Carfax
 

I've come to the conclusion that it isn't worth squat!
When looking for my Z, ( looked for months at literally 100s ) looked at many carfax & never saw anything about bad CSC or steering lock problems, Oil issues or high temp. Issues in the early models!
If I had not found this site months before purchasing my Z .....
CONCLUSION : can't rely on carfax :gtfo2:

What's your expierence?

You wanted Carfax to tell you any of that?

Then you're delusional about what Carfax can even offer, lol

Aside from that, Carfax is a complete and utter joke.

I've seen numerous cars with accident damage with clean Carfax reports

Carfax is a waste of money. I was in an accident in my old VW and it still doesn't appear on the carfax to this day. Over two years later. Only thing carfax is good for is to tell the previous owner count

you might want to google what carfax and autocheck are

its a history report? :roflpuke2:

how would what i do in my garage be on a carfax? :inoutroflpuke:

Agree with DE. Vehicle history reports (like Carfax or Autocheck) are simply to track the reported damage from accidents and insurance claims. They are pretty much useless, as already pointed out.

I've seen a vehicle with major damage and probably should have been totalled out with nothing on Carfax. Dealer even tried to tell me with a straight face that the car had never been in an accident when the damn passenger door didn't even close properly because it was so badly out of alignment. On the other side of that, I've had a friend have an accident reported on his Corvette's Carfax because someone bumped him in the parking lot and their insurance completely replaced a barely cracked bumper :rolleyes:

History report, like oil changes, brakes, tires, alignment & electrical check, at the dealer only, I get that! But nothing major, that's the point!
OF CROSE NO ONE knows what you do in your garage!

:icon14: You still obviously do not grasp the concept of a Vehicle History Report. Normal repairs and maintenance are not part of a history report. Those are maintenance records. That's where CSC and ESCL work might show up - and even then only if the dealer kept decent records.

A vehicle history report is going to show things like when the vehicle was purchased, sold, or registered and should include the recorded mileage at each of those events. The vehicle history reports also shows accidents the vehicle was in if reported. Since not all accidents are reported, and an insurance claim isn't always filed, these reports are not always accurate. If you can't count on the report to be accurate, I don't see the why people pay for them.

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.

also

google =

The Problems With a Carfax Report or Any Other Vehicle History Report

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

https://brokensecrets.com/2010/08/23...carfax-report/

This forum here, most of it's knowledgable members, your mechanic and good old common sense are your best source for all info regarding the Z.

its just a tool to aid you in the car purchase, not an end all for used car buying.

people believe in it, so use it when you sell your car.

Also anything that has to run through the DMV will be on there; stolen car, totaled out, incorrect mileage report ( swapped cluster ), lean on title. You know, the things a mechanic might not be able to physically see.

also they have a buy back guarantee, but its too early in the morning for me to read the terms
The CARFAX® Buyback Guarantee®

Source: was a mechanic, i have a carfax membership :)

I got a door ding in a parking lot called the cops and the driver was sited for it (not sure what charges) his insurance paid for the ding removal and when I went to trade it showed on Carfax as having an issue go figure :excited:

My old camaro that nearly got totaled out (~14K in damages for a 20K car) never showed the repairs or crash on carfax, even 10 years later. To me, carfax is for informational purposes only and should not be used to determine if vehicle was in an accident of any kind or not.

i use carfax to my advantage. sell car right after an accident repair before it shows up on carfax for a clean report :woot:


:rofl2:

used cars are buying someone else's problem.

Insurance companies also...

:confused::confused::confused:

exactly! not my problem nomore

even their mascot is a sleazy looking fox.. :ugh:

it sounds like you should buy new old guy

I did, party because of what I read on carfax ( so many cars w/ multipal owners) but mostly because of the info That was available here!
I still look at used Zs periodically and the carfax report that goes along with them, which is what inspired me to write this post! Just trying to help people who lurke here before buying ( like I did ) or joining!:eek:

Carfax should only be used as a reference. buyers should always have the cars checked out by trusted shops/technicians.

jesus!

"let me bring my mechanic friend to check out the car"

lets perform a leak down test in this parking lot and then were good to go

:wtf2:

I have driven many cars to a mechanic to have them checked out before buying. If the seller has a problem with that, I go elsewhere.

and he is checking what that i can not?

:icon14: :gtfo2:

:iagree:

This. It's pretty common.

Grammar, spelling, &c.

:barf::barf::barf:

Ah, another of your valuable contributions to this forum.

is this a serious comment?

this is very common and it is normally referred as 'PPI (pre-purchase inspection).

i think we need some common sense here. :shakes head:

:icon17:

CarFax
 

I saw on the news, where a used car dealer in NJ, was paying CarFax for bogus clean reports.

If you have lots of cash, any and all things can happen to your car, and the CarFaux can remain spotless. High-line cars are the most suspect.

Never ever ever trust a carfax report...when i got my Z i traded in my GTI that in the time i owned it had been crashed twice. Once in a parking lot with less then $1000 in damage, the 2nd time someone ran into the back of me at a redlight and caused almost 5k in Damage.
Couple years later when i went to trade in the GTI the dealership was like "great you have a clean carfax" then proceed to show me the carfax for the Z and explain how accurate they are...
:rofl2::rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:

why would rich people even care about carfax? they just get a new one.

again, carfax is just a reference and not a guarantee to include everything, i am not sure if carfax even advertised as such. the most important step is to get the used cars checked out by trusted technicians or shops.