Is CarFax reputable & trustworthy.......or not?

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Sidetrack

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I just posted this response in another thread, but felt it was value added to also be a seperate conversation. At the very least, sharing my experience with the FRF group might help someone/someday.

For CarFax, I've completely lost my faith in what they can provide. When my truck was stolen in February, the thief drove it through a pipe gate, damaging the front end. The truck was recovered 5 hours later, but the damage was done. My insurance paid out almost $4k for the damages. The claim was filed, the damage was recorded in all documentation, and I had the check from insurance in hand when I was able to make the dealer buy the truck from me. A couple weeks after selling the truck, i noticed that CarFax never was updated to show that the truck was in an accident & damaged. CarFax did show it being stolen and recovered, correctly. Since the dealership was concealing details about the circumstances of the theft, I was afraid that they'd do the same thing for this accident & the next potential buyer. The dealer only goes as far as the blue certified level for all vehicles on their lot, but regardless, they sold it to someone as a "Blue Certiifed" used Ford.

I reaced out to CarFax directly, and they said that since i wasn't the owner of the truck anymore, they wouldn't update the vehicle history to show the recent accident & minor damages. I gave them copies from my insurance claim, etc..., etc... and they still refused to do anything to correctly update their records to show the true history of the truck. To date, the carfax is still missing the accident & damage that occured during the theft.

Screenshot of e-mail from the CarFax Resolution Manager:
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My reply back:
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CarFax's response:
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GordoJay

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I replied to you in the other thread, but I won't waste everyone's time by repeating my post ...
 

nikhsub1

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I always take carfax with a HUGE grain of salt. If there is bad shit on it, that generally isn't good but when there is nothing bad on it, that does not mean that something bad did not happen, like an accident etc.
 

NES431

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CarF**K is horrible! I had a somewhat opposite experience with them. A couple of years ago I went to trade my wife's MB. After telling the dealer that the car was completely clean, serviced, and crash free, he came back basically accusing me of being a liar because car f***k showed THREE Crashes in states that I had never been to, let alone crashed in. They had multiple services for problems with the car in locations I had never been to, and an odometer reading of nearly triple the actual miles! I had more than enough documentation to prove it was all bulls**t but carF***ks wouldn't here it and were complete jerks about it. I had to get ABC Seven on Your Side to do an on-air piece on it before shaming those a-holes into correcting it. They ultimately tried to blame it on my wife's personalized plate. Strange because they're supposed to go by the VIN. I understand garbage in = garbage out, but own your sh*t!

What really sucks is that they are viewed by many as the Gold Standard so if you run afoul of them it can really cost you a bunch of money.

Thanks Sidetrack for making me relive my bad experience. Now I'm triggered. LOL
 
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Sidetrack

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CarF**K is horrible! I had a somewhat opposite experience with them. A couple of years ago I went to trade my wife's MB. After telling the dealer that the car was completely clean, serviced, and crash free, he came back basically accusing me of being a liar because car f***k showed THREE Crashes in states that I had never been to, let alone crashed in. They had multiple services for problems with the car in locations I had never been to, and an odometer reading of nearly triple the actual miles! I had more than enough documentation to prove it was all bulls**t but carF***ks wouldn't here it and were complete jerks about it. I had to get ABC Seven on Your Side to do an on-air piece on it before shaming those a-holes into correcting it. They ultimately tried to blame it on my wife's personalized plate. Strange because they're supposed to go by the VIN. I understand garbage in = garbage out, but own your sh*t!

What really sucks is that they are viewed by many as the Gold Standard so if you run afoul of them it can really cost you a bunch of money.

Thanks Sidetrack for making me relive my bad experience. Now I'm triggered. LOL

You're welcome! After I shared my thoughts in the other thread this morning, I walked away form the computer, and then couldn't just let it go. Immedately felt dirty pissed and triggered, and needed to take my complaining public. Glad I was able to drag someone else off the road to emotional recovery and healing.

On another note, I agree that the personalized plate is a completely BS excuse. They're supposed to run the traps and identify discrepancies. Providing enough due diligence to meet or exceed what was advertised, is an ideal that has been lost in the matrix. Using the term "Matrix" is actually overembellishing the type of work being performed behind the scenes.
 

jamanrr

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If they fixed it themselves in house and the other person could not tell then that is on them. Ford doesn't care because they make their money on the Blue Certified vehicles. Carfax only takes into consideration on what is reported to them via Insurance companies or body shops. Other stuff they do not report.
 

Zeusmotorworks

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If they fixed it themselves in house and the other person could not tell then that is on them. Ford doesn't care because they make their money on the Blue Certified vehicles. Carfax only takes into consideration on what is reported to them via Insurance companies or body shops. Other stuff they do not report.
Sounds like he needs to complain to his insurance company?
 
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