When buying a car, our instincts beckon us to be absolutely sure of what we are getting ourselves into. We ask questions such as: Are there any problems with the car? Has it ever been in an accident? Has it been well cared for and carefully maintained? Of course when dealing with sellers, it can sometimes be difficult to assess the degree of truth behind the state of the car. When finding oneself in such a position, a logical thing to do is consult Carfax.
Carfax is a company in which you can order a report that shows the history of a particular car. You can visit their website and pay $34.99 for a single car report or you can pay an extra ten bucks and get reports on five cars. If you go on their site, they check for specific information about a car such as the number of owners, accident history, hail damage and much more. To better understand how a carfax report works, check out a sample of a report. By enlisting the services of Carfax, we may be comforted in having the assurance that the car in question has never been wrecked nor had any major issues. But how does Carfax track down the history of a car?
What a valid and interesting question. What they do is compile information from thousands of sources that may connect to the specific car in which you are inquiring. Now that is wonderful! But often times, the human intuition of skepticism kicks in and questions the accuracy of Carfax. Is this something that we should expect to rely on? That is for you to decide.
One of my fellow colleagues has experience working at a car dealership. He gave me some helpful information about Carfax: ”I have found them pretty trustworthy and would personally trust them myself if I was looking at a pre-owned vehicle in our inventory. The only thing I know that maybe should have went on there that didn’t was some hail damage. It has to be over a certain amount of money in damages to be required to be reported to Carfax”. Another source that I spoke to during my investigation on the issue stated that: “My dad got a car after getting the carfax report on it and it runs really well 7 years later!”
Does Carfax know everything about the history of a car?
On the other hand, I asked a local mechanic about Carfax and he stated that mechanics are not required to report repairs. For this reason, many repairs on cars are entirely unknown to Carfax. This suggests that cars repaired from accidents are off of the radar as well. Also, non-disclouser agreements from certain insurance companies keeps reports from the grasp of Carfax. Unfortunately, in some cases Carfax can mistakenly report a wrecked car as accident free. Even with a Carfax report, it can still be difficult to be completely sure if you aren’t getting ripped off. Some individuals have even examined Carfax reports on their own automobiles to find false information reported about their vehicles. Even as the original owners of these vehicles, it can be difficult to sell their car for the asking price once it has been mis-apropriately red flagged by Carfax.
From all of this information, I personally cannot justify Carfax as an accurate source that would dictate my decision upon whether to buy a car or not. This of course, is just my opinion. However, I would say that it wouldn’t necessarily be worthless to consult a Carfax report. This is what I would recommend to my readers: If you are on the verge of selling your car, be sure to procure as much documentation that you can find regarding past maintenance records on your automobile. If you can, ask your insurance company to provide you documentation that your car is indeed accident free and without any major problems (Assuming that it is). Buyers will be much more comfortable seeing first-hand evidence of repair work done on a car. So if you can, let them hear it from you instead of having to hear it from Carfax. At Military Car Lot, we hope that sellers and buyers will be as fair to each other as possible. Especially within the military community. So, if Carfax is what it takes for you to be slightly more assured about buying a car, ask the seller to order a report for you. After all, it couldn’t hurt. If you’re trying to sell your car, having a Carfax report on hand before you sell it might make your offer to buyers even more attractive. It just might be worth the extra 35 bucks to push a potential buyer over the edge.
Vehicle History Reports
The only reliable information contained in a Carfax or other vehicle history report is the vehicle’s DMV record. Carfax can report negative title comments such as rebuilt, salvage, true miles unknown, thief recovery, etc… ONLY if the title was changed at the DMV and ONLY if Carfax received that record.
Seven problems with a Carfax (or any Vehicle History report):
First, if the vehicle has been rebuilt (or salvaged) Carfax can only report this information if the States’ DMV changed the vehicle’s title to “salvage, rebuilt, reconstructed, etc…” However, Carfax does not tell their customers that there are some states that do not have remarks on their titles such as “savage, rebuilt, true miles unknown, thief recovery, etc…” Also, the DMV will not change the title to ‘salvage, rebuilt, etc…” if the insurance company does not notify the state that they have totaled a vehicle. For example, a few years ago, State Farm was sued for not reporting over 30,000 totaled vehicles to the States’ DMV. Since the titles were never changed to salvage, Carfax shows these vehicles to have “clean” titles. These totaled vehicles were sold to salvage yards, patched together, and re-sold to the public with the original “clean” title and a “clean” Carfax report. It is not uncommon for a professional pre-purchase inspection to find accident and frame damage on a vehicle when the Carfax report shows “no reported Structural / Frame Damage” or “Accident / Damage”.
Second, there is no database for body & frame shops to report accident damage and repairs, and not all insurance companies disclose or share their accident information to Carfax. Carfax admits that there are thousands of accidents, each day, which will never show up on a Carfax report. Even if Carfax reports an accident, it cannot tell you the extent of the accident damage, or the quality of any repairs. Only a professional inspection by a Body & Frame Specialist can give you that information.
Third, used car dealers know the limitations of a Carfax report. Some dealers knowingly buy vehicles with frame and accident damaged which have a “clean” Carfax report. They sell these damaged vehicles to unsuspecting buyers showing them the “clean” Carfax before they purchase. Bad vehicles are purchased every day because the seller or salesperson talked the buyer out of a professional inspection by showing a “clean” Carfax report. A vehicle history report cannot tell the buyer the current condition of ANY mechanical or electrical system.
Forth, Carfax does not have any type of reporting mechanism with the tens of thousands independent repair facilities across the United States. Most of the Carfax reports have little or no repair information compared to the millions of automotive repairs performed each day. Even if Carfax reports a repair, it cannot tell you if the problem was fixed correctly or if there are additional mechanical/electrical problems with the vehicle.
Fifth, some States require an annual safety and/or emission testing. A safety or emission test is very limited in its testing and like a repair history, it cannot tell the buyer the current condition of all the vehicle’s components and systems.
Sixth, Carfax is a “History” report. There is a time lag between when a vehicle’s title was changed to reflect a “negative” comment and when Carfax actually reports the title’s new information. This time lag can allow a damaged vehicle to be re-sold before Carfax reports the negative information about the vehicle.
Seventh, a used car buyer should question the cost effectiveness of a vehicle history report. A Carfax report sells for $34-$45. Pay Carfax $34-$45, and you still don’t know the current condition of ANY mechanical or electrical system, you still don’t know for sure if the vehicle was in an accident(s) or the quality of any previous accident damage, or if the vehicle was abused or well maintained. Only a physical pre-purchase inspection by an ASE Master Certified Technician and Body & Frame Specialist can determine the true condition before purchase.
Notes:
Carfax spends millions of dollars advertising their history reports, and for many years, Carfax stated that their history reports were “…your best protection against buying a used car with costly, hidden problems.” That is an untrue statement since a Carfax report cannot reveal the current condition of ANY mechanical or electrical system.
There are many past and present Carfax customers that have been misled to believe the information in a Carfax report is complete and accurate. Many of these customers have filed individual lawsuits and a class action lawsuit against Carfax. When confronted by irate customers, Carfax hides behind their disclaimer. (FYI, Carfax does not allow phoned in complaints).
The perception for today’s used car buyers is that Carfax offers comprehensive historical information about used vehicles, but the reality is the information advertised in a Carfax report is incomplete, limited, misleading, not current, and in some cases totally inaccurate. This difference between the used car buyers’ perception, and reality, will cause them to make bad decisions based upon incomplete information provided by a Carfax report.
The #1 reason bad cars are purchased is the buyers’ inability to determine the current condition of the vehicle before purchase. A history report cannot be used to determine the current condition of the vehicle.
The ONLY way to determine the current condition before purchase is to have the vehicle professionally inspected by an ASE Certified Master Technician and Body & Frame Specialist.