How can Carfax be soooo wrong?

[Rick Lee]

In getting my 993 ready to list for sale, I pulled a Carfax report. It's sparkling clean, makes no mention of the three insurance claims I've had on it in 12 yrs. I will disclose them all in my ad, FWIW.

When I sold my E46, the buyer pulled a report and I had some 'splainin' to do. The $7k claim from the woman who rear-ended me at a red light never showed on Carfax. Yet, the incident where the pedestrian claimed I tapped her did show as an accident and I never had any damage or work done on the vehicle as a result.

For $40 I'd expect a little more accuracy. This is worthless.

[Dantilla]

I was recently at an insurance auction that included a severely damaged 2014 Tahoe.

Before bidding on this item began, the auctioneer told the crowd it comes with a clear title, meaning nothing will show up on Carfax.
The winning bid was nearly twice what I think it should have been for something mangled as bad as this one.

I'm sure it will soon show up on some used car lot where the sales dude will shove the carfax report in the buyer's face to keep them from actually looking under the hood.

[Rick Lee]

My car was repaired by the best shop on the east coast and to better than new condition. That was in 2005, so it would have looked too good back then after the full respray. But now it looks normal and I'm pretty sure it'd be hard to notice any work done on it. Every decal is there too.

[Nickshu]

Carfax is joke. Ignore It

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

In getting my 993 ready to list for sale,

Say it ain't so.

What's your plan?

[Rick Lee]

Plan is to cash out before the bubble bursts. I never drive this car anymore and it makes me sick to see her collect dust in the garage,

[Rick V]

Carfax is a sales gimmick for the people who believe everything they read, I think you would get better information on a car if you had Scoobie and Shaggy do the research for you before you buy.

[Rick Lee]

How does Carfax find accidents then? Only if the car was repaired at a dealership? All three of these accident repairs were paid for by insurance companies, two of which are big, national brands. How could they have not reported to Carfax?

[widebody911]

If CarFax put as much effort into data collection as they do going after CarFax threads on forums, they might actually have something.

[onewhippedpuppy]

The number of sheeple that base their buying decisions on a Carfax is SHOCKING. "Lots of commercials with a cute little fox, they must be good".

My 996TT shows a past accident on the Carfax, no other details. The bulk of the car has been repainted, quality is overall quite good. I have an inspection report that includes details all the way down to frame measurements showing that there was no structural damage or repair, and that the car is still 100% true to factory specs. All of this information is fully and honestly disclosed. But nearly everyone that passes does so because of the Carfax report. These same fools will go buy a car that's been repainted due to "rock chips" because it has a clean Carfax, not knowing that the car has been in a serious accident that simply wasn't reported.

I've owned plenty of cars that I know have been in accidents and I know have had paintwork done - clean Carfax. I've seen cars sell at auction that have noted prior structural repair - clean Carfax. I've seen cars not sell because a totally consistent mileage history is screwed up by one fat-finger at the DMV and Carfax flags an odometer discrepancy. It is a joke, and anyone that bases their buying decisions on a Carfax is seriously playing with fire.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

How does Carfax find accidents then? Only if the car was repaired at a dealership? All three of these accident repairs were paid for by insurance companies, two of which are big, national brands. How could they have not reported to Carfax?

Reporting is optional, not every shop or insurance company participates. Their advertising makes it appear to be all encompassing, it is anything but.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by widebody911

If CarFax put as much effort into data collection as they do going after CarFax threads on forums, they might actually have something.

There are ads on every local Craigslist selling Carfax reports for $8-20. How hard would it be for CF to have those flagged?

If whoever wants my car is very knowledgeable about 993s and some of the well-known shops in the US, they won't be turned off at all by my car's "stories." Sure, it had a clean Carfax, but the repairs done were done by the best with no expense spared.

[rammstein]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Reporting is optional, not every shop or insurance company participates. Their advertising makes it appear to be all encompassing, it is anything but.

Indeed. In my searches, I've seen cars with 'clean' carfax reports are blatantly obvious accident repair.

IMO, Carfax is useful for showing things, but it does not prove the absence of accidents. It also sucks, because even if a Carfax shows an accident, and the seller explains that it was a 5 mph bump, and I believe him, it still is a blemish on the car going down the road if I choose to sell it later on. Overall, I think Carfax is bad for the world.

Also, I've been watching your 996tt sale. Surprised it hasn't gone yet. I have to assume its because of the history. Let me ask you- how do you like driving it? With it having AWD, does it mean tail-out shenanigans are impossible?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by rammstein

It also sucks, because even if a Carfax shows an accident, and the seller explains that it was a 5 mph bump, and I believe him, it still is a blemish on the car going down the road if I choose to sell it later on.

The fact that the pedestrian who claims I tapped her showed up on Carfax is just beyond ridiculous. Because she was pregnant, EMS said they wanted to take her to the ER to check out. She got a lawyer, who then dropped her case and, IIRC, my insurance paid for her ambulance ride and that was it. Not a mark on my car (because I didn't hit her) and no repair done. This is USAA! This got reported to Carfax, but the repair they paid for when I spun into a curb, bent a wheel and had a wheel bearing replaced at an authorized repair shop years earlier did not show up. WTF?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by rammstein

Let me ask you- how do you like driving it? With it having AWD, does it mean tail-out shenanigans are impossible?

It is a massively impressive car, but it's laughable how far you are from the limits when driving on the street. I'm sure you can get it sideways given enough speed, throttle, and balls, but I'm not 16 anymore. If you want the crazy GT2 experience you can yank the front diff and driveshafts to make it RWD, it's basically free and reversible. Like all 996s it's too quiet, but they sound great with the addition of a good sport exhaust. It has some air cooled character that I didn't expect, at idle it sounds exactly like my old Carrera did. If it doesn't sell at some point in the near future I might just keep the damn thing.

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The fact that the pedestrian who claims I tapped her showed up on Carfax is just beyond ridiculous. Because she was pregnant, EMS said they wanted to take her to the ER to check out. She got a lawyer, who then dropped her case and, IIRC, my insurance paid for her ambulance ride and that was it. Not a mark on my car (because I didn't hit her) and no repair done. This is USAA! This got reported to Carfax, but the repair they paid for when I spun into a curb, bent a wheel and had a wheel bearing replaced at an authorized repair shop years earlier did not show up. WTF?

Exactly why they are worthless. Partial disclosure, incorrect information.

[Weaver]

I'm listing my 68K mile '10 GTI w/DSG this weekend. I got hit by a girl texting while driving through the Purdue University campus, so it was a really low speed hit, RF fender and front bumper. Could have driven home but since the fender was very close to the tire and I was 70 miles from home and pissed off I just had it towed to the VW dealership in town and had them put on a real VW fender and bumper cover. The Purdue cop wrote it up as if it was a high speed crash and the front was ripped off! It was in the shop for only 4 days! I've put 30K miles on it since then and its a perfect as a 68K mile GTI can be. But because of a crap CarFax listing I'm dropping the price $1500 just to be competitive. Sucks......

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

My 996TT shows a past accident on the Carfax, no other details.

Not to hijack the thread but...Matt I would have bought your 996TT a month ago if it wasn't a sunroof delete car. Sorry, I know that doesn't make you feel better, but the heart wants what it wants, I need a sunroof. If you find another silver or black '02-'05 with 50K miles or less I'll be out there with my truck and trailer in a flash.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Weaver

Not to hijack the thread but...Matt I would have bought your 996TT a month ago if it wasn't a sunroof delete car. Sorry, I know that doesn't make you feel better, but the heart wants what it wants, I need a sunroof. If you find another silver or black '02-'05 with 50K miles or less I'll be out there with my truck and trailer in a flash.

No worries. I'm really surprised that somebody hasn't snatched it up for track use, I've seen a few other sunroof delete cars on the forums but can't recall ever seeing another for sale. As somebody that has repaired plenty of Porsche sunroofs, I'm pretty ok with the sunroof delete.

[rammstein]

I kinda halted my car search because the wife and I started down the road of trying to buy a house, but we've since decided to table that for a year. So now I can look again, but with the house purchase looming, my budget has dropped to about $30k. So I've been investigating stuff at that level. If your turbo was $30k I'd buy it now, but you'd be insane to do that . For $30, it looks like I could get a pretty minty E46M3. Or I could wait for the Focus RS to come out which should be in the mid 30s (probably high, but for a new car with warranty I could probably justify this in my head). Whatever I get needs to be dead-nuts reliable as it will be a daily, so I have to disregard a lot of the older and/or higher mileage stuff. Also have to disregard anything modified as I am done dealing with headaches (something like an exhaust or wheels is fine).

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

No worries. I'm really surprised that somebody hasn't snatched it up for track use, I've seen a few other sunroof delete cars on the forums but can't recall ever seeing another for sale. As somebody that has repaired plenty of Porsche sunroofs, I'm pretty ok with the sunroof delete.

I just spent an hour going over my finances, trying to figure out a way to buy your car without putting myself in a real tight spot. Just can't quite manage it. Sorry.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The fact that the pedestrian who claims I tapped her showed up on Carfax is just beyond ridiculous. Because she was pregnant, EMS said they wanted to take her to the ER to check out. She got a lawyer, who then dropped her case and, IIRC, my insurance paid for her ambulance ride and that was it. Not a mark on my car (because I didn't hit her) and no repair done. This is USAA! This got reported to Carfax, but the repair they paid for when I spun into a curb, bent a wheel and had a wheel bearing replaced at an authorized repair shop years earlier did not show up. WTF?

Try contacting Carfax to get it removed. They're very responsive and reasonable.