*THE HULL TRUTH is the world's largest FREE network for the discussion of Boating & Fishing. Whether you're researching a new boat, or are a seasoned Captain, you'll find The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Message Forum contains a wealth of information from Boaters and Sportfishermen around the world.
Welcome to the updated THT!
If you are having trouble signing in, please email feedback@thehulltruth.com with your username and we will help you. We thank you for your patience as we help you access the new site!
Random Quote: All fisherman lie except for you and me and I've got my doubts about you
I don't know the caos of a carfax but it can't hurt.
I recently bought a car 06 Toyota that was hit in the rear. I got it for a good price and did the work myself with the help of a friend.
Problem was the state came after me for additional (unpaid) sales tax. They wanted full market value, an extra $500.00. Thank good I had a copy of the police report a carfax and the canceled bank check I paid with.
I didn't have to pay the extra tax! Than god the guy that sold it to me was a great record keeper and supplied me with everything I needed.
SO even though a carfax is not fool proof it helps.
Carfax is by no means a foolproof system. I work for a collision repair shop and we have never submitted any information to Carfax. The way that Carfax works is that the information that they receive has to be sent to them. In the case of insurance companies, they are only required to submit information on a vehicle that has been totaled with a salvage title or if a vehicle was stolen. As far as collisions go, Carfax says on their website that their data on repairable vehicles comes from collision repair shops. I can honestly say that I have never dealt with another shop in my town that has sent any data to Carfax.
I'm not sure how they get there information, but I was involved in an accident. Absolutlely no damage to my truck, as I had the reciever in my trailer hitch. The other guy was not as lucky(radiator). Police came, made a report and towed his car. I went to trade my truck a couple years after the accident and they ran the report. Stated that I was in accident and the sales guy auomatically deducted 2k from my trade, so I canned the deal. Thats all he said was "how am I suppose to know how much damage you had, just says you were rear ended". If they are going to create reports, they need to be more thorough.
most of carfax is from the police reports and registration. if someone is interested in your car let them pay for the carfax. if they want it bad enough they will pay.
if someone is interested in your car let them pay for the carfax. if they want it bad enough they will pay.
True, but I was more interested in making sure there wasn't anything on it from the dealer that I wasn't aware of, before somebody else was to get a copy.
Waste of money. There is no incentive for the people doing the work on the cars to provide that info to CarFax so they don't. It means that you paying for a CarFax that shows a "clean" is no guarantee of the full story. The car may have had major problems or body work but if the collision shop doesn't waste their time in reporting it, it will not show up.
It can be worth looking into. My mom was getting ready to trade her car in when she found out the local Chevy Dealership (Victory Chevrolet) screwed up on reporting the odometer. Carfax had it listed as an odometer rollback. The trade-in value was significantly reduced because of the error. She managed to get it corrected...but it might be worth looking into.
if I'm correct they have it set up so you can pull either a certain # of reports or for certain period for one price. Maybe the person looking for cars has purchased a car fax thing and can pull it on their deal.
I am in collision repair also and never heard of them asking us for info. If the insurance co. reports to them they could be responsible to pay decrease in value to their customers. I did $10,000 repairs to my brothers car in two separate claims that never showed up on a report when he traded it. Also newer cars have the mileage and vin # in the computer and if they see a decrease in mileage during state inspection it will reject the car. If the computer is changed the vin won't match.
Most of the records I've seen have looked like police report data, although occasionally I'm pretty sure I've seen notations from dealerships etc.
If you're selling a car it's a nice addition to help convince someone you're legit. Usually the buying and selling go hand in hand, so if you're buying used may as well get the unlimited monthly account and go that way, and use one for your own car. I've done that every time I have bought an account to look into used cars, so that I'd have the info available if I decided to sell one of mine.
OOPS: Just looked it up and seems carfax prices have gone through the roof. That is really crappy of them in this economy!
Usually the buying and selling go hand in hand, so if you're buying used may as well get the unlimited monthly account and go that way, and use one for your own car.
Not buying and selling, just selling at this stage to downsize due to income cuts.
Carfax? 
