False Carfax

[SharlaD]

I live in Georgia. I bought a car from Atlanta Ultra Cars in August 2008. They showed us a clean Carfax report. We recently decided to trade the car in. We discovered that the car was previously wrecked. It is worth $6,000 less than what we owe on it. The car lot has gone out of business. There are multiple articles on CBS Atlanta's web site about how they were selling wrecked cars and cheating people. I went through my paperwork and cannot find a copy of the Carfax. What can I do?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[justalayman]

If the dealership that sold you the car, there isn't much you can do. While it would appear you have gotten the royal screwing, if there is nobody to recoup your damages from, it is what it is.

 

[swalsh411]

I went through my paperwork and cannot find a copy of the Carfax.

So you have zero evidence then.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Are you sure the Carfax on that car shows that accident?

If the vehicle was wrecked by its owner and he took it to his buddies shop for repair, it probably would not show up there.

 

[FlyingRon]

Yes, CARFAX isn't any indication the car wasn't involved in a substantial damage situation. All carfax does is mine various title and registration records. It can tell if the car was salvaged (i.e., totalled in an accident or other incident), or returned to a manufacturer, or how many owners, or catch inconsistencies in reported odometer readings) but it won't tell you squat about repairs that the owner did that didn't involve transfer of ownership.

You're free to run a new carfax now, but it probably won't show you anything different.

 

[CraigFL]

Check on a few "salvage" cars on EBay. What you find a lot of times is that the car was salvage/owned by an insurance company right before the car is being sold now. On EBay/autocheck you can see this. But a private car seller can buy the car at an auction, run the Carfax(which will be clean because the accident hasn't been reported yet) and then have the car repaired and show you that previously run "clean" carfax.

 

[sandyclaus]

Unfortunately, as the above posts demonstrate, Carfax is not a 100% guarantee of getting a trouble-free vehicle. It should be used as a GUIDELINE ONLY, along with an inspection from your own independent mechanic so you can get a clear picture of the condition of the vehicle prior to purchase.

So, that being said, what DID the mechanic have to say about the car before you bought it?

(If the answer is, I didn't have a mechanic look at it, then my response is, YOU SHOULD HAVE. Ultimately, on vehicles sold AS-IS, unless the seller offers a written guarantee of condition or fitness, you take the car as you find it. A mechanic can help to discover hidden condition and mechanical issues that you wouldn't otherwise find or know to look for.)

 

[teflon_jones]

People think Carfax is gospel and you don't need to look any further. You can only trust it for what it DOES show.

Case in point, I had an accident in my car that cost $30k to repair. Never showed up on the Carfax.