How Carfax works, and why you should take it with a grain of salt

"As Du Volant" (skuhnphoto) 09/26/2014 at 16:44 • Filed to: carfax, used cars

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You see that fox all over the place nowadays. On TV commercials, on billboards, on buses, peeking out the windows of car dealerships, in inflatable form standing next to Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man. He's the Car Fox, his reassuring smile telling you that your used car purchase will be worry-free if you just read the Carfax before you buy. It tells you everything you need to know about any car on the planet. It's a magic document... or is it?

It's not, and the reason why is posted right at the bottom of every Carfax:

What that means is that Carfax is only as good as the sources sending them information. They have three primary sources: State title agencies, police reports, and repair shops. The title agencies send them owner history and report branded titles. The police reports inform them of accidents or theft. The repair shops handle everything else.

What's this mean in practice?

The title reports are pretty darn good since they simply copy what's on the vehicle's title. It may not capture every single change of ownership, but Carfax will definitely tell you if the title is branded salvage/reconstructed/flood etc.

The rest of it though? Well, that's subject to a big helping of luck, cleverness, and good old human error.

I'll start with the big big problem with used cars that Carfax is supposed to solve: accidents. In my experience dealing with used cars they're almost never reported by anyone but police departments. If someone gets in a wreck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the PA State Police respond, you can be sure the accident is going on the Carfax. How about the smaller police departments? That's a crapshoot. Officer decides not to file a report? No accident on Carfax. Or if he does file a report, but the Wampum P.D. stores their accident records in shoeboxes stacked inside their holding cell that hasn't seen an occupant since the Ford administration, Carfax is never finding out about this accident. Only computerized records are shared with Carfax, and the detail of those varies by police department. Some will report the severity of the wreck and whether the airbags were deployed. Some won't.

But wait, there's more! When the Wampum P.D. finally does computerize its records, they'll suddenly report everything to Carfax. I've seen this happen several times before- someone buys a used car with a clean Carfax, and two years later suddenly it's got a wreck on the history from a year before they bought it. It'll be noted on the Carfax entry by the nice little disclaimer "Carfax started reporting this information on (whatever date the records were uploaded)."

Doesn't the body shop report the repairs from the accident to Carfax? Usually not. The majority of body shops don't report any records to Carfax at all, and when they do, it'll say something like "Vehicle serviced. Front bumper, fascia, headlights, grille, and Johnson rod replaced." What it doesn't say is "Accident Reported." Carfax reports this as a repair, not an accident.

And then there's the accidents that go completely unreported. If you run your car off the road in the middle of the night and wrap it around a tree, call Uncle Clem to haul it out for you and have him fix it in his backyard, neither the police or Carfax have any idea the car was ever wrecked. Your car may be three different colors now, held together with Bondo, duct tape, and whatever bits and pieces were lying around Clem's garage floor, but it's got a spotlessly clean Carfax- and when you go to sell it on Craigslist a few years later, advertising it as "One Owner! Clean Carfax!" is absolutely the truth.

That brings us to the last part- repair shops. Most larger shops, dealerships included, report their repairs to Carfax for ease of record keeping. Some will send over an itemized list of what was repaired, while some will only say that the vehicle was in the shop. Most smaller shops don't report anything. This means you cannot rely on a Carfax history to determine if a car was properly maintained or not.

Now here's where it gets interesting- reports from shops are where Carfax receives most of its information about mileage. Some of this comes from state DMV records as well, but many states do not share their odometer readings with Carfax. What's this mean for you? The mileage records are only as good as the people reporting them. If you take your car in for a 45,000 mile service and the technician types in 54,000 miles by mistake, Carfax will flag the car as a potential odometer rollback when the tech records your 50,000 mile service a few months later. Here's another common scenario: a mechanic puts three or four repair records into the computer at the same time, but accidentally types the mileage of the '97 Camry into the entry for the '08 Mustang. Whoops!

So what's the take-home message from all this? Carfax is a great tool but it isn't perfect. Definitely ask for a copy of the Carfax, and if a dealer ever refuses to furnish one, walk away. But remember- when you buy a used car, what you see is what you get. Even if it's newer, always have it inspected by a mechanic you trust, and make sure they check for evidence of prior accident repairs.

Roundbadge > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 16:50

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I checked Carfax on the last Dakota I owned before I bought it. It showed a perfectly clean report. Still, there was broken glass inside the passenger door and the window got real difficult to roll down at the halfway point. Someone was not telling the full story somewhere.

That's when I learned to be wary of Carfax reports.

Racescort666 > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 17:00

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Great write up. There was a post on here a few days ago about an opponaut who's car was hit while parked and now will not have a clean carfax. Interested, I looked into how carfax collects data and told him that it may or may not show up.

jariten1781 > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 17:08

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Most larger shops, dealerships included, report their repairs to Carfax for ease of record keeping.

Interestingly, at least around here, the big collision centers have stopped reporting. I always ask before I sign a repair over to them whether they're going to report because a bad carfax is an instant deduction on resale value. What I've been told is that they A: had savvy customers who would ask and then take their car elsewhere if it was going to be reported to avoid/mitigate the resale hit; B: had dealer clients who also wanted clean carfaxes when the cars hit the used lot. The loss of business wasn't worth whatever they were getting out of carfax so they just dropped em.

Too many M's > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 17:09

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There's another, albeit small gap in Carfax reporting. To start let me say that I have owned six cars with zero Carfax records. Yes, zero.

I am in a very small minority that owns USDM cars overseas. I have owned many but six were purchased new outside the US. Three BMWs, two MINIs and one VW. Because they were never titled in any state in the U.S. a record of their existence was never started.

To this day, my previous 2001 BMW 325I has zero records on Carfax. It has been overseas its whole life only retaining the Certificate of Origin stating it was built to be sold and used in the US. When/if the current owner takes it to the states the first place it is registered there will be a fresh and clean title issued to it and the Carfax/Autocheck/whatever history will begin. In this time any number of things could have happened to the car that no one would know about unless the owners were 100% accurate and honest in the sale.

There aren't very many vehicles in this situation since there aren't very many new purchases compared to the states. This is merely another example showing the gaps that exist with the current reporting.

As Du Volant > jariten1781 09/26/2014 at 17:10

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Exactly. Really was referring to regular repairs here. Mentioned later that almost all of the body shops do not report.

As Du Volant > Too many M's 09/26/2014 at 17:12

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Great info. I never thought of that but it makes perfect sense.

Their reporting only goes back so far as well. 1991 I believe. That means if someone has owned a car since before 1991 and lives in a state that doesn't report registration renewals, that car's Carfax will also be blank.

Tom McParland > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 17:44

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Nicely done...I've been meaning to write this up for awhile.

M54B30 > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 18:02

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I nearly totaled a Focus ST (I mean, I had to be within $500 of totaling it) and it never showed up. The guy I sold it to said "CarFax looks great!" Yeah, sure buddy.

JCAlan > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 18:44

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I want to know if they have EVER honored the buy back guaranty.

And they're NOT free.

But you know what is free? An online title search that nearly every state now has. Here's Ohio's: https://ext.dps.state.oh.us/BMVOnlineServi… Just plug in a VIN and you know if it's branded, how long they've had it, if there's a lien, and if it's private owner even how much they paid for it. This is the only info that Carfax guarantees anyway, the rest is a crap shoot as the OP points out. But wait! You know how you can get the exact same info even easier? Just ask to see the title! No third party necessary!

JCAlan > Too many M's 09/26/2014 at 18:48

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Government owned vehicles also have no history at all.

FCV-8311 > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 19:03

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Great article. I went to go look at an '03 Buick LeSabre recently with a clean AutoCheck report. When I got there and took a look at it, it was clear that it had been in an accident of some sort. The fenders, doors, and bumpers just didn't line up quite right. Before that I went to look at an '07 ex-state police Crown Victoria with a clean Carfax. The bumpers had been repainted terribly with overspray all over the wheel wells and the front clip didn't line up right at all, but admittedly the car was perfect on its test-drive.

As Du Volant > JCAlan 09/26/2014 at 19:12

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Great points. No, I have never heard of anyone successfully making a buyback claim. Of note is that you actually have to register the car on their site when you buy it for it to even be eligible. Who does that?

Buyback guarantee terms: http://www.carfax.com/manifest/bbg/t…

As Du Volant > Tom McParland 09/26/2014 at 19:40

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Thanks for the share Tom!

xequar > As Du Volant 09/26/2014 at 20:44

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Great article!

Back in July, I traded in my 2006 Honda Element to buy a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST. I had the Element since new, so I know it was in an accident in 2010. Carfax was Grade A one-owner no accidents clean.

The lesson? Run a Carfax on your own car if you're thinking of trading or selling and you know there's something in its history. Better to know straight away how aggressive you can be during negotiations. I probably could have squeezed another $500 or $1,000 out of the dealer if I had run one on my Element before I went in.

sadfasdf > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 11:02

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Carfax won't catch everything. It will catch some things, and even the title history can tell you some useful information other than if it was salvaged. For instance: any car that has resided in Alaska for more than a year or two is probably not one you want; you're either going to have rust, or damage from the cold.

It is better than nothing and some things it can catch are things you can't necessarily see (yet).

soundman98 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 11:02

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i keep this link in my bookmarks to show to anyone that believes they can fully trust carfax.

my last car had a clean carfax(an absolute big deal at the time because i trusted they would know 100% of a vehicle), but both doors had heavy overspray on the edges, and there was signs of repainting in the rear wheel wells—none of which i noticed/knew until taking it to a body shop. after an accident i had, i took it to my body guy, and within 5 minutes of putting it on the lift, he found every single sign in the rear of the car that it had been rear-ended, restored, and repainted at some point before i bought it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/trust…

i always end the reply with "if you really want to know the history of a car, take it to get inspected by a trusted body shop. i would still recommend getting a carfax report, but trust it carefully."

RichardNixon72 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 11:07

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Absolutely. CARFAX - like anything else - is but one weapon in an arsenal of tools you have available for you to research a car purchase. Not every service outlet is a CARFAX partner and not every accident is reported. In fact, most paintwork isn't reported.

JDIGGS > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 12:55

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Susan > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:19

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Just Posting a pic of our beat, bought for 200$ on craigslist XJ.. had a clean carfax. lol

This A-pillar is primarily wood & bondo from the halfway point down. That door does not open; and it took a couple hours to convince the door to come off to be replaced, too. Yey pick-a-part. lol

All Motor Is Best Motor > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:20

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This guy looks a lot like Doug DeMuro.

brzedr1 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:24

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Dealer

..and since it's a one-owner car, sold here, serviced by us, and bought back by us, you can be confident that the CarFax is accurate.

Buyer

yea.. that's all fine and well. But I still need to see the Car Fox.

fdomestic > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:28

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I bought a used 2010 wrx that had a rebuilt title and I asked the seller to provide the carfax for shits and giggles. It didn't even show that it was a prior salvage.

RelentlessSlacker > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:29

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Great little article. It's an old story, but I like to share it when it comes to being wary about Carfax. Friend of mine had a '01 Mazda Protege. It got into several major accidents (a couple he was being an idiot, others were just bad luck). Understeered into a curb and sheared off the front struts and destroyed the power steering system, that was something like $4000 in the shop. Someone T-boned him in a parking lot and crunched his entire passenger side, that was $5000 or so. Had a blowout on the highway in the fast lane and crunched the left front on the jersey barrier, that was $3500 or something. And a couple other things happened too (there were 5x 4-figure shop visits for that car in its lifetime due to accidents).

The thing about that car is that every single time it went into the shop, the estimate to fix it was always less than the true cost. The insurance company added up the estimates and they were less than the car's value so it wasn't totalled or given a salvage title. But if you add up the true repair costs, the car should've been totalled. After 180k miles and all these accidents, the thing couldn't hold an alignment, the power steering rack felt like it was filled with gravel, it chewed through sets of tires every 10k miles (and was still going, man that thing was stout).

And when he sold it (to a friend, who knew the car's history it must be said)...Carfax was spotless. It just looked like a higher mileage one-owner vehicle and that's it. Hilarious.

scoob > All Motor Is Best Motor 09/27/2014 at 16:29

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But Doug's Ferrari doesn't get him girls.

Slave2anMG > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:34

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Not gonna report, are they?

theonewhoisbasedasfuck > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:35

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Yes sir, went to go buy a Certified Carfax "one owner no accidents" C55 AMG, and the driver's front fender, bumper and headlight didn't line up at all. Minor cosmetic and panel alignment issues I don't mind, and I can easily fix. But, the lack of care in the body work also meant any mechanical and/or electrical repairs made at the same time would be half-assed, too.

theonewhoisbasedasfuck > theonewhoisbasedasfuck 09/27/2014 at 16:37

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certified by Carfax, of course

Kevin Rhodes > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:43

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I've had two salvage-title cars with perfectly clean carfaxes. And one car that said it had a major accident but had not (I'd known the former owner the entire life of the car). So yeah, I put a TON of trust in their service...

D > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:47

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If you run your car off the road in the middle of the night and wrap it around a tree, call Uncle Clem to haul it out for you and have him fix it in his backyard, neither the police or Carfax have any idea the car was ever wrecked.

Yeah, my friend's Miata has gone off of a small cliff and slammed into a mountainside... and it's still got a clean title!

Iwaswonderofwonders > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 16:51

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Hey man... that last coal slurry flood made my 1987 Chevy stronger. No fancy CarFax gonna convivince me from sellling it to my cousin as a Crack Pipe.

Have Jeep, will travel. > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 17:23

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An excellent and spot on article. I have seen this countless times. Car has had major structural damage and been repaired, clean carfax. Car that has had a bumper skin reshot, "accident" reported. Carfax does provide some information that is helpful but it isn't a 100% entity.

BZiel > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 17:40

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I can tell you, professional, high volume body shops who do direct repairs for insurance companies DO report the incidents to Carfax and provide details about what was done.

SNL-LOL > All Motor Is Best Motor 09/27/2014 at 17:44

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I bet DeMuro doesn't take his mom out car shopping either.

mako28 > M54B30 09/27/2014 at 17:47

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Kind of the same here. Rolled my Jeep...new hood, windshield frame, dents fixed here and there and paint. Repaired at the dealer,"by the book" and made no attempt to be sneaky. When I traded it in I thought it'd be interesting to pull the carfax...not a darn thing popped up. I was in another of my honest moods, told the buying dealer "you know this jeep was rolled and fixed...it ain't perfect". They said everything looked fine and gave me a very fair trade-in value.

BZiel > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:00

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There are many other things that can be added here.

The $2000 transmission that was replaced with a used one by a guy named Gary in his backyard garage.

The seven times the car failed emissions test before the Bank 1 O2 sensor got spaced out out of the exhaust stream with heli-coil at Gary's backyard garage.

The coolant leak at the heater core inlet hose that was fixed with a zip-tie at Gary's backyard garage.

Relying on Carfax for buying a car is like relying on lottery ticket winnings to pay your power bill.

dragonfli-labs > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:05

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NMVTIS is faster than Carfax in some regards as well. I ran an NMVTIS (through checkthatvin.com) for a vehicle I owned in the past to see where it's gone. On the same day I ran the report I saw that the NMVTIS report listed it was titled - the same day - in Virginia. The next day I ran the CARFAX, which didn't have that event on it - just the auction two weeks before the day I ran the NMVTIS.

To add to the oddities on the CARFAX: there was an event on the report that "Recommended maintenance was performed" on the vehicle at a specific milage. I have the paperwork still from the dealer that reported that to CARFAX that indicated that the ignition coils were hosed and replaced under warranty. I would consider "recommended maintenance" to be things like oil changes or usual things, not "my car is running on 2 of the 4 cylinders, please fix it".

Stryker Trailwood > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:11

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Everyone always gives me the stink look when i try to tell them not to completely trust the "almighty" carfax. Then I tell them how I've taken my cars to big name brand dealerships for the Not-Our-Fault accidents or Non-accident repairs our cars have needed. None were on the carfax reports.

The fact that it is only as good as the voluntary reporting is something that almost nobody seems to realize. Most people somehow assume that they are forced to give carfax this information.

albo > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:11

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Does Carfax pay repair shops for submitting data? I assume they do, because why would they do it otherwise ? Maybe they need to boost that payment.

Blabla23 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:17

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Bought a car used Carfax, three years later go to sell it at Carmax and the car had frame damage. Gooooo Carfax!!!!!!

Built BMW Tough > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:23

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As a dealer, I despise Carfax with a passion. A minor rear-ender where it just required a bumper repair? ACCIDENT. There goes the car's value. A Civic was turned into a CR-X? The paint gauge says yes, and the Carfax says no.

It's like KBB for me, neither of them have actually sold cars, but they somehow are used in determining value. Not a fan.

Scania99 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:25

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What I've noticed with CarFax is that some places will file a mild fender bender in there as a big accident. Or something most would consider a signifigant accident as something minor. While other places won't. If you are a body shop, please put in there what happened. It helps us salesmen out a lot haha.

Scania99 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:27

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I bought an '86 BMW with a CarFax report. It just depends on where they are getting services done too. Oil changes and whatnot may report on there as well.

Dake > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:27

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Not only that, but Carfax doesn't (or at least didn't) have relationships with every state, so if the car has spent its life in one of those states you're definitely out of luck. There was a class-action suit decided against them for not making that possibility clear.

I'd be curious to know about Autocheck. Do they have different resources or is it the same thing?

The Stig's Rustbelt Cousin > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:31

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Since I've owned my car, I've done all the maintenance and repairs myself, or had them done by technicians I know, so the only documented maintenance history in the last 2 years are some fluid changes I had the dealership do, because I was too busy to do them myself. Mechanically, my car has been properly maintained, but there's no proof besides the records I've kept myself. Hopefully, the person I end up selling it to won't care about that.

mrd > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:35

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I like this article. I was at a dealer in Ohio a number of years ago and had left a deposit on a car. After a 300 mile ride my wife and I took a look at the car. Honda civic. I got suspicious when I was told a squeaky clutch pedal was typical. Uh huh. That"s when i started measuring the distance between body panels Found a big discrepancy. I opened the hood and looked hard and noticed that the A frame had been welded on. I got pissed. The dealer kept saying how the car fax was clean. I said I do not care someone welded the front of the car back on no matter what that report said. Like the old Monty Python dead parrot routine. Denying what is in front of you. So I asked for and got my deposit back. So much for that car fax and that dealer.

LazyLemming > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 18:51

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What about the insurance companies? I would think they would be one of the top places to get accident reports from, since they're often paying for them.

Just wear your damn mask... > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 19:03

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Carfax is not perfect, and not a replacement for a good inspection, but it's better than nothing.

Cavey > Roundbadge 09/27/2014 at 19:08

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My brother-in-law slammed my Dakota's door so hard, the window shattered (he's special needs and was excited to see a movie). So after much vacuuming and creative use of a air compressor, I got most of he glass out before getting the window replaced. The next week was a baseball game with another excited slam of the door. The window held, but it knocked loose some of the shards that were stuck in the seals of the door. So every bump had a small rattle until I got rid of the truck.

As Du Volant > LazyLemming 09/27/2014 at 19:16

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Carfax claims to get reports from insurance companies but in the over 1000 Carfaxes I've seen I have never seen anything marked as being from an insurance company.

That would also require the customer to make an insurance claim which doesn't always happen.

Bomtrombone > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 19:16

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mullet plus hayseed plus no shirt plus pick up. The hick is very strong in this one.

Finegreensilk1 > jariten1781 09/27/2014 at 19:23

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Makes a lot of sense. Now that I've read about it here, I'll be sure to ask at my regular mechanic.

As Du Volant > Built BMW Tough 09/27/2014 at 19:25

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I feel you there. Can't tell you how many times we get cars that had minor bumps that are tagged as accidents, yet we'll bring in a piece from the auction that can't drive straight and had the entire front end welded back together yet has a clean Carfax.

Finegreensilk1 > mako28 09/27/2014 at 19:26

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Because the dealer was sneaky and had no intention of telling the next buyer. Bastards.

Finegreensilk1 > The Stig's Rustbelt Cousin 09/27/2014 at 19:30

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Keep a little notebook with the mileage and what you did and receipts for stuff you buy, like oil, brakes, and bulbs. It's enough to document that you care and did the work.

DMCVegas > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 19:58

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And now this is stuck in your head.

Takuro Spirit > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 19:59

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I learned first hand how unreliable they are:

Sees Forester on eBay, slight right front fender damage, but wholly fixable.

Views auto check via eBay. Nothing about the damage. Clear title.

I contact the seller. He bought it at an auction, and is flipping it. Nice car. Drives good. Just needs fender. KTHXBYE.

I have a coworker (at the dealership I work for) run a CarFax. Nothing about the damage. But it does list the Subaru dealer it was serviced at quite regularly.

So I call the dealer, and ask for the service department.

Nice guy answers, is the ONLY guy there in parts and service (its a small dealer) and remembers the car fondly. Old man owned it from day one, and had a heart attack at the wheel. OH NO I say, He's OKAY I hear back. In fact, the old man bought another Fozzie to replace it, since his old one saved his life.

But because of the damage, the insurance company DID total it (it was a 2001 S with 120k on it) and they sent it to auction. I run the VIN on Google for shits and grins and YUP. The search brings up SEVERAL auction listings all directing to the same lot/location with all the same description:

SALVAGE VEHICLE. ACCIDENT DAMAGE.

I contact the seller back with this info, and tell him I will not bid on the car since it was listed as TOTALLED no matter what the CarFax says, and he should modify his listing accordingly.

Good car, drives good, just needs fender.

Not quite, I imagine. I don't bid, it ends up being sold for WAY MORE than its worth even IF it wasn't totaled, and the buyer probably was clueless about the true state of the title.

The Stig's Rustbelt Cousin > Finegreensilk1 09/27/2014 at 20:18

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I keep a spreadsheet.

imprezanoturbo > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 20:44

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I was wondering about that. My 1983 Subaru came up blank on Carfax. Probably shows title transfer in 2005 when I bought it though.

LazyLemming > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 21:08

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I didn't expect it to be perfect, but I would have expected the insurance companies to be good sources of info on the car. I wonder why it doesn't happen?

ChrisinKY > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 22:04

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There is another source - my lemon law'd altima showed no record for months, I sent them the certified paperwork and viola, they sent me a free carfax to show they had added in tiny print "the manufacturer repurchased this vehicle" not a glaring "this is a lemon!!!" tag to the report...

The car was also sold on a Nissan lot as a certified pre-owned. Buyer beware for sure!

Section38 > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 22:12

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Great write up!

i found out a few days ago that i have a Rollback flagged on one of my cars -erroneously- and it makes most people want to stay the hell away from buying my car. any idea on how to correct this with Carfax?

Nisman > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 22:15

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Car Fax is a huge ball-twisting rip off anyway. If you pay for the "unlimited" reports, it lasts 30 days (in fine print) and if you're searching by VIN number, it's actually only 5 cars (very fine print).

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > As Du Volant 09/27/2014 at 23:25

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thanks for this. Should be required reading for drivers who insist their car is a virgin.

I did a claim for a Lexus driver. His headlight was held together with silicone and his car was red, but the underside of the hood was black and the tie bar was green.

He was shouting, SHOUTING! in the shop that the Carfax showed zero accidents and I was a liar....

As I said. Required reading.

ezzyblack > jariten1781 09/28/2014 at 00:53

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I've even seen advertising on billboards and TV that "guarantee our collision repair won't lower your car's value".

Meaning they won't report it to Carfax.

Running rich when I fly off the handle > As Du Volant 09/28/2014 at 01:17

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So which is it? Not worth the $.0003 cents worth of ink to print out the two pages, or walk away from a deal without one??! Because I'm pretty sure you can't have it both ways? Yup. Not a down the middle kind of statement. So which is it?

This new media thing sure makes great commercials. But come on, this is a last ditch effort by Carfax. Their product isn't very good and their effective, but guilt laden sales pitch finally got tired. After 10's of millions invested they are still trying to convince people that if the dealer won't provide a Carfax, they should just walk away. While charging the dealers for each and every report. Or on a convenient monthly plan.

Let's move on. Maybe something with a little more viscosity.