BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! Don't believe what carfax tell you, I got screw by Carfax! Before I purchase my Porsche with factory warranty which cost me over $75,000 not including tax and others, I ran a carfax and everything shows clean with no accident. Now 2 years later, Carfax shows the car was in an accident/Structural Damage and mileage inconsistent which is a year before I purchase my car and that was back in 2014. I did contact Carfax and inform them about the error and it's almost 3 months and still waiting for their research team to get back with me. I had provided carfax many documents included current car inspection report stating no accident/frame damage of the car, All service record by Porsche since I own the car which has more than 10 service record under Porsche warranty plus a prove stating the car was under certify pre-own CPO Porsche. Porsche can not certify a car if there's an accident. I had explained to them any source that got their data form can easily make mistake by input wrong digit of the Vin #. All I got from Carfax replies is we're still investigating and only via E-mail. I had been suffering from this matter for almost 3 months now and Carfax still has not addressed this issue. Even the accident report is accurate, why does the report update 3 years later? As a customer, we trusted and depend on carfax information before we proceed on a used car. If the information by Carfax is not accurate then why do we need Carfax for? I am thinking to proceed this with legal action and inform online and All News Media. Thank you for reading and Any comment and suggestion welcome! If needed I will post photos of the carfax report from back then and now.

 

Was the prior damage not detected by the shop who performed your PPI?

 

I have 3rd party inspection before I bought the car, no sign of the damage and i also provided the report to carfax, They admit the mileage was an error and they remove it, but still not willing to remove the damage record.

 

Sorry to hear that you got stuck with a vehicle not knowing it had been in an accident. However, in this case it is not likely you could prevail in a lawsuit against Carfax.


They can only report what was reported to them. I have read there are people who will not report an accident to their insurance company so it won't show up on Carfax. And even if it was reported to the insurance company, if they don't pass that along to Carfax, then Carfax doesn't know it happened.


It's fairly common knowledge that you can't rely on Carfax. A clean Carfax means the car is probably clean, but not definitely clean. Depending on how extensive the repairs were, maybe you could get some compensation from whoever did your PPI. It may have been something they should have caught.


BTW, Carfax stonewalling is also fairly common knowledge (do a web search).

 

the car was CPO by Porsche, I don't believe Porsche can certified a structural damage vehicle. Plus even if the car was in an accident. What takes carfax to update their record 3 years after? Does this make sense? Also, I wrote to carfax and they have admitted the error about the mileage and removed it. I also call the name of the auto body on the carfax and they told me they never touch the car. So i went back and challenge Carfax and now they remove the name of the auto body and structure/accident remained on the report. I ask them for proof of accident but they refuse to provide me any info.

 

Ah, I see, you think that maybe the car never was in an accident, that somehow Carfax erroneously reported your car had been in an accident.


If that's the situation, then you might have a case. However, Carfax's liability would probably be restricted to the diminished value of the vehicle (as if I was a lawyer and knew what I was talking about, ).

 

I also have my local shop inspect the car and the report stating no previous accident and I also provide that to carfax. Seriously, I still believe it's a mistake by carfax source, i have read people entering the wrong Vin. Anyway i am talking to my lawyer about the case.

 

I would GUESS that somewhere in Carfax s paperwork it states" not responsible for errors in reporting"... I d check that first.

 

From the horse's mouth -


"CARFAX DEPENDS ON ITS SOURCES FOR THE ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY OF ITS INFORMATION. THEREFORE, NO RESPONSIBILITY IS ASSUMED BY CARFAX OR ITS AGENTS FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THIS REPORT. CARFAX FURTHER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE."


However, if you could prove gross negligence on their part, it could be a different story.

 

If this is the case then why do we need Carfax?

 

that's kinda how they protect themselves from these types of incidents... They say not to rely on these reports but I see how you are now on the other end being financially damages because of this error.

 

Actually, I am, But the good news is that i just spoke to a lawyer and his willing to take the case and i will keep you guys posted.

 

On contingency?

 

Might want to see if carfax can give you the date and location of the alleged accident and see if you can get the original accident report. Then you would know if there was an accident.

 

I did e-mail Carfax several times but per Vince GM of Carfax, he can't provide me any information. It's all confidential.