Carfax issues

[OrangeCrush5.0]

Shortly after I purchased my car I was rear ended by an SUV. As soon as I got out the car, the SUV backed up and fled. I followed him until the police arrived. His bumper had a hole in it, mine had green paint from his car. The green paint buffed out easily and didn’t leave a scratch or scuff. I recently gathered a couple offers from dealers for my car, all of them said they had to wholesale it due to the Carfax. $1700 - $1900 is about what I lost in value due to a no damage accident.

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[Bikeman315]

Shortly after I purchased my car I was rear ended by an SUV. As soon as I got out the car, the SUV backed up and fled. I followed him until the police arrived. His bumper had a hole in it, mine had green paint from his car. The green paint buffed out easily and didn’t leave a scratch or scuff. I recently gathered a couple offers from dealers for my car, all of them said they had to wholesale it due to the Carfax. $1700 - $1900 is about what I lost in value due to a no damage accident.

At this point find another dealer or better yet a private party. It sounds like you did not need to get the police involved but since you did this is the cost.

 

[JCFoster]

I just gave up the fight with Carfax, they reported I had vehicle damage, but no other info except a date, mileage and place in Tx. My car had never been damaged, but somehow my VIN was entered. I tried to get them to verify where and who or what had been damaged and they wouldn’t budge or give any information.

 

[Bikeman315]

I just gave up the fight with Carfax, they reported I had vehicle damage, but no other info except a date, mileage and place in Tx. My car had never been damaged, but somehow my VIN was entered. I tried to get them to verify where and who or what had been damaged and they wouldn’t budge or give any information.

There are numerous complaints about Carfax online. All it takes in one person to start a class action. It's going to take time, effort and most likely a few bucks but someone, somewhere will eventually do it.

 

[NFG19]

Had the same problem with the 13GT it got reported the day it happened! I guess the police reported it cause I hadn’t contacted my insurance till the next day. Only reason I found out about it was when I went to sell my car it was reported as a total loss and it wasn’t insurance fixed it. It was a nightmare!

 

[GregP27]

When I moved to Texas in 2005, I had a 2002 Camaro SS. I had 36,000 miles on it and they took that data. Later, in 2011, a CarFax said that I had 59,000 recorded in Texas in 2005 and 51,000 recorded in 2006 when I moved to SoCal. I was never able to get the CarFax guys to back off on that, and I never went back to check if they recorded the correct mileage when I was in Texas (never thought to go check it a couple fo weeks after I moved there), so I lost a lot of value on my Camaro when I sold it.

While I think something like CarFax is a good idea, it is basically flawed in reality since you never get a printout of what gets sent to the CarFax people, so you never even KNOW to fight it until it way too late. At this time, I think CarFax is a BAD idea since my only experience with it has been VERY negative and I never even KNEW it was going to be a factor to start with.

Phooey on CarFax.

 

[Torched10]

Shortly after I purchased my car I was rear ended by an SUV. As soon as I got out the car, the SUV backed up and fled. I followed him until the police arrived. His bumper had a hole in it, mine had green paint from his car. The green paint buffed out easily and didn’t leave a scratch or scuff. I recently gathered a couple offers from dealers for my car, all of them said they had to wholesale it due to the Carfax. $1700 - $1900 is about what I lost in value due to a no damage accident.

Might think of having a good body shop analyze your car and certify it hadn't be resprayed anywhere.i know if I were a buyer that's work for me..theres always telltale signs of respray.

 

[Snowwolfe]

Carfax is the biggest scam created in the last 20 years or so. I wouldn't trust one word out of their mouth, either good or bad.

 

[Hadelson]

Insurance provides incentives to report on Carfax. In the end, it reduces there costs for claim pay-outs. Its shady and we are the ones who are on the wrong end.

 

[draph]

OP, has anyone inspected under the bumper cover to ensure the foam structure underneath didn't get crushed? The cover may spring back, the cosmetic damage may buff out; but what's underneath has been known not to bounce back as well, possibly to the point it won't protect the structure as well if there's another rear ender.

It's interesting to hear the CarFax horror stories. Given there's millions of transactions a year, it's not surprising there'd be errors made. It's just disappointing such a company wouldn't have a grievance/rebuttal process that allows people to provide evidence/paperwork/sworn affidavits to enable corrections. If class action as one poster mentioned is to become reality, evidence and proof of errors as well as unwillingness to correct will have to be proven if there would be any traction to the suit. Given insurance fraud isn't rare, and there is also evidence of undisclosed past damages and repairs in re-sales, it's hard not to blame CarFax for being skeptical of people claiming their car's historical damage data is wrong or overstated, and they certainly can't take anyone's word with no proof, because then CarFax becomes liable for undisclosed damages that may affect safety of subsequent owners.

So, to make a legal CarFax change that protects both parties, the car seller would probably have to pay more in legal support fees than the diminished value loss from which he's trying to avoid... So, in the OP's case, justice cost him...maybe - because it seems the perp's insurance company could have provided diminished value in the settlement...So, I think that's the lesson learned here: If there's an accident report of any kind involved, no matter how minor the damages, get diminished value as part of your settlement. BTW, OP, did you get a settlement, or did you "buff it right out" without seeking anything already from the perp or his insurance company? If you got diminished value plus a check for bumper repairs in your accident settlement and also tried to avoid it on the trade in and Carfax "caught" you, you might want to count your blessings.

 

[Hadelson]

OP, has anyone inspected under the bumper cover to ensure the foam structure underneath didn't get crushed? The cover may spring back, the cosmetic damage may buff out; but what's underneath has been known not to bounce back as well, possibly to the point it won't protect the structure as well if there's another rear ender.
.

The insurance companies are not our friends and are in business to make money. You can get what you pay for, but must be diligent, know the laws and provide detailed records. I just closed out minor incident for my 4Runner having it repaired with OEM parts and by a reputable body shop and then filed a diminished value claim where they paid out loss of value. My 4Runner had a 20YO backed into it while parked. All caught on camera and he attempted to drive away - I stopped him, called police, had police report completed and took pictures of both cars.

Damage was to right rear quarter with it being cracked two places. Young stud was cited for failing to observe. Provided both his and my insurance all paperwork...….both Insurance companies required me to complete estimate via link to computer program and pictures. Estimates from them were $700 and $1100. (Actual cost was $1400). Yes foam was compressed and split and took pictures and both would not initially cover------took supplemental from body shop-----took over a month from initial claim until repair. Two days after the accident, incident listed on Car Fax. I took the car to Toyota dealer where I purchased and had them right me a trade in value before accident and trade in value repaired but with one incident noted on vin. Difference was $4000. I then did they same on various internet sites. DV claims were all aligned. Notified Insurance in writing and five days later had check in the mail.

This worked for me as do this professionally working work place injuries...…...point is, insurance does as well and instead of doing what is right, does only what it has to do.

 

[OrangeCrush5.0]

I should have been more specific, it didn’t need be buffed out. It wiped off with a microfiber and some tar remover. The dealer ship told me they could inspect the car and provide documentation there was no damage. They then proceeded to tell me if they bought the car that it wouldn’t matter because a customer wouldn’t believe them if they tried providing all of the documentation, including the police report. They said their only choice is to wholesale. I got the same reply from all dealers I went to.

I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of selling on my own. I tried selling private party but the amount of calls and people who showed up to look at the car with no means of actually buying it we’re crazy. I had handfuls of people who showed up and actually thought I would just hand them the keys to go joyride.

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