Car Fax

[Brian 162]

I've been looking at Auto Trader .com at used Chev Tahoes at dealerships only. On some ads you can look at the Car Fax. Everyone that I looked at said the vehicle is perfect.
Is Car Fax an accurate way of weeding out big problems like accident damage or flood damage?

Thanks

[stomachmonkey]

Depends. Friend of mine was loading his boat onto the trailer when the parking brake on his truck let go.

He had it towed home, took it apart, dried it and put it up for sale within a week.

Carfax can't pick up stuff like that but then really not much can so it's better than nothing.

[Brian 162]

That's what I was thinking. If there is no paper trail (pay cash don't report to insurance co.) nobody's the wiser.

[porsche4life]

IMHO a car fax is worth the paper is printed on and nothing more... Just go look at the damn thing closely....

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Brian 162

That's what I was thinking. If there is no paper trail (pay cash don't report to insurance co.) nobody's the wiser.

Carfax is not a guarantee but can lower the odds of getting a vehicle with bad history.

[89911]

In a word. No. I will give you my example. I purchased a car that was given a clear carfax from a dealership. Once I noticed that it had previous work done, I went back to the dealership and they then told me it had an accident reported. After I spoke to a bodyshop, it was explained to me that a seller can wreck a car, have it fixed using the insurance company and delay cashing the check until the sale is done. Apparently carfax doesn't report a claim until the check is cashed. This is the only explanation that can account for what happened with my encounter.