CarFax Report - fact or fiction??

[melzer]

After reading about so many people relying on Carfax reports and the questionable reliability of these reports, I ran across this on eBay.

A wrecked '98 GTS being sold, clearly indicated by the seller's description with a salvage title, yet out of curiosity, I ran it thru Carfax......amazingly it came back with a clear title and NO ACCIDENTS OR SALVAGE AUCTION REPORTED!! I guess salvage information is only reported 'AFTER' the sale......if this is true, then what good is Carfax??

I have the Carfax report saved in word format if anybody wants to see it.....e-mail me and I'll be glad to send it to you.

VIN: 1B3ER69EXWV401484 (here is the link) wrecked '98 GTS on eBay

 

[PatrickG]

When I used to Live in LA I bought a car where I just did the "Lemon Check" - Back then I did NOT know what it's all about and I was new to the US. The car showed up as "clean". I bought it and a week late the police came to the office to have a look at the car:

- It was reported as stolen
- Was a gettaway car in a robery
- It was out-of-state

What a nice car (and dealer)

Anyway, now I would be smarter

CheerZ
GnaeX

 

[snowmann]

I think CarFax is pretty good, I have not had bad experiences with them at all. I am sure you will have a few cars that slip though the cracks, but most of the time it is very good information and I am glad I had it. I really wonder if the VIN number in that ad is correct. If the title says "salvage" I don't see how CarFax could miss it.

 

[ViperJoe]

Much of the time it take a while for the info to transfer to / from the various data bases that the insurance companies, police departments etc use, to the data base that carfax uses.

 

[BigCarrot]

Carfax is a decent tool, nothing more.