Recently, I bought a new car and traded in my old car. When I bought my old car used in 2003, the Carfax report showed no major accidents, but when I went to trade it for a new car in 2008, the Carfax report, run by the dealer, indicated there was a major accident with the car before I bought it. As a result, I received $2,500 less than the trade in value. I almost gave them my car. Carfax cannot be relied upon to give accurate information. Never, never, never pay them for a report. If you want a report ask the dealer for one and then be sure to have the car inspected by an independent mechanic. Don't trust Carfax!


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1. Written by Tony, on 15-10-2009 10:15

I had similiar experience autocheck.com has two accidents listed carfax had none; also looked at a jeep that I own just to see accuracy carfax says one owner certified..I know I am the third owner

2. Written by salvage title, on 21-09-2009 21:50

I recently bought a salvage title vehicle which I am quite satisfied with (great mechanics) except for the air bag deployment which occurred and WAS NOT reported on Carfax. Carfax also has the car listed as having 5 owners and 2 accidents. That is also incorrect- had only 3 owners and it was crashed 3 times. 

 

I found all this out when I took the car to a CA Highway Patrol Safety Test. (required for all salvage titles in CA) They have a government database with the most accurate information. Unfortunately, the rest of us only have Carfax which is completely reliant on what insurance companies report or don't report. The officer informed me that Carfax is nothing more than another business to take money from people and in turn doing a half *** job. 

 

It's best to go through a dealer for this info. Besides, that you are taking a crap shoot with a private seller.  

 

The air bag deployment wasn't reported and now I'm looking at a possible $1000 plus to fix this problem.

3. Written by Consumer Rights!, on 13-10-2008 14:48

To the person that wrote that we are all illiterate. We are all intitled to our consumer rights and our own opinions and that has nothing to do with typing errors made while typing a response. :grin Your comment makes me think that you must either work there or you have some kind of financial stake in this company. Customer Service is a thing of the past. It does not exist anymore. Unfortunately, this company is the worst of the worst. If they actually trained their employees, kept better records and treated their customers fairly there would not be any negitive remarks to make against them. Bad things happen to good people. There is no reason to be so cut-throat. A good company is one that will work with their customer not shake them down for money.

Comments on Carfax reports inaccurate cost me $2,500 on trade

Consumer Forum is another great place to discuss consumer concerns NOT RELATED to this article.

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