bzlvr

I am looking at a 2003 E320 Wagon. I ran carfax and found nothing special except the last item of the carfax. The last two items in carfax is as below:

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06/30/2006 Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. No recalls open for repair
06/30/2006 CARFAX Advisor Be sure to buy this vehicle from a licensed dealer. A curbstoner is a person who purchases vehicles at volumes that require a dealer license and then poses as a private seller to sell to unsuspecting buyers for a large profit. Curbstoning is illegal in most States.
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The "No recalls open for repair" appears everytime I ran carfax for different cars. But the "Be sure to buy this vehicle from a licensed dealer" one makes me a little concerned. It does show on some car's record but not all. Why does carfax warn me to "Be sure to buy this vehicle from a licensed dealer"? Does carfax have any record showing the dealer who I am buying from has a kind of "red flag"?

Thanks!

gvaughn

I can't say I know WHY carfax gives the message (based on a red flag or random warning, etc...). But, here is more info about Curbstoners:

http://www.consumerhelpweb.com/auto/acurbston.htm

RickyEarl

Was the car ever bought/sold at an auction? Curbstoning is more common with auctioned cars.

jangy

The carfax report should also give you the ownership history. It may be that this flag pops up if the car fits a particular profile. Are you buying it from a person or dealer? If dealer, is it a CPO? If person, when did the title go in his / her name. If it was last week, then move on.