What they have said, And...
Gsupa:
Your first and most important line of defense is to have a knowledgeable person look the vehicle over both cosmetically and mechanically. There is no substitute for this step, so skip it at your own peril. Unless, of course, you know the person selling the vehicle and they purchased the vehicle new from the dealer and have had it regularly serviced with accompanying service records.
On to "chopped cars" as Rob referred to them. If by chopped, Rob, you mean "total loss" or "salvage" for which an insurance company paid off the original owner and sold the vehicle for rebuilding, it is my understanding that the D.R. does not allow former "total loss" or "salvage" vehicles into the country and supposedly has not for several years now. That is not to say, there are none in the country. If I recall correctly the DR1 news, some time ago, carried a story about the local new car dealers association complaining about it and it was rectified by not allowing those types of vehicles into the D.R.
Now, what are those types of vehicles? Vehicles, from the U.S., that have a history of fire, flood, collision, wherein the insurance company declares the vehicle a total loss are examples. Even those vehicles that have been stolen and then recovered after 30 days, in most states, end up initially with what is called a salvage title as the insurance company has paid off the original owner and now seeks to sell the vehicle at a salvage auction to recoup some or all of its money.
Sometimes those vehicles have minimal damage or no damage at all. How is that you say? By way of true example, lets say a new Volvo wagon is supposedly test driven in Florida and the vehicle eventually ends up abandoned in a parking garage in Connecticut. The vehicle has been gone 65 days before recovery. The dealers insurance company has paid the claim to the dealer and now has possession of the vehicle. Since insurance companies are not in the car business per se, they submit the car to an auction where it is noted the vehicle will be given a branded title as a recovered theft. And, of course, on the other end of the spectrum are those vehicles that are stolen and wrecked, dropped into a lake or river etc. You just don't always know the real reason other than "recovered theft."
Onward to Carfax.com. It has been a great, but not perfect, resource for the car buying public. There have been instances where they have not correctly determined the real history of the vehicle and there are other instances where they could not have done so. By way of example, carfax relies heavily on outside sources of information for their data. One source is insurance company data. But, what if the claim does not go through an insurance company?
Many of the rental car companies are self insured. Thus they internally handle claims losses and reporting for that vehicle may never take place. Further, if you do not carry collision insurance and end up in an accident that is your fault, you may have the vehicle repaired yourself and thus it is unlikely a company like carfax would ever be made aware of the accident. That having been said, I would still run a carfax on any car I was interested in, but only after having the car checked out first hand by a knowledgeable person. Thus I would consider carfax a reasonable secondary line of defense.
One point worth noting, if the vehicle was wrecked and fixed in the D.R. there is probably no data, carfax or otherwise that you can access to determine the nature and extent of that damage.
Now to heresy on the these boards. I have been involved in shipping two vehicles to the D.R. IF you have a good shipping company who can handle door to door, and if you already own a vehicle (no liens and I believe it cannot be more than 5 years old) and consider it to be reliable, and if the taxes and shipping do not equal or exceed the cost to purchase the same vehicle there and, if, and only if, you have the patience to handle the inevitable stress that comes with anything to do with the ports and Customs, then in my opinion I would look into shipping. Best of Luck!
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2