CarFax is a rip-off! I paid the annual fee to receive a report on my own vehicle which I know to have been wrecked and the report came back clean. Internet
CAR FAX RIP OFF. Just out of curiosity, I paid the annual fee to access car fax and receive a report on my own vehicle which I bought used. I found out after I had been involved in an accident that the vehicle had been wrecked previously, prior to my purchase. The carfax report came back clean, no wrecks, and a one owner vehicle.
I know by the title and paper work left in the glove box of the car, the car had 2 previous owners. Also, the car had been involved in a major collision prior to my purchase involving the entire drivers side which was repaired with bondo. The car lot in which I purchased the car assured me the car had never been wrecked. That of course is another story.
Now since I have had the vehicle it is been involved in 2 accidents which do not show up on the carfax either. Neither of these accidents I was at fault with and were repaired by the insurance company. So, one would think the well known advertised Carfax would at least have one of these incidents on record... RIPOFF!
Don't waste your time. You would be better off taking a vehicle to a known mechanic or repair shop and have it looked over before purchasing it.
Dianne
Columbus, Georgia
U.S.A.
7 Updates & Rebuttals
Dianne
Columbus,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Dianne Columbus Ga
#8Author of original report
Tue, November 16, 2004
I think next time I see an add for Carfax for our local dealership, I will call them and alert them to this site. The carfax advertisement seems to be misleading and false.
Joe
Metairie,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
carfax ripped me off, too
#8Consumer Comment
Wed, October 27, 2004
i spent 4 months looking for a honda civic 5 spd
that had everything i wanted. when i found it i looked for all obvious signs of body work( paint overspray, replaaced parts ect) and found nothing. bought a carfax just to be sure, all came back clean. found out later the whole rear end, trunk, glass and all had been replaced. biggest ripoff yet. now i lagh when i see carlots offer free carfax reports!
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Kinda the same thing here Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable
#8Consumer Comment
Mon, September 20, 2004
I, too, ran a Carfax report on my own vehicle and was surprised at what did and did not show up.
The report correctly showed that the vehicle had been involved in an accident (my wife was at fault). It correctly showed that it once failed an Arizona emissions test.
But the car has passed the emissions test every other year and that was not shown. The reason that is important is that Arizona records the mileage each time a car is tested. The emissions tests therefore create a trail of odometer readings. If the Carfax report was accurate it would have shown that my car had 104,000 miles the last time it was tested. But since Carfax does not record the times my car passed, I could roll the odometer back to, say, 60,000 miles and no one would ever know by reading a Carfax report.
It appears from my own experience and from those reported above that Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable.
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Kinda the same thing here Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable
#8Consumer Comment
Mon, September 20, 2004
I, too, ran a Carfax report on my own vehicle and was surprised at what did and did not show up.
The report correctly showed that the vehicle had been involved in an accident (my wife was at fault). It correctly showed that it once failed an Arizona emissions test.
But the car has passed the emissions test every other year and that was not shown. The reason that is important is that Arizona records the mileage each time a car is tested. The emissions tests therefore create a trail of odometer readings. If the Carfax report was accurate it would have shown that my car had 104,000 miles the last time it was tested. But since Carfax does not record the times my car passed, I could roll the odometer back to, say, 60,000 miles and no one would ever know by reading a Carfax report.
It appears from my own experience and from those reported above that Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable.
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Kinda the same thing here Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable
#8Consumer Comment
Mon, September 20, 2004
I, too, ran a Carfax report on my own vehicle and was surprised at what did and did not show up.
The report correctly showed that the vehicle had been involved in an accident (my wife was at fault). It correctly showed that it once failed an Arizona emissions test.
But the car has passed the emissions test every other year and that was not shown. The reason that is important is that Arizona records the mileage each time a car is tested. The emissions tests therefore create a trail of odometer readings. If the Carfax report was accurate it would have shown that my car had 104,000 miles the last time it was tested. But since Carfax does not record the times my car passed, I could roll the odometer back to, say, 60,000 miles and no one would ever know by reading a Carfax report.
It appears from my own experience and from those reported above that Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable.
Larry
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Kinda the same thing here Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable
#8Consumer Comment
Mon, September 20, 2004
I, too, ran a Carfax report on my own vehicle and was surprised at what did and did not show up.
The report correctly showed that the vehicle had been involved in an accident (my wife was at fault). It correctly showed that it once failed an Arizona emissions test.
But the car has passed the emissions test every other year and that was not shown. The reason that is important is that Arizona records the mileage each time a car is tested. The emissions tests therefore create a trail of odometer readings. If the Carfax report was accurate it would have shown that my car had 104,000 miles the last time it was tested. But since Carfax does not record the times my car passed, I could roll the odometer back to, say, 60,000 miles and no one would ever know by reading a Carfax report.
It appears from my own experience and from those reported above that Carfax reports are extremely incomplete and not very reliable.
Carol
Charlotte,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
I believe what you said about Carfax
#8Consumer Comment
Sun, September 19, 2004
I was looking at some used vehicles for my boyfriend and came across Carfax.com. I was curious because every vehicle I entered the VIN for came back with "issues" according to Carfax and asked if I wanted to order the full report. I then entered the VIN from my car, which I KNOW has no "issues" because I purchased it brand new and have never had any accidents with it. Yes, Volvo has had a couple of recalls on minor items but nothing major. Carfax indicated that there were 13 "issues" associated with my vehicle. I know that is not the case and am not going to pay the money to find out what bogus issues they have come up with. My main reason for writing this is that if I go to sell my car I would hate for someone to pull it up and think there are problems with it. Even worse, I would hate for someone to pay carfax to tell them that the 13 "issues" are not really issues at all.