There is also the possibility that your friend was rebuilding cars that were wrecked, but never owned by an insurance company and issued a salvage title. I know that happens.
IIRC, Experian’s Auto Check was the one that found the issues that CarFax missed on the TV story I linked. I suppose there may be others that CarFax might find that Auto Check missed, but I don’t know. CarFax seems to be like Kleenex and Band Aide. CarFax is the one that people seem to know and trust. Too bad.
ANY car that comes from out of state here has to be inspected by the highway patrol or a designated representative of the highway patrol. They are checking to see if the whole car, or any parts on it, may have come from a stolen car that was not properly scrapped after the owner was paid for it by their insurance company. They will also find if the car has had a previous salvage title. I don’t think there is any way a “title 42” situation would work here. It makes me wonder if I’ve ever bought a “clean title” Oklahoma car that wasn’t really clean, but since the HP inspects ALL out of state cars prior to titleing, I doubt it.
It’s about time. Let the truth begin.
Carfax is worst then the ABC News 20/20 report exposed.
There are 11 problems with a Carfax report that Carfax doesn’t tell their customers. Please visit http://www.usedcarinspections.org/carfax.htm.
The # 1 reason vehicles with existing problems are purchase is the buyers’ inability to determine the true condition of the vehicle. A Carfax report can NOT tell the buyer the condition of any mechanical or electrical system or component. Only a professional pre-purchase inspection will let the buyer know the true condition of the vehicle.
When getting a pre-purchase inspection, be advised that are major differences between Automotive Technicians performing pre-purchase inspections. These differences can be significant and will affect the quality and accuracy of a pre-purchase inspection.
UsedCarInspections.ORG is a non-profit consumer site filled with helpful used car buying tips and information and how to select an Automotive Technician and what type of information you should receive from a pre-purchase inspection.
Also read the “Top 10 Used Car Buying Myths, Mistakes, and Pitfalls”.
I’ve stated many times on this forum that CarFax is very suspect. They seem to be gathering more data then they did a few years ago. But just based on the data they say they get their data from says they don’t get a clear history of a vehicle.
. First off…repairs (NOT ASSOCIATED WITH AN ACCIDENT). Based on the article they only get their data from police reports and insurance companies.
. There are THOUSANDS of accidents every day that don’t get reported to insurance companies. I have $1000 deductible on all my vehicles. Any accident I get in that’s below $1000 I won’t report. Now $1000 doesn’t seem like much…but if you have 4 or 5 of those it could make a big difference.
. I was in an accident about 30 years ago. I was rear-ended by a Dump truck. The company that owned the dump truck was self insured. They were the BEST people I ever dealt with. My car was totaled…they gave me a more then fair check for my vehicle. No insurance company was involved.
I’d like to see 20/20 or some other investigative journalistic organization get Carfaxes on 500 “for sale” (or recently sold) vehicles and then investigate the actual backgrounds and compare the difference. They have the resources, and this would demonstrate how accurate/inaccurate Carfax reports really are/aren’t.
“Title washing” is not that hard to do. Crooks do it differently depending on which state they’re in. Some states will require minimal paperwork to replace a “lost” title or people can have the car titled in a state then quickly title it in another state before the branding catches up. I have even seen in some states, depending on the type of paper used to print the titles, where you can literally erase the brand then request a duplicate because of wear and the new one is clean. I previously worked at carfax for several years and we had a detective come in and teach us these tricks and more. It’s my opinion that carfax does all they can to collect and accurately share data on vehicles but as a for-profit company nobody wants to highlight their limitations.
I was surprised to see the recent 20/20 report but the dealers were basically integrating the carfax report in the sales process as carfax encouraged them to, except for the term “clean carfax”…that was always something they were discouraged from saying. I felt the guy in NJ could have known more about the cars being in accidents by looking for mis-matched paint etc, but its clear those accidents weren’t on the report. Hard for me to tell if he used that to his advantage or if it was an honest mistake.
I just discovered that the Carfax report I got on a car in 2010 failed to report a minor accident it had been in. When I sold it, the buyer got an Experian AutoCheck report on it which showed the 2005 accident that had not been on my report. It is possible to pull an AutoCheck report when you buy a car and it is 6 dollars cheaper than a Carfax report. But it has no maintenance/repair records on it (that Carfax did have). Live and learn. Crooks to be had around every corner.
There are indeed crooks to be found everywhere, but what makes their “job” easier is the absolute belief in the accuracy of Carfax and similar reports on the part of so many consumers. This is just another case of slick advertising creating an “aura of goodness” around a product that has many shortcomings.
Wonder how many of the east coast hurricane flood vehicles ended up at “Joes Super Wheels”? man it was sickening watching the cash for clunkers debacle-Kevin
Yes, unscrupulous folks are likely trying to sell flood-damaged vehicles, but simply doing some due diligence can help to protect yourself from this type of scam.
The NJ Division of Consumer Affairs has set up a searchable database of flood-damaged cars, and potential buyers can enter a VIN (or search by make & model), in order to determine if a car was a flood victim. However, instead of using a no-cost reference source from a law enforcement agency, all too many people choose to pay for Carfax, with all of its shortcomings.
This is just one more case of people believing–in error–that the value of something is always related to its cost.
http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/floodedcars/