Car Fax vs No Car Fax

[clarkflower]

Some time ago I needed a car and I was broke broke broke. Divorce and a layoff at the same time. Had about 2000 plus a grand or two I could get from my boss.

I found a place calling themselves a "Charity Auction Clearance" http://www.blokauto.com/ advertised as selling donated cars.

I got the unlimited car fax and going through their inventory found car after car that ended up there with (about) 80,000 miles a few weeks after going through the San Francisco Auto Auction with 200,000+ miles. Some showed 300,000! A huge part of their inventory. As a good but poor person in need of a good car I was completely offended at someone trying to take advantage of the poor. I completely documented 3 cases, sent it to the DMV inspector and now you can see 10% of their cars say 1 mile True Mileage Unk

I ended up with a great no options car at a great deal (not there). Now my son needs a car and I have a bit of money. I decided to buy something a bit nicer and offer my son what I buy or my old car. I got the car fax again.

I found 3 Salvage cars advertised with "clean titles" and last night see this http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/4968742325.html 2003 Volvo S40T Full Power Great Economy - $3250 (corona) 100k miles
Car faxed the plate. See it in TX being smogged with 118,0000 in 2008.
149,123 in 2009. 183,000 in 2011
Right up to > 01/25/2012 214,642 05/08/2013 Service Facility Vehicle abandoned
Vehicle towed
Comes back 7/2013 in Az with 92,000 in 2013

I got a lot of great help here and still do

Hill Street Blues - 'Let's be careful out there'

 

[Leo99]

It' a jungle out there. A friend of mine sells used cars and he said people don't roll back odometers like they used to but I'm skeptical. I have a lot of concern paying a lot for a used car.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I have seen two different vehicles now that had obvious collision repairs that were not on Carfax. Just another data point, definitely not the best or only source for info...

 

[CELICA_XX]

CarFax is almost worthless in my opinion. I would never trust it as my sole source of information when buying a car.

I just recently traded in a garbage GMC Terrain for a new vehicle. I was the second owner of this car of this car and it has been nothing but trouble. It is sitting on the dealer lot right now, waiting for it's 3rd owner and CarFax says its a clean, certified 1-owner vehicle.

I have many more examples in the past 15 years where I personally know the history of a vehicle and it doesn't match the CarFax report.

 

[Kuato]

Wow, quite a story and sadlt reu.


Originally Posted By: Leo99
It' a jungle out there. A friend of mine sells used cars and he said people don't roll back odometers like they used to but I'm skeptical. I have a lot of concern paying a lot for a used car.


As criminals get more technically savvy, hacking into the PCM will get easier and easier. People are the same, just the technology has changed.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I have seen two different vehicles now that had obvious collision repairs that were not on Carfax. Just another data point, definitely not the best or only source for info...


Hey Steve. I agree that they don't have everything and that its another data point but ...
Which one do you think is better? My unlimited is just about to run out. (I'm open to cheaper and better)
I know of one that gets almost nothing.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Unfortunately Carfax doesn't always catch repairs not claimed via insurance.

 

[hattaresguy]

Its close to worthless. If you got drunk one night and smashed up say a 2013 F150 Rapter, than paid for the repairs out of pocket, Carfax wouldn't pick that up.

 

[bigdom]

There is a tool dealers use to change miles on electronic odometers, but it costs around 6000

 

[CELICA_XX]

Yeah, it may be useful for discovering an odometer rollback but not much else.

 

[Spazdog]

Observed at the body shop next door to my shop:

I wish I had gotten a better pic. It has CARFAX stickers all over the windshield.

I wonder if the used front clip and body repairs showed up on that Carfax?

 

[3800Series]

Carfax's are useful but any dirty dealer knows how to get around them. I couldn't tell you how many car lots around here have there own garage.

 

[clarkflower]

There was a family in Wa state or Oregon I read about who they accused of 1000 cars not too long ago.
Trying to find it again I see

80 charges filed against East Bay car dealership owners in ...
San Jose Mercury News-Aug 22, 2014
The charges stem from the alleged rollback of odometers on cars with high mileage that the couple later sold at Jorge's California Car Sales at ...
-------------------------
State agents arrested the son of the owner of JD's Auto Sales, which was raided Thursday after odometer rollback allegations.

They said the son, Sylvester Egbe, turned himself in after news of the bust. Egbe was at an auction buying cars when the bust happened.

Agents said they found more than 100 cars with altered odometers. Officers said one odometer had been rolled back 200,000 miles. They said one man has just learned the odometer in his car was not only rolled back by JD's Auto Sales, but also by a previous dealership.

 

[CELICA_XX]

Originally Posted By: 3800Series
Carfax's are useful but any dirty dealer knows how to get around them. I couldn't tell you how many car lots around here have there own garage.


Even when a dealer is NOT trying to do something unscrupulous, the information being reported is not always accurate.

 

[fdcg27]

In my direct experience, CarFarce can't be trusted to report repairs paid for by insurers, or even changes in ownership.
I paid for an unlimited number of checks over a certain period of time several years ago when looking seriously for a used S2000. I ended up spending much less on a much slower BMW, but that's another story.
I ran two of our cars of known history just for grins and both reports were inaccurate and failed to account for damage repaired under insurance. One also misreported changes in ownership.
It sounds as though the OP has busted a few offenders using CarFax, though.
I had no idea that odometer rollbacks remained so common.
It is a federal offense, but I guess that doesn't apply if the vehicle is sold with the TMU box checked.

 

[mrsilv04]

CarFax isn't the total answer, and it never should be used alone.

It is one of several tools that should be used to develop the complete picture of the history of a car.

 

[eljefino]

How can one not tell a car they're sitting in has "something around 280k" instead of 80k? Even if it's "clean" everything will be tired, the seat will have saggy foam, the doors will creak, the windscreen will be all sandblasted, etc.

I aim to buy cars with 20-25k per year, with known & disclosed problems (plus a few surprises, usually), and priced to boot. Anything else and that's what you're buying anyway.