Peabo911

Hello Gents, Long time Lurker and really appreciate all the knowledge this fine group offers on a daily basis. I'm a little nauseous after receiving some bad news yesterday. I am in the process of preparing my car for sale and had my local porsche dealer give me his opinion. He pulled a carfax report and then asked me what happened in the accident. I was completely dumbfounded I had no clue what he was talking about. I had purchased the car a year earlier with a clean carfax. I bought the car from a BMW dealer who took in on a trade.

This new addition to the carfax stated "accident reported" with no date. It further stated "no date for the accident was given but it likely occurred between Jan 2013 and March 2014." I purchased the car in January 2014. Since there is no date for accident it shows up under my ownership and chronologically after my purchase.

I had a PPI done at a Porsche dealer and it was given a clean bill and was told it was a solid car. They only noted a couple of tiny rock chips in the hood. My Indy who only works on Porsche and did the 4 year service said the car looked great.

My question is what affect is this report going to have on value? Any chance of getting it removed? My local dealer said there are no indications of any paint or body work. He said sometimes people mistakenly report parking lot scuffs and it ends up on carfax. Any thoughts? Much appreciated! Car is under CPO until Aug. 2015

Little Green

I went through the same thing with a cayenne s. It appeared on car fax over 1 year after the accident during my ownership. I was pissed. Contacted my selling dealer and explained the situation. I told them that i bought a cpo car with no accident history and the dealer that I was going to trade it in at said the car was worth 25% less.
My original dealer made me whole and found me my current car. Took two months to find the right car but at the end it worked out.
Talk to your selling dealers sales manager maybe they can find you a car to buy and they make you whole in the trade in.
Sorry to hear this.

Austin997.2

I am in another thread regarding this. My 2009 997.2 got rear ended and the damage is around $1200 and I have filed a claim. Will my car take a 25% hit because of this?

Robocop305

For $1,200 I would have taken good pictures and fix it myself. I wouldn't have report it to my insurance company.

Little Green

Austin
See his advice. Keep it off carfax. It's stupid and it may not cost you 25% but people are so ingrained into thinking get the carfax. Pay out of pocket if possible.

CosmosC4S

You may want to know that even if you pay out of pocket, and take your car to a collision center/body shop to fix the damage, depending on the extent of the damage, the shop may also make a report on the repair.

Austin997.2

I didn't want to have the person at fault pay out of pocket, because you can never be sure what is lurking under the skin of the car, also they would most likely not give me any diminished value.

newmexicomatt

I'm starting to lose faith in Carfax and Autocheck reports. I am selling my 650i and the auto check reports an odometer roll back issue. In reality it was a human error at MVD when I registered it....they put the mileage as 3700 when I registered it when it was actually 37000. Of course you can't contact Autocheck and speak to a human. You have to email them...so far zero response on how to fix it.

golftime

Sorry to hear your news Peabo. Hard to tell what is happening. CarFax can be wrong. I have seen cases where the insurance company entered an accident on the VIN for Car#2 when the crash occurred on Car #1 owned by the same owner. So the wrong car ended up with the bad CarFax. I have also seen dealers enter a significantly wrong mileage during a service, triggering an odometer issue.

Also, lots of things can show up as an accident, including striking an object on the road which damages the undercarriage but no body panels. Others here will know for sure, but I didn't think Porsche would certify a car with any prior body work. A good paint meter is about the best way to verify any repainting.

To answer your question, as a rule of thumb, anyone in the business, including dealers or auctions, will deduct money for a bad CarFax. Private owner will be less likely, particularly if car is CPO'd.

Obviously this may take some investigating on your part. If you have access to a paint meter, you could determine if anything was repainted. As a long shot, the dealer that sold you the car may be willing to contact the previous owner to try and get some information. You might also try to check with CarFax to see if they can provide any more info. Personally, I would have a problem with an entry as non-specific as yours.

onewhippedpuppy

Hence why I hate Carfax. It's all a computer pulling data from a number of sources, putting it into a standard format, and then pretending that it's the gospel. Who actually knows what the data says, it just fits into the Carfax box called "Accident" and you are screwed. I've seen them wrong as often as I've seen them right, but the sheeple seem to believe that it's the safe way to buy a car. Bunch of morons, trusting a fox.......

I would take the car to a reputable body shop and pay them to do an inspection for prior accident repair or paintwork. If you are selling private party, this should be sufficient for shoppers with a little common sense. You'll still have people scared off by the Carfax report, but there unfortunately isn't much recourse.

BIG smoke

And a repair on the year of the car will show on the report.
New 991 hood? $10,ooo.
NOS 997 hood? $1ooo.
Same accident, different flag values.
I wouldn't bat an eye at a thousand dollar claim. Ten grand? I'd want a discount.
There also seems to be a lag in the reporting to these systems. 6 months? year?
Perhaps we should be asking for a current carfax, with a good for 18o days after purchase?
I buy House Title insurance, when I close a new to me house?
there is a period of time, where you can be exposed. They have your money, you don't have keys, nor is the property titled in your name yet. Perhaps Carfax should cost $150 bucks and have insurance in there.
Really all these reports are to benefit the seller. Even out of the dealer, it is "to the best of their knowledge". If they know, they should or have to tell you. If they don't know, or don't look? They can still sell it at a profit with a clear , cough cough, conscience.

Old Guy

My impression is that dealer/repair shop entering of data to thereafter be picked up by AutoCheck, CarFax, etc. is if not on the honor system, spotty. This can be to the current owner's advantage. On the other hand, for the future buyer...hmmm.

Peabo911

Thanks golftime. I'm going to do some investigating as you suggested. Just sent an email to carfax to see what information they might have. I will also take to body shop to have thorough inspection . I am also contacting the selling dealer to see what they have to offer. Local porsche dealer told me he has seen these negative reports take up to a year before they suddenly show up on a carfax. I found this consumer website loaded with carfax complaints. Some of these bad reports have showed up 3 years after new ownership! Reading a few of these will make your head spin. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/carfax_inacc.html

Little Green

As I mentioned an accident on mine showed up 14 months after the accident. The car was CPO'd and the work was so good that no one at the dealership could tell. There had been an accident as I was able to get a copy of the police report from the town in florida for about $15 which I showed to the selling dealer. It wasn't their fault but I should not be the one taking it in the shorts over a perfect repair that I was not aware of. Look at your original paperwork. My CPO paperwork was very specific about an accident free car.

Iceter

Call the body shop and the insurance company of the guy who hit you and ask them if either of them reports to Carfax. If they do, ask them not to report the accident. Then find out if there is a police report on your accident.

When I was backed into last year, I asked the insured's agent (Farm Bureau) about Carfax and then checked with the body shop. The agent said that they did not have an agreement with Carfax and he did not believe that the accident would be reported. The body shop stated that they did not report. I have no idea if Carfax will get any information off of the police report.