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Jean of Beverly MA (05/07/08)
I too ran into the same problems with trying to get the free history report no matter what link I went to I was repeatedly brought back to the same two websites. Carfax and Autocheck, and when you enter the VIN you are told there is a history or how many records of file and if you'd like any further information it'll cost you a minimum of 20.00, which I simply cannot afford. I've heard some people say that knowing the history should be worth it, but for some of us after buying a new car or in the process, we simply do not have that much left in our pockets for that purpose, the safety of the public, should not only be available to those who can afford it or who have credit cards.
Nicholas of Bethesda MD (04/29/08)
I have paid $29.99 twice within 14 days to run an unlimited amount of car VIN #s for 30 days
Travis of Palm Bay FL (04/22/08)
I also had problems with carfax. We were looking to by a used suburban. We found one online at our local dealer, so we went online and paid for unlimited carfax reports for 30 days. The report came back CLEAN! We went to the dealer and they too showed a CLEAN report. After we had the 2004 Suburban for 4 days, it would not crank. As we were looking everything over, we noticed that they drivers side door had been repainted and all under the drivers seat was rusted and the seat cushion was molded. My first thought was, the vehicle has been in water. We looked under the passenger seat and it too was rusted, the metal under the dash and the metal to the foot pedals was really bad. We could not understand why the 2nd and 3rd row seat had no rust at all. We had a whole list of items that went wrong with the vehicle. It was towed back to the dealer, due to not starting.
They replaced the fuel pump and asked me, did you know that that vehicle does not have a key hole in either dirver or passenger door? I was unaware of this and they told me that they would replace the handle with the correct one. I was then thinking, what happened to this suburban? I called Cheverolet and gave them the VIN and asked if this vehicle should have had a key hole, I was told yes, it came from the factory with one. So we knew then, not sure what happened, but we knew something did. The drivers door paint was a different color, the door handle with a key hole had be replaced with a handle without a key hole, and the rust under the seats and dash.
We took a family trip from Florida to Mississippi and I was thinking more about water damage or something. I went to the National Insurance Crime Bureau's website and checked the VIN for water damage and was not expecting to see what I did. This vehicle has an active stolen report, contact us or your local law enforcement agency. WOW, I was upset! I called the NICB and was told that it was stolen, but they would contact the insurance company and get back with me. Luckly, I printed that page out and keep it. They called back and told me, it was stolen but found. I asked the rep, what would have happened if we were stopped by law enforcement between MS and FL? She said, if they ran the VIN, it would show stolen and we would get charged. We have 2 small children, one with special needs. I was fuming at this point. I also asked her why carfax showed a clear report, she said that it should be the same and checked carfax herself. She said that she could not explain why carfax did not show the same info and placed me on hold and contacted her supervisor. They had no answers to carfax's report.
As soon as I got off the phone with her, the report changed on NICB, so I am glad that I printed that out. The next day, as we were leaving MS to come home to FL, the suburban will not start. We had to wait until the next morning and have it towed to a Chevy dealer and we were told that someone has damaged the steering coloum and it is in bad shape. We had to get repairs to that and was able to leave MS within a few hours. When we arrived back in town, the dealership re-painted the driver side door, replaced the drivers seat cushion and finished temperary repairs to the steering, which will not hold up long. We relied on carfax and was let down, and know we have a damaged suburban that we will always have to put money into. We have no idea, what happened to the vehicle when it was stolen. They may have broke into it, and then ran it into a ditch, which would cause the rust under the dash and 2 front seats. We could not get the dealer to help us with all the rust. I have not found away to contact carfax about this, so if anyone has advice, please let me know.
Jerry of Medford MA (04/14/08)
I have had several personal car sales fall through over the past few weeks due to a CARFAX report that lists several SEVER inacuracies! Here is a copy of my second email, third attempt to get service:
Carfax customer support, This is my second email. PLEASE contact me to immediately correct inaccuracies listed on the CARFAX report for a vehicle. I am original owner of a vehicle and am still in possession of the vehicle and have been shut down on several sales due to the false report. I can provide any record required in order to fix this issue. I have kept every record since I drove the car off the lot and have never been in any accidents! I left a voicemail on your phone number as well.
I have lost a vehicle I spent months looking for as someone else came in and bought it while my sales fell through due to CARFAX inacuracies! I told by 2 offerers that they would not follow through with sale because they felt I was 'dishonest' because the CARFAX claimed 2 owners.
Rinaldo of Hesperia CA (04/13/08)
In september 2007 I decided to sell my car, a nissan Maxima. It was a 2000 model and I bought it from the dealer in as pre-owned car in 2001. During that time I own he car I had only one accident. I reared end someone slightly, I didn't even need to go a shop to get my front bumper fixed. I had someone polish the bumper to remove the scratch from the accident. The other party who was involved in the accident had slight damage and my insurance took care of it. According to blue book my car worth around 7000-8000 in 2007, to my surprise the prospective buyer told me that it was reported salvage by CARFAX.
Now I have to sell it around $4000 instead of $7000. I lost almost of half of my car value because of CARFAX error report.
Catherine of Scottsdale AZ (03/29/08)
I bought a 2005 Ford Taurus SE from the dealership named above at the end of May of 2007. Initially the salesman gave me a carfax report with one page in the middle of it blank. Since then, I called Drivetime to fax over another carfax report and the same thing happened. There was one page that is blank. I have repeatedly asked them to give me a complete report, but they have not responded. I am getting conflicting information on this car about how many things appear on the report. Also, I do not have a signed contract. They gave me customer copies that have no signatures. Doesn't everyone have the right to have a copy of the signed contract? Please help with this. Thank you.
Jerry of Toronto OTHER (03/18/08)
I purchased a car with salvage rebuild certificate and on the report from some company called CARFAX it is stated junk title. I have proof that the car is rebuildable. I believe this company is supplying false data to the customers and other government parties.
Loss of money and time in law suit against the company.
Kostas of Tarpon Springs, FL (03/10/08)
I purchased a carfax report on 02/28/08 about a car that I wanted to buy.The report ,as always, came back clear. I went to the dealership and purchased the car.
Upon coming home, I noticed that the the fender was badly repaired, the headlights were moving and that after market parts were installed inside the engine. I went to 2 body shops where they confirmed that the car had been in a serious accident from the right and the front. The whole front end of the car was pushed all the way to the engine!! Estimated repairs, just by looking at the car, would cost over $4000 and that doesn't include checking what kind of damage has been done to the frame. In order for them to check it they had to take off the bumper and the fender. Needless to say that the axles were not straight!! All and all a very dangerous car to be driven.
I believed CARFAX and bought this car. I had to go to the dealer and tell them that I would sue them if they didn't return the money. They did.
Terry of Redwood City CA (03/09/08)
A couple of years ago, a young boy ran into the front right vendor of my 2001 Corolla. Thank God he wasn't hurt severely, and my vendor was dented. Of course the police were called because a pedestrian was involved. I was absolved of all responsibility, and I had the damage repaired at a body shop
I went to trade-in my Corolla for a new one and was expecting about $5,000 based on Kelly Blue Book. Imagine my surprise when the dealer showed me a Carfax report with an Alert for a major accident. Well yes, it was a major accident in many ways, but not as far as damage to my car. The dealer would only give me $2,000 for my trade-in and said other dealers would see the red flag sent up by Carfax and do the same. After reading other complaints, I believe them. If Carfax is going to report incomplete and inaccurate information, they need to be held accountable. They cost me two to three thousand dollars.
Joseph of Milford CT (02/27/08)
I'm trying to sell my 2002 Honda Accord EX Coupe. I am the original owner on the vehicle. I drove it off the lot brand new in 2001. A potential buyer emailed me complaining that I wasn't being honest about being the only owner of the vehicle. He told me that his infallible CARFAX report showed that there were two owners. I asked him for a copy and sure enough, it said there were two owners. Apparently, transferring my title to another state has the odd effect of transforming me into another person. No matter how much I tried to convince this sworn and faithful follower of CARFAX that his wonderful report was wrong, he decided to bow down to it and back out of the sale. Basically, that means he thinks I'm a liar. Gee, thanks CARFAX! Of course I contacted them the only way that they allow anyone to, by EMAIL! And, of course, they haven't gotten back to me. It's a pity that the Carfaxite bailed out on the car as it is in really excellent condition and I'm selling it about $1000 less than it's worth, but FraudFAX, with it's liberal use of the word guarantee on their site, has somehow managed to convince the world that they are the only infallible source of knowledge on vehicles. Too bad Carfaxites are too lazy to peruse their website. In the FAQs they will find that FraudFAX actually backs down on their guarantee claim and admits that their reports are probably full of errors as they are totally dependent on their sources that they fail to validate (obviously).
Amir of Simi Valley CA (02/19/08)
Last year I was trying to sell my E30 M3, which is a rare car. I had few people very interested in the car, until one of them told me that you are trying to deceive everyone by not telling us your car has been in an accident and has had a frame damage. I ran a Carfax, and sure enough, they had stated that my car has had frame damage. I contacted Carfax, and I explained to them that this is an error. The car has never been in any accident and does not have any frame damage. They said they will investigate and get back to me. They contacted me a few days later and said, checking with their source, my car does have frame damage. I asked them to please forward me the information on their source. They would not release any information to me. They said the best they can do is for to me to have the car checked out by a frame specialist, and they will put a note on my vin that the car did have a frame damage, but it's now repaired. I did not agree!
I ended up lowering my price by $5000, and it took over a year to sell the car.
Aleksandar of Libertyville IL (01/17/08)
I bought a new car and had it since Oct. 2004. It had small fender bender in March of 2005, car mileage was about 6000 miles, and that was it. Five months ago the CARFAX report was totally clean and did not show anything. A couple weeks ago, I ran the CARFAX report, and there was a damage report on it: stated as involving front impact and rear impact, 36,419 miles, on Nov. 06, 2006. No police report, no proof. I can prove that my car has never been in the accident on that day, and I can prove I never had that many miles around November 2006.
I have contacted CARFAX. They said they will check and just got e-mail from them stating they have verified and won't tell me who reported the false record. There is nothing I can do, and they do not want to remove this false record from the report. I just got the car appraised $4500 below what it would be worth if there was no damage reported on record. CARFAX won't help, and I cannot sell my vehicle now because of them. Should something like this happen in America? Theifs, liars, scammers and what not - nothing else!
Car is worthed about $15,300 per kbb - and I just got appraisal from the dealer of a worth not more than $10,800.
Lee of Winchester VA (01/04/08)
I pulled a Carfax report on a vehicle I purchased in 2004 and it showed the vehicle was clean. (I have a copy of the report). I went to trade it in at a dealership last week and their report showed it had a accident claim from the previous owner. The claim was about 8 months before the orginal owner sold the vehicle.
The dealer lowered the trade in value by several thousand dollars. We did not follow through with this deal, and went to another dealer.
Brent of Pleasanton CA (01/04/08)
This started on 12/15/2007. I attempted to trade in my 2000 VW Jetta at a local BMW dealership, they of course ordered a vehicle report to determine the trade in value of the trade-in. The report showed that the Jetta had suffered structural and frame damage. This was a shock. It had been in a few fender bender accidents but nothing major. After contacting Carfax.com regarding the source of the record they refused to divulge any information. I sent them the insurance repair estimate along with the repair records that were specific to the incident that they had referenced, neither of the reports mentioned any damage to the frame. What more can I do? They have way too much power with no responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the reports that they are selling.
As of today, we have not resolved this situation. I am not in a position to have an inspection done nor do I believe that I should be required to do so. Carfax.com is the reason I am not able to get a fair value for my trade-in or a private party sale.
Lisa of Stanford CA (12/19/07)
I bought a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder believing it had not been in an accident due to relying on Carfax records. I then went to sell the car about 1.5 years later (I got a local job and was no longer relocating cross country and didn't need the big vehicle), and Carfax records had changed. All of a sudden their report showed the record of an accident. The accident had occurred years prior to my buying the car. The first record check they did for me--the one I relied upon in deciding to purchase the vehicle--was wrong. Adding to Carfax's remarkably effective method of devaluing my vehicle, the new Carfax records simply said accident. Despite the availability of details of the accident, Carfax took no responsibility for publishing these details. (I finally got a hold of the accident report from the DMV.) Carfax took no responsibility for helping a potential buyer understand the extent of the damage (or lack thereof) that was caused. They basically threw the information out there that was easiest for them to obtain. They had no regard for the impact the information would have nor did they feel responsible for providing details that would help a person interpret the information. They were not apologetic. They were all but IMPOSSIBLE to reach. (I doubt this is an accident, pun intended.) All potential buyers assumed the worst about the car. Carfax claims to offer a service, but what they offered me was a complete disservice.
I lost $4,000 when I re-sold my car 1.5 years later. This money was to be part of a downpayment on a home. (I am still renting.) Carfax single-handedly devalued my vehicle. No other organization I have ever worked with in my life has cost me so much money.
Steven of Lake Elsinore CA (11/05/07)
I am trying to sell my truck. When I bought it used, from a dealer, 3 years ago, I ran a Carfax on it, and it was perfectly clean. Now 3 years later, I can't sell it because a potential buyer ran a Carfax on it, and it has multiple reports of accidents and frame damage. I had no idea about any accident or frame damage. HAD I known, I never would have bought it. Now I am stuck with a truck I can't sell because of Carfax.
Vincent of Axworth AL (10/23/07)
I paid Carfax $29.00 for so called "unlimited use" but cannot log-on even though I just bought the "service". My Password is absolutely correct. THIS IS OUT AND OUT FRAUD.
I missed out on buying a car because their Website didn't work. What they are doing is CRIMINAL.
Sue of Tucson AZ (10/20/07)
I bought a 2005 Nissan Altima with about 25000 miles and a clean Carfax report. It has had problems since I drove it away. A Nissan mechanic said, there was a bad accident evidenced by the fact that the motor mounts were re-welded and there is metal in the transmission system. I'm looking at about $5,000 in repairs--money I don't have.
I'm to be inconvenienced by whatever action I have to take to get this car fixed. I spent $200 to have the Nissan mechanic check it out plus $170 registration fees.
Lynn of Canton GA (09/26/07)
I took my fully loaded 2004 Ford Expedition back to the dealership that I purchased it brand new to trade it in. Due to gas prices I wanted to down grade. To my suprise and my husbands suprise, there was a CarFax report on my SUV stating major front end damage from front end impact. I was in a fender bender, but the only damage was to the vanity plate on the front of my vehicle. I simply removed the tag, gave the police officer my information and drove to work. The area on my bumper where the tag scratched the paint is still there and I dont plan to have it repaired because between the pictures I took at the accident scene and that scratch, they are the only proof I have that my vehicle was not in a major accident. I will never give CarFax my money because they simply cannot be trusted.
Patricia of Leesburg VA (09/22/07)
My 2002 Honda Accord is for sale. It is in perfect condition. CARFAX reports warning ... etc., and all prospective buyers have been scared off for about 6 weeks. I am out $9,900 because I cannot sell my car due to CARFAX slandering my car's title.
Leslie of Hartwell, GA (08/13/07)
I checked the VIN on my 2005 Volvo XC90 because we were selling it. It came up that we had 3 reports on it. I have never had an accident, rolled back the odometer (how do you do that anyway?) or ANYTHING!!!!!
In my opinion, this is nothing but blatant deception!!
Carol of Nixa MO (08/04/07)
My credit card was charged for $24.99 for carfax on 2000 Mitshubisi montero and I was very unhappy about the report. It said 93,000 and I know it had 147,000 miles. It gave no mechanical history. I asked for a refund for my credit card. I got none, it said it would respond in 8 hours to the help and it did not and in fact I was deleted from the log on. Please give me my refund I wanted to see if the car was a lemon and needed a mechanical history. It was clear you didn't have the information I already had. It was a waste of money.
Craig of Seabrook TX (07/03/07)
My complaint is as a seller. When I went to trade-in my car, I was surprised that the dealer said, Sorry we can't give you $2,500, we can only give you $800. CarFax says it has frame damage. I ran a report from CarFax and it erroneously showed frame damage from an accident in 2003. At the time of that accident, I asked the insurance company about a 'diminished value claim'. They said NO - unless there was frame damage. The body shop measured the vehicle and found none.
I have submitted a letter from the owner of the body shop that performed the work. He went into great detail to describe the fact that there was no frame damage on this vehicle. CarFax refuses to change their online data on my vehicle, rendering it almost worthless.
John of Brandywine MD (06/26/07)
Carfax claims that the corvette i own had the odometer rolled back, but I checked with the Dealer, and was told that they did not know how carfax got that information. carfax listed Mar 14, 1993 as the date the roll back took place. I The vehicle was owned by the same person from 1988 t0 2000. wheb it was sold to the owner before me. i bought the car in 2003, and the your autocheck vehicle history report I received from experian/automotive dated november 3,2003 did not show any problems at all. The state motor vehicles or emmissions offices said they had no information to support carfax. There had to be a clerical error, because the the car had 29219 miles in january of 1993 and 24,824 was recorded in march of 1995, a discrepency of 4,395. The car was new in 1988, I do not believe there was a rollback, I am sure it was a clerical error. The problem is that carfax did not bother to find out the facts! The 24 in 24,824 clearly should have been 29. The dealer was lindsay chevrolet at that time, and they have no stored recorded before 1999. so where did carfax get their facts? I contacted 703-643-1438 the person who owned the car at the time today and left a message for mr. harris to call me about this. I am sure carfax did not call him. The vehicle is a 1988 corvette vin#1g1yy3186j5106614. my number is home 240-681-3024 cell 240 210 1110. i want this information removed along with the information about my accident, my car was not severly damaged. I drove home from the accident.
as a result of carfax, I am not able to get the true value of my car. The dealers sight the odometer as the reason why.
Annie of Houston, TX (05/09/07)
We input the VIN number of our new car, bought a few days ago, into Carfax and notice that there was a record corresponding to this vehicle.
We paid $25 for an unlimited access of this service to get the report, only to find out that there is really nothing on the vehicle because it is new.
I think this is blatant deception. Plus, the unlimited access turned out to be good for 6 months only.
Mark of Wichita KS (12/19/06)
CarFax reported my vehicle had been involved in an accident and sustained 'slight to moderate damage.' In fact, my vehicle was involved in a slight bump with a smaller car which scraped the other car's fender but there was no damage to my car at all. A police report was filed on the incident. Now the local dealer has decreased my trade-in value based on the report of 'vehicle damage.' The dealer did a paint scan and could find no evidence of any non-factory paint but they remain suspicious. My efforts to get CarFax to amend their report or even to indicate where they received their false information has been unsuccessful. There isn't even a phone number or an address to contact these jerks. These people should not be allowed to publish false information about a vehicle unless they are willing to provide the documentation for their claims.
Now the local dealer has decreased my trade-in value based on the report of 'vehicle damage.' The dealer did a paint scan and could find no evidence of any non-factory paint but they remain suspicious.
Lauren of Norton, MA (12/09/06)
My brand new jeep was in an accident in 2003. We had it fixed...everything has been fine. Recently, I looked into trading it. The dealer ran a carfax report and it showed there had been frame damage to the vehicle. This was news to me.
I went back to the repair facility and they pulled the accident/repair records and there had been NO frame damage to the vehicle.
I faxed the report to Carfax and they claim they have confirmed the frame damage to the vehicle. This info did not come from the repair shop which is the only place the vehicle has ever been. (Also, the report date they have is 12/23/03 which was the date of the accident and the body shop and insurance adjuster didn't even look at my jeep until after Christmas). The only other person who came in contact with the vehicle was the tow truck driver (no police involved) which we called as a precautionary measure, and the only thing he did was hook it up to the truck.
How can they brand a vehicle in this way when the ONLY repair people who ever inspected my car say there was no frame damage??
The value of my vehicle went from 12,000 on a trade-in to 5,500 because it would have to go to auction due to the report of frame damage.
Margaret of Cambridge MA (11/29/06)
I am trying to sell my car and purchased an ad package on a major national used car advertising website. This package included a Carfax report. Carfax has made several errors on my report. I am unable to sell my car because of these errors. The errors were: 1) The report said there were 3 owners instead of 2. 2) The report had an inconsistent odometer reading on it that made it look like I rolled back the odometer on my car. My car has depreciated $300 in value since I first notified them of their errors. The report has not been corrected and it has been 8 weeks since I contacted them about it.
They have had all the information they needed to correct the errors (that they introduced into the electronic report!) since the first time I emailed them. It is very frustrating that they don't have a phone number. There is no way to get them to respond to you. Their responses were of the We appreciate your patience variety. Meanwhile I've lost real money because of their mistakes. They gave me the run around. I have complained to the BBB and my state's attorney general's office. If you have had a problem with them, I encourage you to do the same. After enough complaints they will be forced to change their business practices.
Kimberly of Asheville NC (11/10/06)
I ran a carfax report on a van I was thinking of buying on E-Bay and it reported no problems so I felt safe, and I registered for the buyback guarantee, that they offer stating that if the information they have given you is incorrect they will buy your vehicle back from you. When I bought the car 2 days later and found that it did not have the actual mileage on it after receiving the title and I reported this to the DMV. Since I reported it to the DMV it then went to carfax who apparantly had not gotten this information from the DMV previously.
I went to file a claim for the buyback guarantee and it said my vehicle was no longer eligible for it since there was an odometer discrepency, even though I was the one to report the problem. I emailed them several times and they said I should have printed out the report the minute I bought it because they had no way of going back to look through and see previous reports! I lost $5,1094
Luther of Yorktown VA (10/15/06)
Bought Mercedes Benz CLK-320 from dealer in May 05 showing not previous accidents on CarFax. 1 Year later (May 06), CarFax shows an accident that occured in May 03. Car has immediately devalued $5000. Several Problems with car all stemming from the accident and non-manufacturer replacement parts used to repair previous accident were not covered under extended warranty when they later developed problems.
Currently owe more than car is worth due to accident. Cannot sell car for blue book ($5000 less).
M. of Santa Barbara, CA (10/09/06)
I purchased the 30-day multiple use, a few years ago when purchasing a car for my daughter, and decided to run my own car through. My car had been involved in a rear-end accident that was reported to the DMV due to the over $500 damage law. CarFax did not show that the car had been damaged!!
I learned not to rely on their reports at all.
Kimberly of West Orange NJ (09/24/06)
My mother purchased a new 2003 Envoy-xl in North Carolina. Shortly after she passed away. At the time the SUV had very low mileage(less then 5,000). I brought the vehicle to NJ and had the plates transferred over to me at which time it was reported that the mileage was about 5,000. I rarely drove the SUV, especially since gas prices were steadily increasing. I had another car which was more economical to drive. In 2006 I decided that it was no longer fesible to have two automobiles. I decided to trade them both in for one car. At this time the SUV had 35,000 miles.
I went to Tri-county Lexus in little falls, NJ and they ran a carfax on both cars. The mileage that was reported on the SUV was report by carfax inaccurate. It report the mileage as being low then high then low (ie: 5,000;30,000;20,000). As a result of this, the dealers stated that there was a possible roll back of mileage on my SUV. The original trade-in value that they offered for the suv was 12,000 after looking at the carfax report they reduced it to $6,000 because they claim that they would have difficulty selling the SUV.
The dealer originally offered to pay $1200 for the SUV but after looking at the carfax report they change the offer to $6000. Because of carfax I am unable to get the true value of my vehicle. I have not been able to trade the SUV in or sell it unless I am willing to give the truck away. In the meanwhile each day that I hold on to the suv I am losing value in it. WHERE IS THE PROTECTION OF THE CONSUMER?
Deb of Walton NY (09/18/06)
They claimed their reports are accurate. I ran a carfax on my current vehicle to find it inaccurate. It shows my vehicle as a one owner, I am the second. It also shows and accident and then states The accident indicator on the report is a record from a collision repair facility, showing that the vehicle was inspected after an accident or other incident which makes it look like I had an accident. It was only inspected at a collision shop. Now when I try to sell my car someone will think I've had an accident.
Peter of South River NJ (08/31/06)
Recently went to look at new cars. Wanted to trade in my SUV so the dealer ran a CARFAX report. He told me that my truck has frame damage from 3 years prior. I contacted CARFAX (via E-mail because they have no contact #'s) and they told me the information was verified and that it cannot be removed from my report. So I went back to the autobody shop which fixed my headlamp and fender from a minor accident I had in 2003. The auto body shop claims there never was frame damage and they gave me a copy of the report which I faxed to CARFAX along with a copy of the Police Report which also states nothing about frame damage.
I was contacted by CARFAX (via Email) and told the reports were not sufficient and that I need a digital frame inspection done. But, they will not remove the information about Frame Damage, they will only add the new information regarding a recent inspection.
Paul of East Meadow NY (08/06/06)
Personally I have found carfax to be a useful tool, but one that is prone to inaccuracies. Most of the inaccuracies are missing information. But I have personally found that even their reported information can be inaccurate. Negative inaccurate information can not only hold up a sale, but can also diminish the value of the car. The case in point is my own car. I've owned it since new so I know what was done and what was not done to it.
CARFAX reports that there was an accident at 15,000 miles, they further report that this accident lead to a FRAME INSPECTION. This accident and frame inspection never occurred. I have personally been in touch with CARFAX and asked them to verify their information. All they gave me was an e-mail that said we verified it and it is true. No letterhead, no 'official and verifiable' documentation of any kind. I again asked for verification, the name of the shop, the dates, the town, etc. All carfax would give me was a Zip Code. I know the town of this Zip and I have never even gotten an oil change in this town, let alone body work or a frame inspection. I told this to CARFAX and again they would not document or prove their information. I even asked CARFAX to remove this listing from my car being they can't prove it and they flat out refused.
Michael of Atlanta GA (03/13/06)
My vehicle was involved in an accident. However, it was not totaled and I had no trouble driving it to the body shop. the CARFAX report said that it was severly damaged and claims that it was towed, unsafe and a possible salvage, according to their definitions. I attempted to dispute the report by sending body shop records, pictures, names and numbers of the techs and insurance adjusters that handled the case. CARFAX refuses to change the report to correctly reflect the information.
Pam of Rockville IN (12/22/05)
Purchased a vechile from Car Depot. May of 2005. Carfax report requested. After vehicle problems. I found out carfax report was incorrect and the mileage was incorrect as reported to me at the time of purchase and on the carfax report.
Ann of Seattle WA (12/08/05)
We went to sell our vehicle with low mileage and in excellent condition back to the Chrysler dealership as we were moving out of the area and needed only one car. When we met with the Manager at the Dealership, they ran a CARFAX on the vehicle, and it reported FRAME DAMAGE. Although the car was in an accident it was a minor accident, and their certainly was no frame damage! I have spent multiple hours emailing CARFAX trying to get them to correct the record. They have no phone number or address they will release)
I have faxed estimates from our Insurance and all the repair comleted by the Auto Repair shop both stating that their was NO FRAME DAMAGE. The dealership would not take the car back, as they said they would not be able to resell the vehicle, and basically told us if was worth 1/2 of its value and 1/2 of what we owe on the vechicle (a loss of $7000.00). CARFAX states frame measurements were taken and they fell outside the normals and they refuse to amend the report. They also refuse to divulge who took these so called measurements and reported this frame damage. CARFAX has created a nightmare for us because of incorrect information they refuse to divulge or correct.
Michael of Glen Cove NY (11/21/05)
I've posted my 2000 BMW 328Ci with very low milage for sale and decided to do a quick check on carfax.com to see what is listed for my car. Carfax states that my car had threee different milages and each one was less then the previous. Now i have buyers stating that i have messed with the odometer. i have all the records at my BMW dealer where i do all my scheduled maintanence. Where does carfax get their information from and don't they verify anything? Carfax refuses to clear up anything. I've tried to explain to the buyers that the information is incorret. Carfax should be held liable for what they present. This has cost me $20,000 in sales.
Stephanie of Anchorage AK (09/12/05)
I was in the process of trading my vehicle in to a dealership two weekends ago and the dealer ran a Carfax on my vehicle. I had disclosed the minor incident that happened about a year ago with a guardrail (under 40 mi. per hour) The incident turned up on the Carfax as I expected it would. I was not expecting however for the report to state in 3 different places that a frame inspection had been done, however they highly recommended whoever purchased the vehicle to have a frame inspection done as well to check for possible frame damage. Yes, my vehicle had a frame inspection, however it passed with flying colors from a very reputable body shop (required by my insurance company).
This vehicle still has the original tires with 55k miles. If I had a frame issue it would have revealed itself by now. As a result of what this Carfax erroneously alludes to.... the dealer will only be able to offer 1/2 of what my truck is valued through NADA. I have emailed, faxed and now called Carfax and have had no response whatsoever. They seem to be only interested in making money one Carfax at a time instead of providing accurate information to protect both buyers and sellers of vehicles.
Challe of Kerrville TX (09/07/05)
I bought a 2001 Ford Focus about a year ago from a place called Bryant Motors/Troy Faust motors in Kerrville tx for the exact amount of the NADA value. I pulled a carfax on the car and it said that there had been no damage at all to the car. I found out after having it a year that while changing insurances there was a claim on the car. The new insurance pulled up a background of paying for it to get fixed in a wreck. So one thing I got tricked into buying a car for it's original price that had been wrecked and second carfax told me there was no records and there was.
Lee of Kingman AZ (07/22/05)
Purchased carfax on 1998 corvette, carfax report stated clear and clean Then, when registering in AZ, state inspector found car was theft recovery, now has restored/ salvage title. Notified Carfax, they denied they were liable for carfax buy back. Banks will not loan on vehicle, value of vehicle is reduced, (as much as $5000 to $7000) due to branded title that carfax never revealed, AND vehicle salvage was in their home state! (VA)
Jennifer of Hollister CA (07/19/05)
I am attempting to sell my vehicle and a potential buyer purchased a report from the Carfax company. In the report there is incorrect information listed regarding the odometer and it may cost me the sale of my car. This company is impossible to get a hold of and has no information listed for an address, email or even phone number. It is costiing me my time. I have a masters degree and my time is valuable. It is also preventing me from immediately selling my car. It is delaying my move and costing me money each day.
Akisha of Trenton NJ (07/06/05)
I purchased a 2003 Nissan Altima 7/13/04 with a clean carfax report. After having problems with the vehicle i found out it had been in 2 previous accidents before I purchased it and one of the accidents at 135mph. the car has been completely rebuilt. Due to the fact of an inaccurate carfax report I am out of money and stuck with a car that is slowly breaking down on me.
Srinath of Piscataway NJ (05/07/05)
I purchased my car after obtaining the Carfax report on april 2004 which did not report any Frame Damage . Now (may 2005 ) I wish to sell the car and potential buyers are backing out since a Frame damage has been reported to have occurred in July 2003 is being reported on my car . Why was this incident that happened in July 2003 not reported by Carfax's report on April 2004 . Can we really trust Carfax or is it a big hoax. I have both the Carfax reports to prove Carfax's blunder.
Michael of Los Altos CA (04/22/05)
Carfax has erroneous information on file regarding my 1987 Mercedes 560SL, which shows up as an alert that the odometer has been rolled back. Buyers have backed out of deals to buy the car because of this faulty report. The report has inspection locations that are incorrect, although the dates are correct. The mileage reported is not correct. The BAR report on my car shows the correct inspection sites, but does not show mileage. Carfax corrected the inspection locations but would not correct the erroneous mileage. I can't sell my car due to this problem created by CARFAX.
Buyer backed out of a deal to buy the car for $19,970 due to the CARFAX report which is false.
Sandra of Sarasota FL (04/12/05)
There were two previous owners of this vehicle. The warranty and odometer were in error. One can't believe anything on these reports.
Susan of Bloomfield Hills MI (02/22/05)
I am selling my low-mileage 2001 pickup that I purchased new and have scrupulously maintained. Prospective buyers checking my VIN # have informed me that CARFAX reports a serious accident for this vehicle, although it has never been in an accident of any kind. I have a dealer inspection to prove this. After a 2-month investigation CARFAX still maintains their report is accurate. They also refuse to divulge the specific source of their information so that I can attempt to correct this erroneous record myself.
After 4 months of attempting to sell my vehicle, potential buyers are still being turned off by this false CARFAX report. Ultimately, I will have to sell it at well below its true value because of their mistake and failure to correct it.
Ekrem of Travis CA (1/23/05):
I purchaed a 1995 Lexus SC 400. Carfax showed a clean title. I find out the car has a salvage title. I lost a lot of money.
Jessica of Hudson NH (1/8/05):
I bought a Chevy Cavalier for about $9,227.00. I asked the dealer to pull up a CARFAX for me and they did, reluctantly. They pointed out that the CARFAX report said that the car was in a reported accident with damages under $1,000.00. That is false. I gained a copy of a work order done at Dobles, AFTER I bought the car, saying that the total invoice for repairing the car from the accident was appr. $4,012.37. I had asked to see paperwork of all work done on the car, before I bought the car, and I did not receive this information until after the car was bought.
This was a very large investment for myself and my co-signer. I never, ever, would have bought this car if so much damage was done to it. There is a constant worry about whether or not something is going to break, due to the accident.
Mike of Sound Beach NY (12/22/04):
I purchased a Carfax report prior to purchasing a 1999 Corvette. The report stated no accidents. The 'Vette did have rear end damage and this when found when I had the car in for minor cosmetic repairs. I contacted Carfax and I received a letter that basically told me "tuff stuff."
Purchase price of the car was $30,000. With the hidden damage I am not sure I could get $15,000.
Dianne of Columbus GA (8/9/04):
Last year I paid Carfax to rerceive a copy of a report on my own car after the vehicle was involved in 2 major accidents. After the first incident, I insisted on using Nissan parts and the body shop informed me the automobile had previously been wrecked on the drivers side prior to my purchase of the car, and had been repaired with bondo so the value was already decreased. I had been informed by the dealership where I purchased the car used, it had not been previously wrecked.
To my amazement, when I received the report on my own vehicle, it was CLEAN and had less milage than when I purchased it. No accidents were showing on the report at all. It was reported to be a one owner car and I was the third owner at the purchase time. The car was 2 years old when I purchased it.
Dennis of Destrehan LA (4/30/04):
You cannot believe the information that they present. If you want to check them run a car that you know has had a major accident and it will probably come back clean. My daughter totaled a car that was resold to me by my insurance company and I ran It and It came back clean. They would not return my money when I informed them that I was unsatisfied.
Marilyn of Santa Barbara CA (5/10/04):
I signed up for Carfax while researching cars to purchase for my teenager. Ran my own car through it which had been involved in an accident and the information came back clean in spite of there having been $7000 damage to the car!
Mitchell of Newport News VA (3/28/04):
I paid for a car ($37,000.00) through E-bay using a bank wire transfer to Washington Mutual Bank. Carfax said the title and car were fine. A Riverside detective e-mailed me that the car was a stolen vehicle.
Niko of Austin TX (7/25/03):
I used the free lemon check and it turned up two vehicle history records. I then purchased the 19.95 record check because my vehicle is only one year old. The results were clear. No problems identified. What were the two vehicle history identifiers? The only thing I found was the registration to the state and one customer "me". One last point. Can a consumer website be unbiased and fair in its reporting when it collects portions of its revenue from CarFax? I noticed CarFax advertises on this site and the defense of CarFax posted after one customers complaint.
Elizabeth of Kissimmee FL (7/6/03):
I paid for what seemed to be a great way to find out if a car that I had purchased for $5000 cash was in an accident. I actually have two cars. The car I just purchased died on me in less than 4 months and the dealership refused to help me. They said it was sold as is. Anyway, i paid $19.99 to Carfax to see if the vehicle had been in any kind of accident or had any major problems that te dealer did not tell me. It came back that the car was never in an accident or that there were no major problems.
I went ahead and put my information in on my first vehicle and it had said the same thing. I know for a fact that my first vehicle had been in a major accident. So i do not believe Carfax. I asked for a refund and i still have not received my refund or a letter stating why.
Elizabeth of Gulfport MA (3/6/03):
When looking to purchase a used car, I subscribed to CARFAX hoping to learn the history of the vehicle. I found a 2000 Lexus in Texas and checking the history of the vehicle found it to be free of any major accident or other problems. I purchased the car in August, 2002. Today is March 6, 2003, and the vehicle history report still shows the vehicle to be accident free. But guess what! One month after purchasing the car I learn that it was indeed involved in a MAJOR ACCIDENT on March 5, 2002 in Houston, Texas -- major being $18,000.00 worth of damage according to Westside Lexus of Houston! That was one year ago, and CARFAX still does not have a report on this accident.
I have $26,000.00 invested in this car. A lawsuit has been filed against the insurance company that totaled the vehicle for releasing the car without proper disclosure. Simply put... Car Buyer BEWARE! There are many used cars out there that are rebuilt wrecks. Do not put your trust solely in CARFAX.
Serge of Kirkland WA (10/09/03):
Three weeks ago I ordered a paid report about the car history on a Honda Accord. The report contained no bad information and the title was "clear". After I purchased the car I got a title with a note "rebuilt".
I tried to contact CARFAX.COM webhelp address and described the situation above. They send me a whole bunch of inconsistant information together with a number of links to their web pages, but they did not even apologise for their false paid info. I lost about $4,500 on that deal. Boring.
Chastity of Bakersfield CA (11/5/01):
I went online where you can look at your vehicle's history report and find any problems or recalls, and I was unhappy with the results. After of course they collected my money the report shows there were no problems with my car, and in fact there are many. I have dealt with the dealer of the car, Mitsubishi, and they have told me that there were bulletins produced stating that many items need to be replaced.
I notified CarFax by email notifying them that I was unhappy and I want my 14.99 back, and the charge was already pulled from my bank account.
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