carfax report questions HELP!

Devilsown · 12-28-06, 06:05

OK!

So I bought my car with the carfax report giving it a clean title and it qualifing for the buyback garrentee.

I was at the dealership about to get my car serviced and the dealership guy that helped me noticed that I didnt have the factory placed stickers in the drivers door jam, that got him to probing about to discover, that my car has had the HIGH probability of being in an accident. He dicovered that the seams in the door jam and trunk were not from the factory and showed me the diffarance in the two sides. Also that the pinch weld in the drivers door was rusting where there had been work done on it, and also the paint differs ever so slightly from the hood, and the passanger side (not color texture) there is also evidance that the trunk has been taken off and repainted due to a run in the paint I found. I also found overspray in the drivers side door, only a touch, would have never noticed if it wernt for me detailing the jams today. You can see where it was taped and paint went around it.

I also have the JCW areokit on my car, is that done at the factory, if so does it show it on the window sticker? I talked to the prevoius owner and he has never had an accident in that car (assuming hes telling the truth) and I wondering if the dealership had something happen to it and added the areo kit, and put it on to help cover some evidance of some thing that has happened to it.

The point is something has been done to my car and someone is not telling me something...I'm really hoping that I get car fax to buy back my car assuming I can present them with enought evidance. Anyone know how that works?

ALso who ever did the work on my car did some great work... ONLY reason I know there was work done on it was the carelessness of not puting that door sticker back on.

David703 · 12-28-06, 07:54

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.. What kind of car is it?

I think that the carfax guarantees that it isn't a salvage title, but no more. In other words, unless you can prove it was a salvage title due to an accident, I don't think you can sell them the car.

Obviously many cars are sold with paintwork done.. and whether or not the buyer is told about it beforehand, has nothing to do with carfax..

Can you post some pics?

Devilsown · 12-28-06, 08:54

yea its dark out now so it will have to wait, but its a 2003 mini cooper s,oh well I will go give the pictures a whirl anyway right qucik see if they turn out...

Devilsown · 12-28-06, 09:34

here is some pictures:

note the inside of the rear quarter panel is black as the other is silver...

this seam is factory

this one is not

the one of runs on the rear hatch, other is on the inside

drivers door at repair site:

bad rusting (took ALOT off today)

hard to see but a bump in the metal where the seam was done

keep in mind there are no stickers on the driver side jam, the sticker that has the vin # and all that good jazz on it. Also there is alot of "smooth" but rough paint on the inside of the passanger side of the hatch where clearcoat i assume drifted over and stuck, and on the drivers door jam, any way I can smooth that out cause its in the jams and thats look to be a pain in the flower hole...

thanks again

velobard · 12-28-06, 09:54

The Carfax guarantee is pretty limited.

CARFAX Buyback Guarantee Terms and Conditions

Setec Astronomy · 12-28-06, 10:10

First of all, I would presume the previous owner is lying. Volunteering, or even admitting a car has been in an accident, especially when the repairs are darn good, is just asking for lower value (not that I'm condoning being dishonest, and I wouldn't do it, I don't think).

On the other hand, cars get damaged in transit, etc. There are some lemon laws, I'm not sure if they are federal or state, which limit the amount of repair that can be done to a new car before the dealer has to call it a "used" car. If the repairs were below that dollar value, the previous owner may never have known that he was buying a car that had been repaired.

rjirvine · 12-29-06, 12:26

The carfax guarantee as I understand it is pretty much like a title search for a house. They only guarantee there isn't a public record of damage. When I bought my truck I got a carfax and everything was fine. When I went to register it, the actual title VIN was wrong from the VIN on the dash (1 letter off). The problem started at the dealership when the car was bought new (and I bought it used). GM had to correct all the paperwork and it took about 6-8 weeks. I ran a subsequent carfax on the correct VIN and was glad there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I like carfax for a "general feel" of any past issues, but it's far from perfect.

yakky · 12-29-06, 05:28

A carfax is a tool that will help you narrow down your car search. When car shopping I get the unlimited package and enter every vin I can get my hands on for that particular model.

Carfax is FAR from perfect. Any feeling of assurance from them is FALSE.

So many cars get major body repairs and no agency gets notified. Anyone selling a car cannot be relied on to be honest. Carfax steers you away from the realy bad lemons, thats it. You learned a valuable lesson. Check the car out, or pay someone to, both a mechanic and a good body shop.

That said, what is wrong with the car?

Devilsown · 12-29-06, 07:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by yakky

That said, what is wrong with the car?

Aside from a little run in the paint, and some warranty work that needs to get done, it perfect.

paul34 · 12-29-06, 09:51

Also, I think that only accidents that get reported end up on Carfax. If the person never reported it to the police or their insurance, I don't believe it would end up on the Carfax.

Sherman8r44 · 01-01-07, 10:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul34

Also, I think that only accidents that get reported end up on Carfax. If the person never reported it to the police or their insurance, I don't believe it would end up on the Carfax.

Yes, but sometimes even reported accidents don't go to CarFax.

My parents were recently trying to sell their 03 Lexus ES300, which has been in FOUR (two major, two rear fender benders) accidents. That's FOUR police reports, FOUR times through insurance, FOUR trips to the autobody shop...and yet, when we went to dealers to get trade-in values they told us that CarFax (and Autocheck too) reported it was clean!

However, the Lexus also is missing the original stickers and those same seams are welded...I believe the CPO Lexus dealer called them "hung quarters"...and it means that the car was in a significant rear-end accident (or in your case side-rear). So, Devilsown, your car was almost definitely in a rear-end collision and repaired, whether CarFax showed it or not. Our autobody shop did an amazing job, and it sounds like the one that repaired your car probably did too, but if whoever you end up selling this to sees the lack of sticker or the hung quarter the resale value will drop a lot.

Carfax definitely won't buy back your car...quoting their site, "The CARFAX Buyback Guarantee protects you from unknowingly buying a used car with DMV-reported incidents (salvage, fire, flood damage, odometer problems or lemon history)." And IDK if you're registered yet, but you have to do that before buying the car to be eligable.