OldGuy

I looked at a nice 993 yesterday, but when I
ran a car fax on it-it showed a odometer rollback.
How accurate is CarFax? AND I tried to see if
there could have been a human mistake. the odometer
now reads 25152, carfax showed in 2001 the odometer
reading 26413 at a smog check. I am wondering how
easily a mechanic could have read the '0' with a slash
through it as a '6' Or the DMV person could have misread
the mechanics handwriting, thinking the '0' with a slash
was a '6'. thoughts? also the car had a slight paint blemish
around the headlight washer on the left side looking at it
from the front. anyone else seen a blemish like this?? very
slight but it looks like a run. the car drove well and was beatiful
other than those 2 things. It has one owner and I am talking
to the mechanic this morning who has maintained it since
day one, he should be able to tell me what the odometer
reading was in 2001.
input would be great!
OG

sy308

It is also possible the odometer was replaced after some serious repair work. Further information to clear up speculation is in order. Mistakes like this should not be made. It is very easy to replace odometer. It is harder to turn one back. Good luck.

Frank 993 C4S

If there are other receipts that can substantiate that the carfax mileage is wrong I wouldn't worry so much about it. However, note that this car will be marked by carfax "for life" as having a potential odometer roll back problem. Just to keep in mind in case you sell it again some day.

With respect to the paint blemish, I'd have someone go over the front end with a paint gauge to see whether the front has been painted. You won't be able to check the bumper since it is non-metalic but you will be able to check the hood and fenders. Any sort of respraying may be a sign of accident damage.

Good luck!

Bob D.

Although obviously I don't know the specific situation with this car, what I do know is that Carfax is far from infallible, and at least as of several years ago, it was *extremely* difficult to get mistakes corrected. So even if the listed odo rollback is a complete mistake, assume that it may continue to appear in the Carfax database.

This means two things. First, you will have to explain the situation (may be easy, may be not, depending on the circumstances) for the duration of ownership. Second, at time of sale it will likely have a significant impact on the car’s value, or at the very least, its’ marketability/ease of selling—many Porsche shoppers are (overly) fussy folks who will lose interest instantly when told of anything like a “story” about the car.

None of this may matter as much to you if you plan to make this car a real “keeper,” but IMHO you can not ignore it either, and should consider it carefully before buying the car.

TMH

Carfax is not always accurate, but is at least an indicator to check into things further. When I bought my 944 the Carfax came up with potential odometer roll-back issues. I found out what happened: The PO had let the registration lapse (he stored the vehicle over the winter). When he went to renew, Carfax interpreted what they got from Utah DMV as a new owner. Also, since Utah DMV does not internally maintain mileage records for cars over 15 years old, Carfax interpreted this as a "Not actual mileage" situation.

I ended up with a car with an actual 52k miles, for less money. PO specified he had had someone "very interested" at a higher price, who then just seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Perhaps he pulled the Carfax and decided not to pursue any further. He missed out on a great car.

See what your seller says about the mileage discrepancy, and make your decision then.

Good luck,
Tom

OldGuy

I am going to, I found out some more about this car. I talked to the mechanic
briefly and he said he was a aware of the potnetial roll back, but the car
had not been in their shop for awhile. Then when they got it it had been
'DORKED' up with a bunch of afTermarket crap. He said he took it back
to complete stock. He was unable to give me a complete rundown,
because it was Monday Morning and he was taking in cars. But he said
the car is now in excellent shape. But to me its now a story car.
I will get some more details from the service manager later.
Makes me wonder more about the paint too.
OG

88clbsport

it's obvious you don't feel good about the situation....just walk away!
You will always question yourself and even if the car is fine, you will always be listening and looking for problems and won't enjoy the car.

MadMarkie

I would also be extremely careful about the "aftermarket crap" issue. Is this car a turbo or N/A? Turbos can be pushed to incredible hp levels, but always with decreased longevity/reliability. Sine it has been returned to stock, there is really no telling how far things were "dorked up" and what problems might be lurking.

With the current buyers market... I would probably skip this car. If you find any interesting cars in AZ, let me know... I would love to kick tires for a fellow Rennlister (and rocket scientist!) .

Mark.

TMH

Is this true? Does anyone have any experiences in attempting to get a false Carfax repaired/corrected?

Thanks,
Tom

OldGuy

Thanks Markie. I did see one somewhere Soctsdale?
but it had a funky blue steering wheel
weird. Us RocketScientist have to stick together,
I look you up when I visit Raytheon!
OG

hddude

Re Carfax fixing errors, they will fix them and do so qucikly based on my experience from a month ago. Here are Carfax's odometer reports for my 97 Cab, the first was generated last month when I was negotiating/checking out the deal. Note Carfax proclaimed no problems found even though there is an obvious problem on 12/27/02 -- smog check and registration readings on the same day differ by a 1,050 miles! The second report's odometer readings reflect correction by Carfax after MVD affirmed to me there was an error and my dealer contacted Carfax. The correction was made in a matter of hours -- less than a day. Whether the dealer's leverage as a major Carfax customer was a factor in the quick correction, I don't know for sure but suspect it was a factor! Interestingly, while MVD affirmed there was an error, they have no relationship with Carfax -- correcting the Carfax report is like correcting your personal credit reports, i.e., your problem. BTW, I am still a little worried about this discrepancy biting my butt someday when I sell the car since Carfax has competitors and may have future competitors who may report the conflciting readings on 12/27/02. Oh well.

"CARFAX did not uncover any odometer rollbacks for this 1997 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA2/4

Date: Mileage:
01/19/1997 31
05/11/2001 27,402
12/27/2002 37,050
12/27/2002 36,000"

"CARFAX did not uncover any odometer rollbacks for this 1997 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA2/4

Date: Mileage:
01/19/1997 31
05/11/2001 27,402
06/30/2003 36,438"

911MSN

how do you fix carfax problem? I got my car labeled as "odometer rollback" because someone typed one less zero at smog check a few years ago. Since i have no intent to sell my car any time soon, i am not all that worried but do want to get it fixed at some time. I cound not find good info on their web site to correct their mistake.

Dane k.

Hey Ol-Guy.....Have you checked in with Premier lately????Great Dane!!!

OldGuy

Dane, I have talked to Merry there at premier
she has the next one in line. For some reason
if this one falls through then I will just see what
is up with her. She wants about 7K more than
what I am working with now though, with 12K more
miles. so we will see.
OG

kevin993c4

Just discovered serious CARFAX error on my car! My 1996 car was purchased in 1998 with 19,231 miles on the odometer from the dealership. CARFAX indicate "Potential Odometer Rollback". The potential rollback that they reported was right after I paid off my car a few months ago, a result of DMV mailing back my pink slip. For some reason, CARFAX indicated 19,231 miles as my current reported mileage from DMV and therefore considered my car a potential rollback. After browsing through their website, I can't seem to find a link to report this error to them. I am going to sell my car in the near future. This will definitely make me lose credibility. I appreciate if anyone have any ideas?