Carfax Faulty?

[pwd72s]

I just watched a local TV news show...they did a "consumer report" on used cars carfaxing clean, but weren't. One was a '95 "Porshe" Carrera...had been rear ended, carfax said no accidents. It seems in many cases, carfax reports are NOT complete. There was a class action suit...anyway, click here for more info.

http://www.westcarsettlement.com/

[slodave]

I think part of the problem is that only accidents that get reported to insurance cos. are listed on Carfax. If you skip the accident reports, both parties assume responsibility and cars are repaired and paid in cash, nothing is reported.

Dave

[pwd72s]

You're on to something there, Dave...the story reported that only some insurance companies report to carfax...most don't. The report listed two that do, but I forget which two...

[slodave]

I'm not even referring to accidents reported to insurance. My 911 has a clean report, yet it has been in three accidents. Two were my mom backing into the left rear fender, twice! Once was a SUV/truck that backed up too much and the tow hitch messed up the hood. These were all settled outside of insurance, body shops/mechanics don't report to Carfax. Granted, in the above example, two were family related, but the third was settled and both parties walked away happy and no ones insurance went up. In Cali, I believe that any accident resulting in over $500.- in damage needs to be reported.

I am not saying that Carfax is bad, but I do know that my 2001 Toyota Corolla came back clean and I know that something happened to the right front door area. It squeaks and the gaps are not right.

Dave

[pwd72s]

The report closed with the mantra we say here...never buy a car sight unseen, and GET A PPI from an independent mechanic...
I guess that's the bottom line. As the report said...a carfax may not be worth the ink used to print it out.

[slodave]

I don't think I would pay for a Carfax report. I'd put the money towards a PPI. The report for my Toyota was free.... I'll take that.

Dave

[Z-man]

This is how I've used Carfax in the past:

Carfax is good for one thing: if the report comes up with a bunch of issues, you can walk away from a headache. There is no need to waste $$ on a PPI on a car that comes up with an issue-filled Carfax. IE: I use Carfax to weed out the really, really bad ones.

The converse of that is NOT true - if the Carfax comes up clean on a car, that doesn't necessarily mean it is a clean car -- it simply means you should research the car more -- talk to the owner and see if what he says matches with what Carfax indicates -- that can help determine if the seller is being honest with you. Once that checks out, then you can arrange for a PPI if you're still comfortable with the car.

-Z-man.

[legion]

+1000 to Z-man.