question about carfax reports

[Stanley]

I ran a carfax on a car I'm considering buying. It only showed that the car was serviced for the first 36K miles (it has 80K now). It was serviced at a dealer and it showed what was done, EX: oil and filter change, 30K tuneup. After that it only shows smog reports and owner changes.

However, from looking in the maintenance book, it had a couple of dealership service stamps after 36K. Does this just mean that the dealership that did the work was too lazy to put the VIN into the computer?

The carfax also shows that it was sold at 36K at auction (lease return) as a fleet vehicle. The car is not what I would consider a typical fleet vehicle (Saab 9-5). Can this just mean that the car's title was under a company and driven by an employee?

Thanks!

[TerryH]

While I use carfax when shopping for a car, I don't put much weight on maintenance reports by carfax. Smog and registration are typically on most of them. Its when their smogged or inspected that the mileage is read. I scrutinize mileage for consistancy and of course, look for accidents. You should take any prospects to a qualified garage for a PPI regardless.

Good luck!

[island911]

CF just passes along any info that is easily obtained. They are not that good IMO.

For example: The doofus at the smog testing entered in 128,000 for millage when I had told him 100,028. ... ya, carfax passes along that bad info too.