kpd122

I was under the same impression until recently as well. I sold my 4Runner early this year before acquiring my 997. The car had been serviced with my Toyota dealer for most of the service intervals, along with two other dealers for minor items. The dealer I sold the car to offered a Carfax when they listed it for sale, and I was surprised to see that not a single service record from three different Toyota dealers was listed on the Carfax. Anybody looking at that would assume it had never been serviced in 40k miles, which was hardly the case. I definitely take the Carfax reports with a grain of salt. Only thing they seem to reliably report is registration renewal. Super helpful.

groovzilla

All great information. Carfax, once a telltale Bible of sorts now nothing more than a hit or mis-representation.

sandwedge

I would add some ++++ to that grain based on what's been reported on this thread and on previous threads.

blazingstarz

it’s called “Catfax”

Petza914

But there will always be those "off the books" entries from the "body shops" in both cases LOL

RatherJaded

I find it comical that many individuals find CarFax to be the gold standard when in reality their reports tend to be full of inaccuracies.

ATX_Native

Sounds about right for an N54 335i.

groovzilla

Yes but buyers are like sheep - They follow the masses and Carfax Bible to the masses.
Thats why when you shop for Porsche you cover your *** and make sure there are no issues on your carfax report. Unless you don't have any concern about resale value when you sell.
I'd never buy a P-car unless Carfax was correct with no BS mistakes

Liste-Renn

My take:

CarFax data is online published purported data of a car's overall history.
Like a seller describing (without documentation) some of the vehicle provenance: One is best advised to take it with a lick of salt, or two.

I like having CarFax as a source of "leads" to be investigated prior to purchase. Worth trying to chase down the wildest entry, at least. Rennlist and the BaT/PCAR auction comments are even more valuable sources of pertinent info.

Like a Credit Report...(who hasn't scratched their head about their FICA score moving UP/DOWN with absolutely zero change in one's income or debt?)...the CarFax history is suspect, but not necessarily inaccurate- either good or bad news can show, or be excluded. Rarely are they completely comprehensive and 100% correct.

Maintenance history is often maddeningly vague, but at the very least those entries shows the car was in some shop getting some service.

Ownership history data accuracy is all over the map. Dealerships executive lease cars to themselves and never title the vehicle, or a certain state doesn't record a title change...they can be spot on, or show 25 owners. Caveat Emptor.

Just data points in the overall equation. No more, no less.

sandwedge

Couldn't agree more but how do you know that there aren't any BS mistakes? Maybe a good PPI will pick it up but maybe not. As for BS mistakes, as I've said previously, a $16,000 rear bumper job on one of my 997's never showed up on Carfax. And again....no frame damage or quarter panel damage involved. A relatively "mild" rear end story but still came to $16K to get everything just right. Best body shop in the area and the owner is a perfectionist so the same repair could probably have been done for half that cost or likely even less by a run of the mill body shop. Even at half the cost it seems like Carfax should have picked it up though.

Bottom line, a police report was filed, factory parts were ordered by the body shop, the driver at fault (not me obviously) filed a claim with his insurance company and Carfax still missed the whole thing.

alfetta

My 997.2 Carfax shows a car theft and recovery 7 days later before I owned the car. I researched the Federal data base for reported stolen cars, caledl the County Sheriff and all cities around the domicile of the car at the time of the "theft". Everything came up blank. I contact Carfax and they were no help and would not tell me the source of the information.

saabin

One thing to remember is that stuff can pop up on Carfax much later.. like years in some cases.. I have heard stories of people getting a clean report prior to a purchase and then going forward with the sale, only to have an “incident” or accident show up on a Carfax after the purchase, for an incident that happened prior to the new owners purchase. So in some cases there could be a delay in reporting.. sometimes a long delay..

For me, a Carfax is just one of the many tools to be used when buying a used car.

850tgul

Carfax + Autocheck + PPI for every car I buy, whether it’s $100k or $5k.

I’ve had accidents show up on Autocheck and not on Carfax and vice versa. No report is perfect. PPI at a specialty shop, preferably a shop who has some body/paint experience and a good eye for resprays or accident damage.

groovzilla

It used to be when buying a Porsche from private seller the car was accompanied by thick folder of service records.
Noticed over past 6-7 years 996/997 sellers have limited records and that's where Carfax can come in handy. Also Carfax provides history of where car has lived and this is especially important whith the cold climate/Bore Scoring drama.

sandwedge

Seems to be the only reasonably and reliable way to go as long as the shop doing the PPI is reputable since they're basically checking on on the accuracy of the Carfax repiort.