What's the point of a carfax?
- Thread starter FrenchLicker
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You see all those commercials and they make it like the carfax is the word of god
Well I looked and they already have my dart for sale and checked the carfax.... No hail damage listed and it's in the "buy back" section.... But eh, the transmission getting replaced for the 40 day repair shows up as "vehicle serviced"
That was your banks fault not carfax. And of course they would make you prove the information was wrong before they would just change it based on your good word.....
If it was not for carfax then I could have traded my car in that day with no issue and it would have qualified as being a COP car. Honda pulled up the carfax and would not even look at my car or give me a trade appraisal.
Still falls back on the bank for the error. And not to throw fire on the flame...ok maybe a little.... but on you for not checking the banks work.
Still falls back on the bank for the error. And not to throw fire on the flame...ok maybe a little.... but on you for not checking the banks work.
You sound like a car salesman.
Am I right?
Saying there is no point for a carfax if it can be inaccurate is like saying there is no point in locking your door if it can be kicked down. Carfax is relevant but it only gives you a window into the history of the car. It won't tell you everything but gives you a good idea of how the car was maintained and treated.
...except that all shops and car owners know about it and do quite well at keeping lots of info off those reports.
carmax showed us several "clean" carfax's for cars that i found obvious damage repairs (one toyota had been in a front and rear collision, real good paint match....but they painted the bolts....on only one side.
carmax said there's no way carfax is wrong and that was factory paint.
that and since the dealers pay for em when selling tells you its just a sales gimmick nowadays.
carmax showed us several "clean" carfax's for cars that i found obvious damage repairs (one toyota had been in a front and rear collision, real good paint match....but they painted the bolts....on only one side.
carmax said there's no way carfax is wrong and that was factory paint.
that and since the dealers pay for em when selling tells you its just a sales gimmick nowadays.
Agreed with Willizm. There's no question that you cannot take CarFax as gospel, but that doesn't make it completely useless. It is just another piece of the puzzle when putting together the picture of a car's history. Sure, there's a lot of info missing, but if something IS reported and not messed with, you have access to that info, and those can all be clues. Was the car totaled, how many owners has it had, how quickly has it been sold between owners, etc. These are all factors that can help determine whether you want to buy the vehicle or not.
I'd never pay for a report given the incompleteness they usually display, but I would still like to see it before buying a car if I can obtain it for free.
I'd never pay for a report given the incompleteness they usually display, but I would still like to see it before buying a car if I can obtain it for free.
Exactly, if the report has tons of service detail from a dealership it gives you an idea of how the person treated the vehicle. If it's sparse with information then it should be a red flag to a buyer to question why it has so little detail. Its not the end all be all, but It's a piece of the puzzle that paints the picture along with doing your own assessment of the car. Sure someone could have fixed the car without reporting it to insurance but does that make using a carfax completely useless. No. Just as my argument on locks. You wouldn't do without a lock just because it could be picked or broken. Systems can be circumvented but it shouldn't stop you from using them
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