First time some asked me for a Carfax

[bcgreen]

I am wondering if Carfax has info on my '76 vehicle which came from France about 5 years ago? I had not thought about getting one until some one made a request to purchase my car and asked for the CF.

[masraum]

They probably haven't thought about it a whole lot (I was going to say, "they're probably a moron" but it's Christmas Eve...). If the vehicle is in the country, then there will probably be info, but the only info that I'd expect them to have is probably something that says "this vehicle was first registered 5 years ago" and then maybe the yearly registation renewals.

I really doubt that there would be anything about any insurance issues in France.

I'd tell them "go to carfax, pay the $20 to get the report if you want it."

[speeder]

Nothing older than a 1981 model year has a Carfax, (beginning of 17-digit VINs), and only cars that have been in and were sold for the USA market. Other countries and regions of the world have their own, different versions of Carfax and Autocheck.

All these services are compilations of public records from the good old internet.

[bcgreen]

Thanks guys

[wildthing]

Buyer should pay for the Carfax. Mostly dealers give Carfax for free...

[RSBob]

Before purchasing a Porsche from Canada I had a Canadian CarFax run, it was a total waste of money. It’s 56k history had two entries, which both read: “Service Performed”. It’s nothing like the US version even though it is owned by the US company. I called and complained about total lack of detail and they said they had no connections to the dealerships. I tried getting the service history from my local dealer, and they told me their system doesn’t interface with other dealers and to call the Vancouver dealer. I was amazed on both counts.

Long story short, a CarFax is only good on vehicles sold in the US.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Long story short, a CarFax is only good on vehicles sold in the US.

And even then, it's still not "good." It's just possibly better than nothing.

[ZOO]

A CarFax request ultimately did lead to a successful sale of my mother’s MINI Cooper. But the actual document was about as useless as all season tires in winter. However, they do seem to have convinced the average consumer that they are worth the investment.

[Arizona_928]

I would consider that inquiry as spam. Any reasonable adult that can still function on more then two neurons would know that is a waste of time and money.

[nvr2mny]

Carfax is a TOTAL WASTE. I bought a high end Benz, from a MBZ dealer that “had” a clean CF report. Went to trade it a few years later and the dealer asked about “the accident” on the CF report. I was dumbfounded. I found out that CF added the incident to the report 3 YEARS AFTER it happened. So, it was ‘clean’ (only on the report) when I bought it, but not when I went to trade it. Worse than that when I contacted CF they REFUSED to give me ANY information. Their ineffectiveness cost me 20+% on my trade. I will NEVER TRUST OR USE THEM AGAIN - EVER. I wish someone would class action those bastards as I’d be happy to join in.

[bcgreen]

Another question, if everyone is listening. Besides the Carfax he wants to see a copy of the Title.
Is there any problem making a copy of my title and emailing it to them?
No one in my past automobile transactions has asked to see the title except when money is exchanged.

[Steve Carlton]

I would make a copy and black out your personal information. Buyer can know who you are later if he buys the car.

[biosurfer1]

I got asked to show a title but that was an out of country buyer. I guess with so many scams, buyers and sellers need to be careful. I would black out address and it should be fine

[Laneco]

As stated above...you need a 1981 or newer 17 digit VIN to even run a carfax...

Not going to happen on a 76.

angela

[A930Rocket]

Where is the buyer...in the US or another country?

Sending information to someone I don’t know just sends up red flags.

That said, when I sold my 930, the buyer was from Canada. I sent lots of pictures and a long description. He paid 50% up from and 50% when he picked it up.

[bcgreen]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Where is the buyer...in the US or another country?

Sending information to someone I don’t know just sends up red flags.

That said, when I sold my 930, the buyer was from Canada. I sent lots of pictures and a long description. He paid 50% up from and 50% when he picked it up.

When I asked him where he is located he said "great cali". Where the heck is that?
I don't want to give his whole number just in case he is a member here. It is 12 digits.
+49601

[speeder]

Rare case of disagreeing w my esteemed colleague Steve Carlton but I refuse to give someone a photo of a title. I assure them that I have a clean title in hand for the bike/car/whatever and that they can see it in person anytime but not photograph it.

I don't consider myself paranoid in the least in terms of scams but a photo of a title w everything but my name and address is just asking for it. I had a guy from China wanting a photo of the title for a bike I was selling, I basically told him to pound sand and if he needed that, don't buy the bike. These are people who can counterfeit the space shuttle, how hard is it to photoshop different names on a title? Exactly what they would do w it, I'm not sure but I can think of many possibilities.

He's been to my house and knows where the bike is stored, now he also has his own copy of the title?? Oh, hell no...

There is no legit reason why someone needs a photo of your title. If he needs to prove it has a clean title for his overseas partner, he can look at it and report to the guy.

[speeder]

Also, wrt Carfax...anyone can get a free CF for their own car, it's a one-time deal. So it's not unreasonable for someone to ask a seller for one, it's free. Not the case for a buyer looking at multiple cars, though. No freebie there.

As for the reliability of a CF, I've heard (true) stories of a dealer taking in a trade, running a CF that came back clean and then running it again a week later and it has something awful on it. Dealers get screwed too.

Still, they are better than nothing in most all cases and sometimes have a lot of valuable info in them. I like to see where an older car has lived it's life, more than anything. A car in a lovely car state like Oregon or North Carolina often lived its whole life in Detroit until 2 years ago, etc...

[bcgreen]

Originally Posted by speeder

Also, wrt Carfax...anyone can get a free CF for their own car, it's a one-time deal. So it's not unreasonable for someone to ask a seller for one, it's free. Not the case for a buyer looking at multiple cars, though. No freebie there.

As for the reliability of a CF, I've heard (true) stories of a dealer taking in a trade, running a CF that came back clean and then running it again a week later and it has something awful on it. Dealers get screwed too.

Still, they are better than nothing in most all cases and sometimes have a lot of valuable info in them. I like to see where an older car has lived it's life, more than anything. A car in a lovely car state like Oregon or North Carolina often lived its whole life in Detroit until 2 years ago, etc...

Still there won't be any thing on my car considering 1976 and Europe.

[john70t]

Part of an early 'tire-kicker' ritual is to see if you will jump through hoops for them.