Carfax is Useless

[John105]

Easily found during one's own inspection time.

With the door actuator, really, and more common today--you'd need to lock the car. Have the fob out of range. Walk around, and pull all the door handles.

Me? Hearing the click of door actuators, got me to assume, working. Yeah, 3/4 were clicking. But another clue on the LS. And discovered right after I left. Touching the door handles did not work, i.e. smart key not functioning. I was sweating bullets and the GMC dealer took like 20 min to fix it (it's been 7 years still working). When I got my car back, all smart key functions now working.

imho, there is so much logic nowadays with cars, a typical owner cannot uncover everything that's wrong.

 

[supton]

imho, there is so much logic nowadays with cars, a typical owner cannot uncover everything that's wrong.

True. I'm still used to my old car. Remote keyfob? nope. LCD of any sort? nope. Simpler car is easier to check, all other factors the same. You're right, these newer cars can have codes, pending or historical, that a cheap scan tool might not find.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I recently acquired a 14 Mercedes E350 Cab. Of course I looked at the Carfax report but so many things made no sense. The ID plate on the car stated it was manufactured in Jan 2014. Carfax stated it was sold in early Feb. 2014 in Virginia. No way that car gets from Germany to Va in less than a month. I ran the vin and it was released in June 14. Carfax shows 2 dealer services where they changed the oil. Other listed services show checking something for the owner like trim etc. The car has 71k on it and all services were at the selling dealer. ...
No thanks to Carfax!

My current car would show no oil changes ever done and only annual safety and emission inspection.

I do the servicing myself. Now I would get dinged trying to trade the car BC no service records!

Also their market valuations are biased towards dealer profits; id est, a Good Buy price is actually a poor buy!

CARFAX: Another nosy, intrusive business sticking its nose into MY stuff and causing me grief!

 

[nomas]

I don't buy used vehicles anymore so CARFAX is irrelevant to me . Anybody that ends up with my vehicles will get a folder with every receipt and invoice for any maintenance or repair ever done .

 

[CKN]

My current car would show no oil changes ever done and only annual safety and emission inspection.

I do the servicing myself. Now I would get dinged trying to trade the car BC no service records!

Also their market valuations are biased towards dealer profits; id est, a Good Buy price is actually a poor buy!

CARFAX: Another nosy, intrusive business sticking its nose into MY stuff and causing me grief!

No you wouldn't. You can give them your folder of receipts-they will look at it and then throw it away. A "good buy" price is usually indicative of close to what others are selling for.
I purchased two vehicles with total values of over $85,000.00 in the last 12 months. And if you are "ready to buy" you can do a little better than the "good buy" price.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

No you wouldn't. You can give them your folder of receipts-they will look at it and then throw it away. A "good buy" price is usually indicative of close to what others are selling for.
I purchased two vehicles with total values of over $85,000.00 in the last 12 months. And if you are "ready to buy" you can do a little better than the "good buy" price.

If I am transacting online I would initially get dinged then yes. I would have to scan or photograph the service receipts and upload them as "proof" Trading at a physical location or to an in-person buyer I could present them them with the records.

I actually got chided years ago by a sales manager during a trade in, saying my Wife's Subaru Forester wasn't serviced, "So you don't think you need to do oil changes on your cars, Mr. C.? I said. give me a minute. I wen to to the glove box then I dumped the records and service notations recorded in the back of the O.M. on his desk. And I told him I also have all the oil filters I have removed from the vehicle in a box at home. Then he immediately became suspicious and said, "Why do you keep those? Is there a problem" Then I said, well it's a Subaru with an EJ engine and I performed owner servicing whilst under warranty; it's just extra tangible poof of service. He had nothing more for me.

Actually as I have a CARFAX account I can upload images.
I did bother to upload self-servicing dates and services perform - though I'd rather not.

85K ? that's a hefty chunk of change. I'll have to start calling you The CKN of Bel Air

 

[CKN]

If I am transacting online I would initially get dinged then yes. I would have to scan or photograph the service receipts and upload them as "proof" Trading at a physical location or to an in-person buyer I could present them them with the records.

I actually got chided years ago by a sales manager during a trade in, saying my Wife's Subaru Forester wasn't serviced, "So you don't think you need to do oil changes on your cars, Mr. C.? I said. give me a minute. I wen to to the glove box then I dumped the records and service notations recorded in the back of the O.M. on his desk. And I told him I also have all the oil filters I have removed from the vehicle in a box at home. Then he immediately became suspicious and said, "Why do you keep those? Is there a problem" Then I said, well it's a Subaru with an EJ engine and I performed owner servicing whilst under warranty; it's just extra tangible poof of service. He had nothing more for me.

Actually as I have a CARFAX account I can upload images.
I did bother to upload self-servicing dates and services perform - though I'd rather not.

85K ? that's a hefty chunk of change. I'll have to start calling you The CKN of Bel Air

That's what vehicles cost-
2020 F150 Lariat
2022 Toyota Highlander XLE (AWD)

 

[ARCOgraphite]

That's what vehicles cost-
2020 F150 Lariat
2022 Toyota Highlander XLE (AWD)

That's what expensive vehicle's cost. I will compromise here. I am still balking at laying out over $20K for a new car.

My Wife was upset her new 2023 Subaru was $25K. before trade. Earlier, I lucked out and got my little Ford EcoSport at the right time during epidemic Winter #1. Dealer showroom was a ghost town. This buggy has AWD and 2.0L Mazda/Ford engine made at the Cleveland factory.
Under $17K on a 23k sticker car. I only putt around town at the rate of 5k miles per year in retirement

So we have are at about $42K in transportation devices the past three years. My wife and I have always had separate accounts so the household number on depreciating assets is just a curious math exercise.
I could pay more but I am a penny pincher - and it would have to be an inticing Sports car to get me to drop big bucks.

 

[supton]

That's what expensive vehicle's cost. I will compromise here. I am still balking at laying out over $20K for a new car.

No kidding. I was sorta ok at $25k for my Jetta--I really wanted that car back then, and to my credit, kept it for a while--less so on our hybrid, but it was the wife's choice and again will be kept for a while.

I have to remind myself, 2000's $20k is today's $30k. Inflation.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

No kidding. I was sorta ok at $25k for my Jetta--I really wanted that car back then, and to my credit, kept it for a while--less so on our hybrid, but it was the wife's choice and again will be kept for a while.

I have to remind myself, 2000's $20k is today's $30k. Inflation.

Not a fan of the engine size but Alex on Autos is very impressed with this new fancy '24 Buick Envista at under 25K.
I watched his video review on YT.
It does look a like a real deal in this $$$ market. though I would be looking at the base Equinox for 1K more.

looks way up market given it price.

 

[walterjay]

A while back I had a pickup that blew a couple transmissions. Never showed up on Carfax.

 

[supton]

Not a fan of the engine size but Alex on Autos is very impressed with this new fancy '24 Buick Envista at under 25K.
I watched his video review on YT.
It does look a like a real deal in this $$$ market. though I would be looking at the base Equinox for 1K more.

looks way up market given it price.

Not sure I can get past buying domestic again, I still think they are bitter about not making full size, and it shows up in reliability.

How big are those wheels? maybe it's the 19's, I see Car & Driver has a review.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Not sure I can get past buying domestic again, I still think they are bitter about not making full size, and it shows up in reliability.

How big are those wheels? maybe it's the 19's, I see Car & Driver has a review.

Likely assembled in S. Korea

I would watch Alex's review first. He is thorough and doesn't seem to be terribly biased. Then drive it yourself Get there quick or there won't be any to buy. The 1.2L turbo size gives me pause. The Equinox had a 1.5T that seemed very adequate. Tried to get the wife into one but she balked.

I don't trust car rags like RodentRack or C-D as toilet tissue. Regardless likely worth mining for basic info.

The Equinox 0-100 mph the Turbo 1.5L Engine sounds REALLY good to me! Still huffs and breathes well at 5250 rpm:

 

[supton]

The Equinox 0-100 mph the Turbo 1.5L Engine sounds REALLY good to me! Still huffs and breathes well at 5250 rpm:

Kinda on the slow side... I kid, I kid, anything would be faster than my car. But was that 11 sec 0-60? Just watching the vid, which isn't the same as using a stopwatch. But it does sound decent, will give you that. Mine sounds good too under full bore, but at idle... eh, motor mounts must have walked off by now, no mistaking it resents still being asked to do anything.

There was a thread on here recently griping about GM's 1.5T and... something, vacuum pump or PVC. Their 1.4T's were known for coolant leaks, not sure if turbos were ok on longevity. So if GM is making a new 1.2T that ought to give one pause right there. On one side, if they sell a lot of them, parts will be cheap--on the other side, there's actually doing the work to replace the parts...

 

[CanAmAndMore]

The point of my rant is to give people like you and imp4 someone to attack and make yourselves feel good.

Add me to your list, you had me laughing right away, when claimed that no way could a car make it from Germany to Virginia in less than a month.
That would have been true in the year 214, but in 2014 no problem. Ships are constantly crossing the pond, trains and car carrier trucks run 24/7.

 

[CanAmAndMore]

My current car would show no oil changes ever done and only annual safety and emission inspection.

I do the servicing myself. Now I would get dinged trying to trade the car BC no service records!

Also their market valuations are biased towards dealer profits; id est, a Good Buy price is actually a poor buy!

CARFAX: Another nosy, intrusive business sticking its nose into MY stuff and causing me grief!

Same with me.
If anything all of my vehicles are over maintained.
But would show up on a carfax as nothing ever being done.

 

[loneryder]

Add me to your list, you had me laughing right away, when claimed that no way could a car make it from Germany to Virginia in less than a month.
That would have been true in the year 214, but in 2014 no problem. Ships are constantly crossing the pond, trains and car carrier trucks run 24/7.

From Germany to showroom floor.

 

[loneryder]

Not a fan of the engine size but Alex on Autos is very impressed with this new fancy '24 Buick Envista at under 25K.
I watched his video review on YT.
It does look a like a real deal in this $$$ market. though I would be looking at the base Equinox for 1K more.

looks way up market given it price.

View attachment 167073

Made in China

 

[loneryder]

I recently acquired a 14 Mercedes E350 Cab. Of course I looked at the Carfax report but so many things made no sense. The ID plate on the car stated it was manufactured in Jan 2014. Carfax stated it was sold in early Feb. 2014 in Virginia. No way that car gets from Germany to Va in less than a month. I ran the vin and it was released in June 14. Carfax shows 2 dealer services where they changed the oil. Other listed services show checking something for the owner like trim etc. The car has 71k on it and all services were at the selling dealer. I visited a different dealer with the vin. They pulled it up and found that it had been fully serviced per MB schedule every 10k at the dealer. That means everything from Differential to transmission fluid changes. Brake fluid everything by the book. This was a 1 owner car. So not only were the services not reported or recorded by carfax, but what they did was not reported. MB is famous for just reporting 10k service with no details but in reality they check the car over thoroughly. They even lubricate seals. I feel like I have a really good vehicle that looks and runs like new. I even got it for a really good price because it a convertible, it's winter and the car was on the lot for about 3 months.
No thanks to Carfax!

I have since been able to get the dealer’s records on this car. It has had everything done to it on time or early. It took me 4 trips to 2 sister dealers. 3 times they couldn’t find any records of the car in their records. One of the dealers sold and serviced the car and couldn’t find it at first. One guy finally found it after searching for paid services for the previous owner. I now have a 3 page printout of stuff checked and maintained. I guess Mercedes dealer don’t do much reporting to Carfax.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Made in China

Wow. I thought the price point was low. Didn't know we had any Fabrique en Chine cars other than certain Volvos being sold stateside.

FORGET THIS BUICK TRASH CAN THEN!

- not Kidding, Ken