Carfax Accident / Damage - Impact to Valuation

bcheney · 05-04-2017, 07:27 AM

I just looked at a Boxter that has low miles...<40K. The car is clean inside and has quite a few rock chips up front on the bumper and a few more on two of the fenders. The Carfax report says it has Accident / Damage reported due to a "left side impact" and it says the car was Functional and could be driven away from the scene. When looking at the left side I see no signs of anything major that happened. Door is perfectly aligned paint seems to be consistent so I am not sure what really happened. I guess the best thing would be to let a body shop look at it for an assessment. In the meantime, How do you think this news impacts the valuation of the car? I am thinking this could have been something minor...but the blemish on the Carfax report will always be there...

Brokentoy · Brokentoy's Garage

Having seen many many cars that have been repaired, I can tell you that a trained eye from the paint world will spot what was painted immediately. The problem with some of the car history reporting is that no details are given on most, and something as simple as a red light bump gets reported if the car gets anything done at a body shop and insurance pays. Value will be affected some for the rest of the life of the car, but if a minor repair was done correctly should not hinder your ability to enjoy the car.
Boxters being very affordable for what you get, it likely won't kill a good deal.
If the car was in a major wreck with extensive damage, drivable or not, a trained eye will see that immediately as well.
Offer to pay for the inspection, as few like to work for free.

kyngfish · kyngfish's Garage

Carfax should also show where repair was done. If they replaced the panel it should look great. If they used some kind of filler then repaint you'll see a slight change in the texture of the paint. Still get a ppi and make sure suspension and frame are OK. Also make sure the price you get reflects the value post accident. Or if/when you resell, you'll lose money.

Just to give you an idea, my friends 997 4S had a tail light and a bumper cover replaced after a slight fender bender (not his fault). That minor damage on the carfax dropped the value over ten grand when he sold it in 2015 (2009 model)

bcheney · 05-04-2017, 07:23 PM

Wow that $10k hit for something minor was terrible. Glad I have asked this question...I appreciate this info and welcome anymore.

trader220 · 05-05-2017, 05:19 AM

Having appraised thousands of cars when I ran the used car division for a dealership group I would say this. On a car thats 5 or more years old, out of warranty and as long as its not an "air bag deployed" accident, a ding on the carfax doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot, especially if it occurred years ago.

If its a very high line car thats going to resell for big dollars year maybe. If there is a ding on the carfax from 2 months ago and someone is selling the car right away then yea maybe. If the accident happened 3, 4 or more years ago and tens of thousands of miles ago, its no big deal anymore.

What year is the boxster? When did the accident happen? How many miles ago?

On a 2009 997S that was traded in 2015, unless the accident was recent to the time the car was being traded or it was an air bag deployed accident, dinging the car ten grand meant that the person who traded it got suckered. I would have dinged it a bit but not ten grand by a long shot.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

i don't know about your area, but in So Cal, the choice of used Boxsters is extensive. No reason to make any compromises. Prior damage is 'a story.' You can find 'no stories' cars easily enough.

Disclaimer: just because there's no accident on the CarFax doesn't mean there hasn't been one. You do want a friendly body guy to advise you, if you do not have a well-trained eye for repair evidence.

gearby · 05-05-2017, 08:37 AM

I haven't worked on a Boxster but I have repaired 3 other totaled cars. All of them have Factory painted panels on them . Auto manufacturers only painted the cars so many colors. In today's day and age with the internet you can find good replacement panels in their original paint in your color. It's actually cheaper than having them repainted in most cases. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the car has factory paint on all of its panels. If the damage was limited to a front fender and a door I can guarantee you those could be found.