Warning about CarFax

[67440dodge]

CarFax is often touted as the be all, tell all regarding a vehicles history. Unfortunately it doesnt always tell the truth….

I traded in a truck 8 months after taking out a deer while doing 70 at 3am. Police report was filed, insurance paid for $15k worth of truck repair and when I went to dealer, CarFax showed it as accident and airbag deployed free. Another truck I had was involved in an accident and CarFax listed it as being run off road and from damage description it was a rollover. Couple dealers wouldn’t touch it on a trade based on that despite showing pictures of accident and no roof/door damage. One even put it on a lift to show me the “bent frame which should have been replaced” which was just the bumper mount edge tweaked back and pulled straight. I disputed Carfax’s description of the damage and accident with pictures and they agreed it was in error and changed the damage description and modified the severity. Also their description for service doesn’t always match what was performed.

Moral of the story. Run a CarFax check on your own vehicle before you trade it in to make sure there are no hidden problems your not aware of. And if you do find something, dispute it, they modified mine within a couple days.

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[Blueshound]

Good to know!

 

[JerseyGlock]

CarFax is often touted as the be all, tell all regarding a vehicles history. Unfortunately it doesnt always tell the truth….

I traded in a truck 8 months after taking out a deer while doing 70 at 3am. Police report was filed, insurance paid for $15k worth of truck repair and when I went to dealer, CarFax showed it as accident and airbag deployed free. Another truck I had was involved in an accident and CarFax listed it as being run off road and from damage description it was a rollover. Couple dealers wouldn’t touch it on a trade based on that despite showing pictures of accident and no roof/door damage. One even put it on a lift to show me the “bent frame which should have been replaced” which was just the bumper mount edge tweaked back and pulled straight. I disputed Carfax’s description of the damage and accident with pictures and they agreed it was in error and changed the damage description and modified the severity. Also their description for service doesn’t always match what was performed.

Moral of the story. Run a CarFax check on your own vehicle before you trade it in to make sure there are no hidden problems your not aware of. And if you do find something, dispute it, they modified mine within a couple days.

Same thing happened to my Highlander when a deer ran in front of me. Insurance paid to fix the vehicle but nothing on CarFax.

 

[BCP28]

Similar experiences with two different vehicles. Had a 2010 Ford Escape that was darn near totalled by hail on two different occasions, as well as hit a deer with. Carfax only showed that I was the 2nd and 3rd owner when it came time to get rid of it. (counted me retitling after moving to a different state as an additional owner)

Bought a used 2015 Edge Sport for my wife a couple years ago, and it had "major damage to the rear" on the carfax. The car itself was flawless. No clear signs of damage, repairs or repainting both in the sheetmetal and in the substructure underneath, but given the carfax, we saved ~$5k on the purchase. We just traded the Edge off on a new Escape and the dealer commented on how clean the car was. Mentioned the history and agreed the car speaks for itself. Trade in offer wasnt top dollar, but was still pretty good all things considered.

Moral of the story is take the vehicle history with a grain of salt, check things out yourself, and dispute it if you don't agree with it.

 

[FORDHOSTAGE]

This is serious shit!

This isn't about CarFax but I bought a commuter car from a guy moving out of the state. 4 years old with 50K miles and he sold it to me for $4k

But... it had a "salvaged title" so he couldn't give the damn thing away.

He had pictures of the damage and it was relatively minor from being rear ended but the cost of repair (apparently) was more than the insurance company wanted to pay so they junked it.

Someone bought it, did a great job fixing it and 50K miles later it's been one of the best cars I ever had.

But when I suggested trading it in the Dealer was all over it until he found out about the salvage title. Then he acted like it was stolen!

lol

That's okay. I love this little car and it'll keep me from racking up miles on my new F150.
...someday!

FORD is AWESOME!

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