carfax

[CKB3]

Looking into buying a commuter car and was wondering if anyone had access to carfax that could help me out.
Thanks,
Curtis

[CmmdrDan]

Hate to tell you this but CarFax is a huge f-ing joke. When I got mine it came up clean. After signing everything a friend of mine looked at the front driver fender and the body filler the shop used to fix it started cracking. My younger brothers gf just traded in a Mini she was hit about 4 times in it. They repaired it four times and the dealer ran a carfax and it showed none of them. Visual Inspections are your best bet. Carfax is only good with the Odo reading but still can be missed.

[cico7]

Hate to tell you this but CarFax is a huge f-ing joke. When I got mine it came up clean. After signing everything a friend of mine looked at the front driver fender and the body filler the shop used to fix it started cracking. My younger brothers gf just traded in a Mini she was hit about 4 times in it. They repaired it four times and the dealer ran a carfax and it showed none of them. Visual Inspections are your best bet. Carfax is only good with the Odo reading but still can be missed.

Where does carfax get it's data? RL Polk provides registration info. But who reports repairs?

[CmmdrDan]

The shop that does the repair is suppose to report it against the VIN. Most dealers are good at it but if it goes to an outside shop they usually wont. Thats why if some one take the car to the dealer for every oil change you get a good history report on the CF.

[strokeZ]

Regardless how you look at it a CF report is essentially worthless. I have purchased cars that have "clean" reports only to find that someone had repaired it in the past. I have actually found welding rods in places you would never normally look. I am very close with what I think is the best body shop in Houston - and they have told and showed me some stuff that would make you faint.

Your best alternative is to take the car to a reputable repair shop and have them to a nose to stern inspection of the car. Any good seller will allow this. It might cost you a couple hundred bucks, but worth it in the end.

It's more important the more expensive car you purchase - not just because of the cost to fix the repair, but because shops will do anything to get those vehicles to look good so they can make a great profit on them. I have seen Bently's, Ford GT's, BMW's, Mercedes, Lambos all with hack jobs on them. I don't know about the rest of the country but this kind of stuff is rampant in Houston.

[cico7]

Carfax is a tool available for use. One of many. Here i can look up a title, for free, and see how many prior owners and where it was sold. That is another tool. Mechanics are tools. Some more than others but dont poop on the op's request for this tool. He didnt ask your opinion of carfax.

[Sal-XK]

Ok we have enough opinions on car fax for the OP to be informed and aware and take the info with a grain of slat. Is there anyone that can pull a car fax for free and help out.

[Ross]

Just one more story Sal lol...When I got my XK, the carfax came up clean, but a week after, I ended up having to take it to the dealer and leave it there for a month while they rebuilt the entire transmission. Even though it was done for free under warranty, it still was quite the annoyance.

[Sal-XK]

I don't thing the function of carfax is to tell you the trans will blow. I believe its to see if its been in a wreck or salvaged at some point.

[cico7]

Carfax is a tool available for use. One of many. Here i can look up a title, for free, and see how many prior owners and where it was sold. That is another tool. Mechanics are tools. Some more than others but dont poop on the op's request for this tool. He didnt ask your opinion of carfax.
I have concluded I did not like my response here. It may seem scathing or downright rude. My apologies.
I only wanted to make the point caxfax is a tool, but I came across rather strong. No one brought this up
or mentioned any to me about this, I re-read it and decided I did not like my reply.

Don

[strokeZ]

No worries - I was just as strong in my opinion. I just hate to see someone else get burned as I have before in the past relying on only one data source or at least a "publicly trusted" one.

[CKB3]

Thanks for the info. I was only using it to see if any major damage and number of owners. I take a solid look at everything i buy and purchased a used 98 328i. Thanks for your opinions.

Ckb