I am beginning to question how good a Carfax report really is. Before I got my PW MCS, I test drove a 2004 MC40 that I found at a local Chrysler dealer. The dealer had no idea that they had a limited edition. It also had the upgraded JCW engine. It also had a "clean" carfax report. When I took it home for the night to test drive, I got all the service records out of the glove box and noticed that the only owner had received an insurance check which basically paid for the JCW. I also noticed that a local body shop had worked on the car at the same time. I did not buy the car as it broke down on me on the way back to the lot the next day. I just noticed they now have it marked down at least $3K below the price they offered to me. The ad also shows Carfax in big bold print with "CARFAX No Accident". Obviously if there was an insurance claim with body work and a new engine there had to be some type of accident.

 

Interesting.

I am betting this type of thing doesn't happen all the time, but it's good to know.

 

Agreed. I've purchased a car that previously was in an accident (found out after I had totaled it and the body shop told me how horrible the prior repair job was). Carfax only claims to tell you information that was reported and nothing else. They make it pretty clear. Sometimes data slips through the cracks...I don't fully trust it but I still believe it is valuable in quickly spotting those vehicles you do not want (or even if you do want it, you now have a great fact to talk on price about).

So yup, I agree with you but I still find it a valuable service. However they charge way too much!

 

Carfax can be a crap shoot. My son purchased a 2000 Ford Focus from the Honda dealership we've used in the past. The Focus looked great, sounded good and drove like a new car. Carfax was clean. After one year it started to rust. Body shop told me it looked like it had been totaled and repaired. Fortunately, it still runs and drives great.

 

Sucks even more that their buy back guarantee is only valid for a year which is pretty much crap. Of course, that is just unfortunately a chance we have to take on a used car.

 

Indeed, I found out with this Mini that carfax isn't worth a whole lot. The information that is there is good but it doesn't mean you have complete information or even good information.

Example, after buying my car I found history on it via the local Mini board and was actually put in touch with the previous owner. He'd had quite a few problems (The usual ones). Looking back through his posts I see the car was in the shop for almost five weeks with the timing chain issue. I pulled back up carfax and see a date in there that coincides and all it says is "Vehicle Serviced."

I was sick to my stomach seeing this, however after I recovered I realized that if I'd seen on the carfax "Timing chain replaced" I'd have just thought "Well, glad that got taken care of recently" and may still have bought the vehicle.

Bottom line, the carfax is a nice thing to have if there's really bad stuff on it, but the absence of bad stuff doesn't mean it didn't happen. It's not perfect but it's better than it was before we had this tool.

 

Carfax is just another scam to take your money. If you know what and where to look when buying a used vehicle you will have a good chance of buying a vehicle you can trust. Carfax only reports what they are given, how much stuff happens and is not reported to anyone. Carfax is a joke..

 

Out of curiosity and because I haven't done any research...what resources would you use when researching a used car to purchase?

 

First thing, use your own detective skills, how does it look overall, look everyplace, under hood,under car,lift up carpet, smell it, touch it ect.ect. if you do not have these skills take a friend who does. Drive the vehicle to a body shop and ask them to look for signs of a collision. You may have to get your hands dirty, this is not something you can do while you sit in front of your computer.Do not be offended my post is not directed at anyone here.Buying a used car is a crap shoot, the hands on system is still your best bet.

 

No offense taken as that is what I just did when I bought my 07 MCS. I wouldn't have it any other way. I was half expecting some magical detective skills beyond physically looking at i haha, but of course if you use as many methods as possible to detect collisions or worse then your success rate will certainly go up.

I found on my MCS there is a small dent on the hood (nothing worrying and no paint chipping) which led me to believe that while something minor happened, it was minor and not requiring body work. That makes me feel better, but even after everything there can always be surprises.

 

Good advice on getting personal with any car you intend to buy, even 'new'. There are so many scams and misleading information that you need to look over any car you buy. Never buy a used car without a mechanic doing a good evaluation. My guy will tell me how much I will be spending the first two years in repairs.

 

I believe only things listed on carfax reports are what it reported by the place servicing the vehicle. So, if it went into the body shop/dealer and they did not report it, it will not show up. As far as I know insurance companies do not report those kinds of things to wherever carfax pulls that info from. It's up to whoever is actually doing the work. If they took it to their buddy's body shop, most likely they did not make a report that carfax would pickup on, sort of an under the table kind of deal. Carfax is a nice tool to have, but in most cases they do not have every record of the car being in a shop. It's still a good idea to have a car checked by a professional that you can trust to inspect the vehicle, and check past service records, etc.

 

I would necessarily say it's a scam or joke, it can be very useful to get a first glance look at a vehicle, especially now that many dealerships provide them for free. I found it to be a very useful tool when I started looking for my MINI, but only a tool. I have to agree with you that you cannot rely solely on a carfax report, because as you said, they can only report on what they are given.

I found the carfax to be especially useful in checking the options...the online ads often would list a car as an S model, but the car in the pic did not have the hood scoop, or S badges, and the carfax report often confirmed that several cars listed as S models, were not in fact S models.

Carfax should be used as an extra tool, and unfortunately is not 100% reliable in most cases.