jabogard

Just ran a Carfax report that shows a past accident. Supposedly occurred during my ownership. No date or damage report given. Have opened a claim with them and asked for more detail or proof of any incident. So far no answer. Anyone else have this experience? Planning on selling the car soon and this would kill the value of a really nice car.

Petza914

Damn, that sucks.

Bomba

Carfax is terrible. I had something similar and ended up selling the car with the blemish. I have a dear friend who had a "theft recovery" show up on his Carfax because his 996 was in the shop while a burglary took place. He couldn't get it cleared either, and sold the car to a close friend.

Good luck. I now pay very little attention to Carfax reports and get my cars inspected before purchase.

RP4S911

Call any local dealer, preferably an independent. There are 3rd party companies that they use that will come out for $100, inspect your car, and change the carfax. They are the ones that change “accident” to “minor damage” when you see that. If you have no indication of any damage at all (or paintwork) they handle it. I’m sorry but I don’t remember their names at all, you’ll have to dig into it. I’ve been out of the dealership business for a while now.

Jay99

Had mileage tampering error on my car fax, was able to resolve it and have mistake removed by reaching out to carfax. I was original owner of this low mileage car. I got the issue corrected before selling the car.

850tgul

Not a phantom accident but one of my past cars did show incorrect mileage at a point in its history, likely stemming from a shop fat fingering the mileage at a random service. Was able to contact Carfax and they corrected.

groovzilla

Read a Carfax comment on another Forum where Carfax showed 75 owners. Owner never as able to get it resolved

dandaman19

Looks like you will have to sell to me for a steep discount. My condolences.

sandwedge

I don't put much if any stock in Carfax anymore. They're just all over the place with erroneous reports of accidents that never happened, incorrect mileage and accidents not reported at all. Two of my 997's have been rear ended. One cost close to $6,000 to repair and the other one $16,000. Neither one registered on Carfax even with police reports filed and OEM parts ordered from Suncoast.

Unfortunately, the low confidence in Carfax doesn't matter. As stated by others, bad reports on clean cars seem difficult to clean up so buyers who see accident history on a car they would like to buy won't assume it's a mistake even if it is and will move on to another car.

groovzilla

I'm assuming both of those repairs were not paid for directly by an Insurance company. If vehicle owner pays cash for repair, the repairs wouldn't show up on Carfax.
Also ordering parts can be done without any Vin# being traced or reported.
From what I understand the only way accident damage gets reported is when the Insurance company pays for the repairs.
Anyone else familiar with the process??

jayzbird

They say this:
CARFAX® receives data from more than 131,000 different sources including every U.S. and Canadian provincial motor vehicle agency plus many police and fire departments, collision repair facilities, auto auctions, and more

Interesting they don’t note insurance companies. Police reports and some car repair places (the big chains I presume) seem to be the most common sources. As a buyer, I find the service and registration info the most useful. Tells you where the car’s been and gives some clues about how well it’s been maintained. As far as accident damage, very unreliable. Spending $100 on a paint meter and befriending a body shop owner who can train you in 10 minutes on what to look for is a better bet.

sandwedge

Nope. Both repairs paid for by the drivers in fault's insurance companies. Both were at fault and at least both had insurance. But again, both repairs somehow flew under the Carfax radar. I know for a fact that both driver's insurance companies were involved since they both had adjusters visit and approved the repairs were my cars were being restored.

groovzilla

That is very weird because from my understanding, if insurance company pays for repair, it always gets documented on Carfax. Just like dealership repairs & services get noted on Carfax.

Khloesdad

This is funny. They need this on dating app's/sites. Call it "Truefax". Find out how many men she's really been with.

sandwedge

Was my understanding too but clearly not the case.