Re Carfax

[MARTIN AIDE]

Hi guys,wondering why a 91 911 that is an American car only has a history back to 2000 but shows no salvage or such.what do you think could be the reason?thanks,marty

[bhyde]

That is not too unusual. My '86 only showed records back to 1997 or so. It could be that no carfax records were generated prior to 2000. This depends on who is doing the work on the car and whether or not they reported it.
I ran a carfax on my Chevy truck, which has been involved in 2 accidents, and only one accident is shown. Even though the same repair shop did the work both times!
I'm not sure how carfax collects data, but most carfax's are incomplete at best.

[Noah930]

Can't answer your question directly. However, just to let you know you're not alone, I've run a Carfax (as well a check via some other similar company) on my '87. The records only went back to the late-90s, IIRC. Nothing for the first 13/14 years of the car's existence.

I also had the California DMV look up my car in their records, as I know the car was purchased in that state (and spent its first years, there). CA had no record of the car at all. The DMV explained that if the file is inactive for 5 years, all records get erased.

So (this is my conjecture, here) Carfax and the like may only be as good as available DMV and car insurance industry records are at the time you ask the VIN to be run. So, Martin, you know what the car's record has been since 2000, and you know that the title was clear in 2000. But if there were accidents or title funny-stuff prior to 2000, that may have been lost.

[bell]

carfax is a scam........and barely accurate, basing a decision to purchase on carfax alone is a very very bad idea (not that you were).
that is all

[ramonesfreak]

my 83 only went back to 97

[MARTIN AIDE]

the funny thing is the canadian version goes back to 95 and the car is from the States,so anyway I guess that shouldn't raise alarm bells then?Marty

[Joe Bob]

Carfax sucks....

[MARTIN AIDE]

Is there a different way to do a history check?Marty