where carfax is wrong

[arista5]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6137&item=2415061797

do you buy the carfax that it's an original 19000 mile car?

 

[Gary Wells]

No, it is not a 19K mileage car. It is a 19K mileage car that has had the powermaster unit has replaced already. Hmmm.

 

[arista5]

Originally posted by Wells
No, it is not a 19K mileage car. It is a 19K mileage car that has had the powermaster unit has replaced already. Hmmm.

and a/c system

 

[turboscott]

Guys I hate to say it but carfax is wrong a lot. I work for an insurance company and have access to a claims database. This is where insurance companies report accidents, thefts or vandelism to prevent future fraudulent claims from being made. I run them frequently for people on this board. I would say about 75% of the time carfax has said the car was never in an accident or stolen and my claims database says differently. Often times some of the cars have multiple accidents or thefts in some cases. I don't trust carfax at all.

 

[arista5]

if i PM you my Vin can you run it?

 

[turboscott]

I turned my PM option off, I was getting way too many and you can't fit a lot of info in the responses. If you email it to scottbianchi@hotmail.com I will run it.

 

[TRBON8R]

I've posted my opinions on Carfax before. They are clueless. Their info is only as good as what the local hacks at the DMV have given them. My car comes back as a "potential odometer rollback" Oh, ok. Thanks to slick marketing they have managed to convince many people that they are some sort of an "all knowing" entity.

 

[turboscott]

They are brilliant as far as a company though. They have people convinced they know what they are doing and everyone takes their word for it. I wouldn't waste the money myself. I will continue to use my claims database and as long as my cars come back clean in there I am OK. I will use my own common sense and experience to determine if the odometer is rolled back and I am not overly concerned about past owners.

 

[Little6pack]

Tscott can you do mine too?? I did talk with original owner this weekend so I know my car was ok from 86 to 2001.. It is 2001 to 2002 it lived in evertt mass. That is the year that concerns me.

 

[TurboJunky]

When I bought my TTA a few years back with 7,511 miles and registered it here in Michigan CarFax took it upon themselves to list my car as "Beyond Mechanical Limits". Needless to say I was friggin FURIOUS I immediately yanked their chain and they told me they assumed the odometer rolled since it was a 1989 with 7,500 miles it HAD to be wrong....*******s! I had to jump through hoops and get documents from the state of Maryland to give them so they would fix it. I seriously thought about suing them for misrepresenting my car and possibly affecting it's value.

Since then I take CarFax with a grain of salt.

 

[turboscott]

Steve,
email me your VIN and I will run it. If it lived in Everett, MA I would be concerned too. I know of a guy who had a few of them in Everett and they all had issues. Hopefully you didn't buy one of his. Send me your VIN.

 

[2QUIK6]

Carfax gets its info from the DMV from each state. So, all it takes is some kid at the inspection station to mis-key your mileage in the computer, or mis-key the VIN if they don't scan it, and wha-la....your vehicle history is forever screwed on car fax.....
If they miskey the mileage, and its less than the previous year/inspection, then its reported as possible odometer roll back.

I've had friends brand new off the show room floor vehicles come back as 19k miles or been inspected several times already.

I use it as a governor only and to find out the number of previous owners, anything else I take with a grain of salt.