Should have ask to see the carfax!
By wonttakelong
@wonttakelong (3555)
United States
November 18, 2009 2:27pm CST
Here in the US, when buying a used car you can now ask to see what is called the "carfax". A carfax is a document that tells about the used car you are wanting to buy. It will tell you if the car has ever been wrecked or if the engine has ever been rebuilt. It is basically the car's entire life history.
A few months ago I purchased a used car from a dealership. It is a 2007 and had less than 50,000 miles on it. I didnt think to ask to see the carfax. Well I went today to schedule an oil change and I wanted the mechanic to make sure that he had the right filters before I scheduled (in case we had to order them). He asked what size my engine was and being a woman I couldnt tell him. So he had me pop the hood so he could take a look. When I did the first question he asked was how long ago the car was wrecked and repaired. 
I told him that it hadnt as far as I knew and he quickly told me that I was mistaken and the car HAD been wrecked, repaired and repainted.
He proceeded to show me the evidence of the repair work. I was dumbfounded! From this day forward IF I ever buy another car I WILL ask to see the carfax before I make the purchase!
Have you ever asked for the carfax before buying a car?
Have you bought a car without investigating its past?
Have you ever found out something about your car that wished that you had know at the time of purchase?
I told him that it hadnt as far as I knew and he quickly told me that I was mistaken and the car HAD been wrecked, repaired and repainted. He proceeded to show me the evidence of the repair work. I was dumbfounded! From this day forward IF I ever buy another car I WILL ask to see the carfax before I make the purchase!
Have you ever asked for the carfax before buying a car?
Have you bought a car without investigating its past?
Have you ever found out something about your car that wished that you had know at the time of purchase?4 people like this
4 responses
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
19 Nov 09
I didn't ask to see the carfax. I asked for the vin # so I could run a carfax myself. And I did just that too with the car I bought a couple of years ago. As my husband and I were dishing out a good amount of money for it I wanted to play it safe.
The carfax came out clean. Once my husband inspected the car and test drove it we bought it (from a private seller). We didn't have any problems with it, until about 6 months later, that is. However, we didn't get it checked out until a couple of months after that as we didn't have the money to do so before that. After my husband got home with the car he told me something that one of the employees at the shop said. The back didn't match up with the rest of the car. Yet the carfax (as well as the title) was clean. Now the employee there didn't say it had been wrecked, but my husband and I assume that there was work done to it that was never reported. So a carfax isn't always a fail safe system. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea, but in a situation such as mine it didn't do any good anyway.
It's scary that so many salvaged cars are on the roads, especially ones that shouldn't be.
So, do you know what kind of damage was done to your car?
1 person likes this
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
19 Nov 09
the back didnt match the rest of the car?
that would stink!
I guess carfaxes are only good if the events are reported
I cant believe how many dishonest people there are in the world
why would someone NOT report an accident?
Thats just wrong
I have no idea what damage was done
I do know that the engine runs fine
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
20 Nov 09
Yep, that's what my husband was told.
It's ironic that I did a discussion on here about salvaged cars a few years ago (before I bought that car). So when I ran the carfax I really thought I'd be playing it safe.
Here's the link to it: http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1120114.aspx
There's some pretty interesting stuff on there. You might want it read the responses. Particularly the response from KissThis. It makes me shudder just thinking about it.
Drive safe!
1 person likes this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
22 Dec 09
That carfax report isn't always entirely accurate, wont. My hubby bought a truck bout 10yrs. ago and when I was doing carfax reports on all our vehicles just for the fun of it, the accident he was in was never reported because, even though insurance paid for it, he did all the repairs himself. The insurance company just reimbursed him for what their adjuster tallied up in an estimate.
My ZX2 which has been involved in 2 major accidents that by, by all rights, SHOULD of been TOTALED with the one accident alone, STILL has a clean carfax report. These accidents were reported and dealt with 3-4 yrs. ago so they should already be on the report.
What you could of done was had a trusted mechanic take a look-see under the hood BEFORE buying it. He/she could then clued ya in on at least some of the mysteries of it's past, like being in a wreck or even oil leaks/trans leaks..etc.
Carfax reports are great and would strongly recommend anyone asking for it upfront but I'm just giving ya a heads-up on them not always being totally accurate. 
As an off-note..just because a vehicle has been in an accident, doesn't mean it's ruined. What counts is that you really like it and the accident doesn't cause any headaches afterwards.
As an off-note..just because a vehicle has been in an accident, doesn't mean it's ruined. What counts is that you really like it and the accident doesn't cause any headaches afterwards. 1 person likes this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
22 Dec 09
My car looked like it came right off the showroom floor when they were done fixing it. I think the reason why they didn't total the car is because it has a uni-body frame. Meaning the frame is in 2 sections. My car has a whole new front and rear end on it. Think the only original parts are mechanical. I love my car and now it looks like crap again but only cause it gets well beaten by weather, gravel, salt, mud. Drives like when I bought it off the showroom floor as well.
1 person likes this
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
22 Dec 09
wow!
they make the carfaxes sound so important on those commercials
my husband used to be an ASE certified mechanic and he looked at the car before we bought
he has never done body work on cars though and that was the tale-tell sign of a collision
the car looks good and runs great so I guess it doesnt matter
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
16 Feb 10
We have a "Used Car Package" that costs $20 now, that is mandatory. The seller is supposed to supply it, but if he does not, you have to buy it or they will not transfer the vehicle.
And you got duped by a Dealer, too. That is reprehensible.
@crimsonladybug (3112)
• United States
19 Nov 09
The problem with Carfax is it only gives you the information on the car if it was reported. If your car was wrecked by a previous owner and that person didn't have insurance and instead had their brother's girlfriend's uncle fix it for them, you still wouldn't know about it. 
1 person likes this
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
19 Nov 09
true!
it could be a problem if the event was never reported
1 person likes this
