B Russ

Having a spirited discussion here with some guys about how much a carfax report of accident damage affects the value of our cars. I said even a cosmetic scratch listed as minor damage could affect the value between 5000 and 10,000. Anyone have actual experience or data on this

RSBro

Probably depends on where you intend to sell it, or trade. I had my headlamps refurbed after a tyre hit and slightly cracked the front right, so I sent them to RennLights and had both redone, look brand new, but didn't hit the CF record.

However, the longer I own and drive this, the less I want to ever get rid of it, so to probably the BaT crowd, I could see that devaluation being relatively accurate on our cars, depending on condition. Remember, we're the few and the proud that actually drive our Turbos lol. I bet many see as little, if not less, than lots of GT-cars tbh...

Jim M.

CarFax is a system to track usage and damage, but is not infallible to cheating and misinformation. From one personal experience, I consider it worthless. When I was first looking for my turbo a rennlister posted about his local car that got rear ended. He had it fixed (correctly) but couldn't live with the fact it was no longer original. When it came up on the used car market the carfax was completely scrubbed. I just walked away from that one. I was willing to accept the damage but not at the price of a completely clean and original car.

Foosh

Agreed that it is not uncommon for CarFax info to be both incomplete (missing a significant damage repair) and/or misleading. I've seen vehicles tagged with accident damage, when it was for minutiae like paint repairs on a scratched bumper. My 991.1 TS was one of those, but I was able to track down the repair record showing just that.

There was also an upside in my case. I was able to negotiate a lower price from a Porsche dealer on a CPO car, taking advantage of the fact that so many Porsche buyers are ridiculously adamant about not considering any potentially great car unless it has a so-called "clean" CarFax report.

Dennis C

I agree. I had my bumper repainted before PPF was installed. This was obviously not anything that was filed or paid by my insurance company; I paid the body shop directly. I believe it shows on the Carfax report.

Foosh

That's interesting. When talking to the owner of a local high-end body shop, he told me he absolutely detests CarFax and would never enter data on one of his client's cars. He said it's insulting to excellent shops who can do better work than factory.

tallers

I had a 2004 BMW 545i some years back and a minor repair was done, less than $700, all cosmetic. I retained the repair bill and when I sold the car I told any interested party that yes, the Carfax shows an accident, but it was minor and I have the repair bill to show you. I shared the repair bill with everyone who came to see the car. It was helpful and I sold the car with no issues.

Dennis C

I saved the receipt for my bumper paint also.

Foosh

If you sign up for a CarFax subscription, I believe you can enter service and repair information yourself, including supporting docs, proving minor damage repairs.

RSBro

My local PSC did this for me, giving me a free subs, and I do exactly that. All the minor track mods like brake/pad changes, tyre swaps, etc. I've put on there or filled out what was missing like a brake fluid flush so it matches all my PDF/paper records.

Foosh

Excellent. I'm more likely to shy away from any vehicle that doesn't have a strong service history, while claiming a "clean CarFax." "Clean" often means that damage has been concealed, and informed buyers know that.

RSBro

For sure! I keep an Excel file with dates, description of work done (even at the dealership), and cost, along with invoices that correspond to said list, and I try and edit CarFax to match THOSE records which are the most important, as you said, a CF can be 'scrubbed' quite easily. Had that happen to me on my '12 F10 BMW 550i, CF was clean, but I ran another background check style report and it had major rear end and right-rear damage from an accident, so when I went to trade it, it was largely devalued from what it should've been. And the seller was out of state, so I couldn't sue or would've been nigh impossible. That's why on these last 3 911 purchases I've done all my due diligence...

Dennis C

I’m still a bit old school. I’ve got everything in a 3-ring binder.

RSBro

I had the dealership print out all the historical records and put it in a folder for me from the time it was new, since they did 100% of the servicing. Need to see if I can get those all in PDF, next time I schedule maintenance.