# Clean Carfax, but clear evidence of substantial damage repair?!?!



## straightnochase (Oct 12, 2006)

I've been in the market for a used m3 for several months now and seen and/or driven more than a couple of dozens in town. I'm not sure what the standard is in terms of substantial vehicle damages and how they are reported to dmv, but I have come across an alarming number of used m3's that have substantial frame damage repairs that have clean carfax?!?!. What's more screwed up is these dealers lie about the vehicle history.

It's very disturbing and makes me very cautious.


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## Z4luvr (Jun 23, 2006)

Carfax is extremely unreliable in this regard and a clean report does not mean much.


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## 134282 (May 30, 2008)

CarFax is worthless - it might as well be written in crayon. Forget CarFax and get a PPI.


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## SkyDog (Aug 1, 2007)

Carfax can't tell you without a doubt that a car hasn't been in a wreck. But it's a useful tool in that it will _sometimes_ point out problems like accidents or odometer inconsistencies. If you're going to use it, don't rely on it completely. Just use it as another diagnostic tool when evaluating cars.


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## BmW745On19's (Aug 12, 2005)

Thats why I own a paint meter.


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## TXE39 (Oct 2, 2003)

I saw the carfax report on my old Defender after I sold it. It said nothing and I had done over $20K in body work after a rollover.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

TXE39 said:


> I saw the carfax report on my old Defender after I sold it. It said nothing and I had done over $20K in body work after a rollover.


Flipside, a co-worker bought an M3 and then a year or so later I came across a listing for an M3 that seemed like his. I had a carfax account so I ran the VIN. Turns out the car was in a head-on, airbags were deployed and the CHP had been called. Also turned out to be the former co-worker's car (the previous owner had obviously crashed it). He had no idea his car had been in such a wreck.

Sometimes a carfax can be useful.


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## TXE39 (Oct 2, 2003)

Yeah I'm not sure how they get their information. Mine was a pretty spectacular crash as well. Police, Firetrucks...the whole lot of emergency crews.

I still run them on cars I'm looking at. If nothing else it helps to let you know where the car has been registered and how many owners it has had.

On Defenders they're nice since some of them have passed through a lot of hands and it's good to know if you're buying one in LA that starts it's advertisement "Clean SoCal D90" and you find out for 5 years of it's life it was on Martha's Vineyard it's worth the couple of bucks to run the report.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

TXE39 said:


> Yeah I'm not sure how they get their information. Mine was a pretty spectacular crash as well. Police, Firetrucks...the whole lot of emergency crews.
> 
> I still run them on cars I'm looking at. If nothing else it helps to let you know where the car has been registered and how many owners it has had.
> 
> On Defenders they're nice since some of them have passed through a lot of hands and it's good to know if you're buying one in LA that starts it's advertisement "Clean SoCal D90" and you find out for 5 years of it's life it was on Martha's Vineyard it's worth the couple of bucks to run the report.


Where a car was registered can certainly help. when we we looking for my wife's car it came down to two A3s. Carfax revealed that one car, owned by a couple, had been registered once in LA. The other had been registered first in Detroit. Then again in AZ about 12 months later with 10k miles. Any guesses which one we wanted?

When we arrived at the home of the LA couple in Burbank we knew we'd made the right decision - their cars, their house, everything was immaculate.

Maybe the car registered in Michigan was fine. I'd rather a car that's been in So Cal for years over anything exposed to the streets and a winter in Detroit!


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## csmeance (Dec 10, 2007)

Carfax is really crap, but it does help narrow down car searches. I still get them, and if they say no damage, I further expect the cars, but if they have body-damage on the car-fax reports, I just by-pass them.


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## 87vert (May 15, 2008)

I think carfax prolly gets the info from insurance companies / dmv records.

Im guessing its prolly optional to provide them the info so some companies decide not to.


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## straightnochase (Oct 12, 2006)

csmeance said:


> Carfax is really crap, but it does help narrow down car searches. I still get them, and if they say no damage, I further expect the cars, but if they have body-damage on the car-fax reports, I just by-pass them.


+1


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