5 mil. Bugatti Veyron...WOW! Faron Others get more involved with Porter-Cable 7424 buffers, and polishing bonnets. I may have to get one of those P-C buffers!! Another good Youtube vid. shows a guy with a 2-light stand doing a door on his black Escalade. I thought it looked great b4 he started, but when he takes ya thru it....WOW! >>> With the buffer, it's so simple!!! The Clay-bar stuff itself is SOOO simple. It's like rubbing a Play-doh chunk on your car! * The kit I got was ~ $23 retail thru ACE. * It's a Mother's product, with 2 clay-bars, & a spray-bottle of detailing solution. * Just spray the detailing solution on a section of car, flatten-out your soap-bar sized claybar, and gently rub over the paint! Use the pressure you would for taking a shower. Random motions are fine. * When you've done an area, wipe/buff off. You'll be amazed at how smooth the paint is!! * Re-mold/flatten the claybar, and spray another section, and repeat. * It gets kind of addicting! Faron Here is a link that might be useful: Mother's clay-bar video...

Nanny, I think you may end up paying more if you go through Costco because it's the equivelant of an auto broker. But when I bought my car this past December, I was amazed at how much the process had changed over the past few years and how easy it really has become (because Dealers are much more tranparent now) . What struck me most is that on AutoTrader.com the dealers now make a copy of the CarFax report available so you instantly know the cars history. And when I wanted to test drive a car, I would call first to line up a sales person, say I'm just interested in checking it out and when I got there it was literally hassle free. They took a copy of my license, slapped a dealers plate on the back and handed over the vehicle for me to drive test ("for as long as I needed to"). When I finally decided on the Mazda, I pulled up similar cars for sale in the area and took those with me. I told the salesman I was preapproved, that I wanted the Mazda but as he could see from the listings I had, the vehicle was over priced. I gave him a number I was willing to pay and they accepted it. If you still prefer to go through a broker, you may want to check out your local credit union as well, the one I used to work for in Los Angeles had a similar program as Costco.