landru64

i just traded in my 99 c43 at FJ newport beach. apparently the carfax on my car said it was free of accidents. unfortunately, this wasn't actually true. i had two accidents, one about 4 years ago with 15k worth of work on the front and more recently a rear ender worth 9k or so. they were both reported as required to the dmv. this is just a public service announcement for those who have, like i always have, trusted the veracity of the carfax reports.

PUMes

When I purschased a used car I checked w/ the DMV to see if there were any accident reports. Going by CARFAX alone is not enough, if you're going to be on the market for a used car DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

bigmel

I bought a jeep a few year back and I checked CarFax before I bought it and it showed free of accidents, then after I had the car for a few months I check again bc there a free link on a new web site. however it showed that car was in accident with stop sign two years earlier....

Sunny55

that is really scary. i' ve heard of a few of these stories too. it's sad when u really can't trust those reports.

PUMes

Almost better off buying a brand new car, if you can help it. However there are ways around this, such as hiring an independent mechanic to inspect your used prospect, as they can almost always tell when a car has been in an accident.

Leesi

I thought it's reliable

bigmel

it only as reliable as the information it receives. its a database the carfax, autocheck, etc pulls from and some times the DMV or the police department dont update their records carfax dont get it.

If you read the fine print for their Buy Back Guarantee, it states they will buy back the car only if the info was available and the didnt include on the report.

cascade

They can also make mistakes on the data they input.

On one car I had, they typed 131,000 miles (not 113,000 miles which was what the car had on it) at the time.

Then, the next CARFAX entry was the correct mileage, but since it was less than 131,000 miles, the CARFAX showed "Mileage may not be correct miles" and the report on that car was messed up forever.

PBenz32

I had two encounters with incorrect Carfax data:

1) I had a 2002 BMW M3 convertible which I decided to sell in 2005 with 18K miles. Potential buyer contacted me and asked how bad the accident was with the car. I had no idea what he was talking about since the car had never been in accident. He told me that he had run a carfax report on vin# of car and it showed up that the car was in an accident. Here I was the orig owner and car had been seen only by same BMW dealer for service. I contacted Carfax and was told that they don't reveal their sources and they could not do anything about the report, but would double check with their source. They came back a couple weeks later and said that they would not change the report, but asked me whether I had brought my car to a service station for an alignment. Obviously, I said no, and they said that they could not do anything else for me. As I had said before, car was only seen by one BMW dealer, and I had no alignment done, since I still had the orig tires on the car. Buyer had car checked at my BMW dealer and purchased my car.

PBenz32

I had two encounters with incorrect Carfax data:

2) I purchased in 2005 a 2003 MB C32 from an MB Dealer. Car was still under orig warranty and Dealer included CPO warranty, which I extended for another 2 years. Car had about 13K miles and I figured I would purchase a Carfax report. Well, Carfax report showed that car had 33K miles on it. To make a long story short, MB HQ in Montvale, NJ got involved and Carfax changed their report to reflect the correct mileage.

lucky6600

I thought carfax should cover everything.... damm.. now i gotta double check my car then!!

landru64

latest report on this car. i wrote carfax to report the error (they do ask for one to do that!) and this is how they replied

"Thank you for contacting CARFAX.

CARFAX does not accept data from consumers to add to the actual CARFAX Vehicle History Report. All data that appears on our report is supplied by public and private data sources who are under contract with CARFAX to supply such data.

If you would like to add a comment about the vehicle in question for other consumers to see, you may do so by adding it to the CARFAX Customer Ratings and Comments Report. This report is available to any consumer that may purchase or request a CARFAX report for the vehicle in question in the future. To add your comments to the CARFAX Customer Ratings and Comments Report, please click on the following link:"

wtf?!?!? clearly carfax does NOT want to hear the truth. rather, they want to tow the line and stick with their contracted sources.