wardrive

So my friend just got a minor bump/scratch on the front bumper of his 911 and got it repaired at a local repair shop instead of going thru his insurance or dealer. Based on his experience, this is what I have gathered:

• CarFax gets their info on accidents thru a whole bunch of ways - thru dealers, major franchise chains (i.e. Macco), police reports, etc. Also as mentioned by the OP and others, sometimes there is a huge delay in getting a reported accident into CarFax, sometimes 1 year or 2 years after the incident
• If you go to the dealer to get it repaired, it will be reported to CarFax
• If you make a police report (which you usually have to for a car insurance filing), it will be reported by car fax
• If you go to a local repair shop, the odds are it will not be reported on CarFax. Local shops have no incentive to file reports to CarFax.

My friend paid under $800 out of pocket to get the bump fixed and bumper resprayed. Considering he had to pay $500 for the deductible if thru an insurance claim, as well as as an increase in future insurance rates - it was a cheap solution. The repair shop, when asked, replied that this would not be reported to CarFax.

After this, my takeaways:

• If its minor damage to the car, look into paying out of pocket instead of filing a police report and filing an insurance claim
• Find a respectable local repair shop (ask on the forums here) to get an estimate
• Take pictures of the damage before it is repaired, so you can show potential future buyers of the car the damage that happened. My opinion - always be honest about this on a private sale cause people will always know if something happened with a good PPI. Better to be honest and show pictures then not say nothing - even if there is no CarFax report.
• Any time you file a police report, or do an insurance claim its going onto CarFax - sooner or later. As everyone here mentions, its going to decrease the resale value of the car

wardrive

Carfax will get the police report.

Iceter

Carfax has no way to mine data from every police department in the country.

wardrive

Correct. Only if the police department computerized their systems. But when they do (and eventually modern technology comes to everyplace), that accident report does show up, hence the delay of accidents on CarFax. Also I was told that CarFax buys them for $10 a piece from local police municipalities, so the police don't mind sharing the info.

Here is an article giving some insights on how CarFax is doing it:

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/how...gra-1639660981

sandwedge

This in itself makes the system next to worthless imo. I give them credit though for managing to sell to the public and to dealerships accident reports that sometimes takes 2 years to be brought current.

PVKPorsche

Carfax is by no means completely reliable and that shoud always be considered, which is why a good PPI is always highly recommended and checking with the Porsche dealer where the car was serviced. All of these things can help provide peace of mind but still no guarantee. The fact that this showed up later is a huge concern. Like the other member, I would first contact Carfax and ask them for more information, then contact the dealer where you bought the car. If the car was bought with a clean carfax, then something has to be worked out but not sure all dealers are going to assist like the other forum member was able to work out.

As for a $1200 repair job showing on carfax, yes the car will take a hit financially but the more documentation you have to show repair, what it looked like before, etc will help diminish that hit. I bought a car with a repair but it was a front bumper only, I saw the pics of before and after and it was relative to a car backing up and bumping the front end. Really not much damage but the owner forced the others car insurance to replace and paint the entire front bumper. $1200 is pretty minor so having documented everything is a way to convey that "minor" message.

Peabo911

Thanks Little Green. Just curious what kind of damage is missed by the 150 point inspections these cars go thru. What damage was indicated on the police report?

Little Green

The car was the 3rd in a line of 5 cars. There were 4 stopped at a red light when a 23 year old girl On her phone rear ended one which then hit the next and so forth. The car got hit in the rear which then hit the car up front. No airbag deployment. Driver and passenger drive the car from the scene. Some bumper damage was noticed on the police report.
Car had both bumpers replaced with OEM parts and painted well enough that a paint meter could not tell the paint was not stock. No frame damage at all.
So a minor fender bender followed by a perfect repair still made my car worth between 20-25% less at trade in. My dealer did not believe the car had been hit, the repair was so good but when I gave him the customers name and address there was no way he could claim otherwise.
The police report had all the info I needed. It sucks but unfortunately the carfax thing has really changed the way used cars are valued.

All you have to do is look at threads on here to see how at least the enthusiast looks at cars with accident history. Usually the same. The car is not special, find a no story car.

onewhippedpuppy

PPI isn't very good at inspecting for body work. They are usually done by a mechanic, not a body guy. I've never seen paint work noted on a PPI, even on several cars that had paint work (disclosed to buyer btw). If you are really OCD, I would recommend a PPI for mechanical and a body shop inspection for paint and accident repair.

KeithR3

Could it be a windshield repair?

Peabo911

I still haven't heard back from Carfax after emailing them for additional information. A company that can cost you thousands has no humans to speak with. The GM of the dealer I purchased the car from did respond quickly. He stated that "we are a good company and we'll make it right." (Penske owned). I guess we shall see. He is contacting the previous owner and researching the cars file. Previous owner is suppose to fill out disclosures when trading in a vehicle. He is also contacting Carfax for additional details.

He noted that the source on the report is listed as "California damage report". He said normally when it's an accident the source is listed as the "DMV".

onewhippedpuppy

Carfax has no reason to talk to you, there's really no motivation on their part. The dealer might have more leverage, dealers pay hundreds to thousands per month to Carfax depending on the account.

Little Green

In the carfax report for my car it showed where the accident occurred. I went into the Florida department of law enforcement website and found the police report. Cost me like $15. It will tell you everything you need to know including who was driving the car.
The crappy thing in my case was the po of my cayenne had bought the car at my dealership. Vacationed in florida where he got in the accident. He got the car fixed perfectly elsewhere and traded it in to my dealership without reporting it. It was traded in on another cayenne 2 months after the accident. I hate to think that he did it so it wouldn't show up so early after the accident.
I bought it 5 months later but the accident didn't show up for 6 months after that

Old Guy

To the extent one pays "full price" (whatever that is) for a car, a CarFax surprise could be an issue. An analogy: getting a great deal on last year's model and then years down the road realizing that it was already a year old when you bought it, and now the resale value is accordingly, lower. Today's car repairs can be truly amazing. Truth is, many day to day prangs, properly repaired, are no big deal. The car (SUV or whatever) still looks great and is totally reliable. IOWs, if you're planning to keep the car, so what? If you're planning to sell...bit more complicated, perhaps. Much depends on the buyer...and yes, you have to tell the truth.

steve0827

I've never trusted them. Mainly because there are many ways to get around having an accident show up on their records.