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That's an excellent point.
In fact, it doesn't seem that under Carfax's new setup, giving away what ever is left of your paid for searches is prohibited.
They still are concerned about not using the "consumer" carfax ($45 for 5 searches) for "commercial" purposes. It needs to be non-commercial use, i.e., "personal" use. But giving away your remaining searches to someone (as long as they aren't a dealer) is not commercial and does not appear to be against their current rules/agreement.
They are still concerned about "commercial" v. "non-commercial/personal" use because, contrary to what most people think, they charge even MORE to dealerships and other commercial accounts! Regular consumers just looking for a car actually get a price break. That's why Carfax's biggest concern was dealerships using multiple credit cards to buy "personal" accounts and using them in their commercial business.
That was particularly true under the old structure, with $40 per month and "unlimited" searches, a dealership could get 40-50 searches before they got cut off. That would lower their cost to $1 per search, compared to the roughly $15/search for a commercial account. Added up, it could make a big difference on a small dealerships expenses.
That old system was difficult for Carfax to monitor. They monitored usage very closely, and if you did sometimes as few as 25 searches on their supposed "unlimited" program, they'd cut you off. You'd then have to contact them and "prove" you weren't a dealer. Pissed a lot of people off, and was an administrative nightmare for Carfax.
They'd also monitor websites like Pelican and other big car boards, and send warnings to the operators to not provide a forum for the sharing of "unlimited" Carfax accounts.
This new system is a lot easier for Carfax, for the most part it eliminates the problem by putting rough parity between the commercial and personal prices.
I have to hand it to Carfax. They did an excellent job creating a market out of thin air. They built it up to have huge market value, initially by keeping prices low. Now that they are the market leader, they are really sticking it to people/businesses with their pricing. The market could use more competition. AutoCheck is being used by more and more dealerships because their pricing is more aggressive.
Anyways, it doesn't seem like "sharing" your paid for $45/5 search account is a violation of the agreement. And, even if it technically is, I doubt Carfax cares anymore, since the account is limited to 5 searches and they have in effect been all paid for.
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