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Details, please... Posted by PGAero [Email]  (#1143) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from PGAero) on Sun, 19 Oct 2014 15:29:31
In Reply to: Dealer Queen, DnstrDan [Profile/Gallery]
, Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:19:30
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What year is the car? How many miles are on it now? Is it 5 years old with 44K on it? Is it 10 years old with 110K on it? Who was the previous owner? Did the dealer who is selling it service it for the first 44K?
Carfax is, IMHO, only one of many resources for making decisions about the history of a car.
My older Saab has ZERO carfax history until well over 100K miles... because it is an '86 SPG and database records don't go back far enough to catch it from the early part of its life.
The carfax on my newer Saab only tells a fraction of the story that the complete records of the car tell me. (It's a 2003 9-5 Aero SW). The carfax is kinda nice to look at, but it would not be enough for me go on, especially when compared to the records I have. The condition of the car speaks for itself for items on which the carfax is silent.
Maintenance records may and may not be in the databases that carfax searches. Not all service completed by a service center (including dealers, independents and people like Roger and I who actually turn our own wrenches) or collision repair shops will show in carfax. Carfax doesn't have access to every shop's records. The fact that no registration shows up for the car is worth a question to the dealer. Perhaps it was a rental car or other type of fleet vehicle that doesn't have annual registration, of it lived in a state that doesn't/didn't have a registration renewal database?
Carfax's own guarantee says something like, "we guarantee that if we know about it and didn't tell you, then we'll take the blame." They make no guarantees that services, registrations, body work, thefts, liens or other problems are reported, just that if they are, then they tell you about them.
Personally, I think that Carfax is a bit over-hyped. It's pretty easy to keep data out of the databases if you know how to, and a "clean carfax" doesn't tell the whole story. A "clean carfax" could come with a car that had a tree fall on it and the owner paid cash to a body shop to fix it, or did the work him/herself. A carfax showing a "collision history" could represent a re-painted bumper after a parking lot scuff... You have to read between the lines.
What did we do before carfax? We looked at the car closely and had a trusted expert do the same if we didn't think we could pick up on issues with the cars... That's what I'd do.
Cheers,
Peter
_______________________________________ Current: '03 9-5 Aero Wagon, 5spd, Polar/Black Past: '06 9-5 Combi, AT, Polar/Black '04 9-5 Aero Wagon, AT, Nocturne/Granite '03 9-5 Aero Wagon, AT, Steel/Charcoal '00 9-3 Viggen, 5D, Silver/Black '93 9000 Aero, 5MT, Cirrus/Black (Owned this one twice) '86 900 SPG, 5MT, Edwardian/Buffalo Grey
, Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:19:30, Sun, 19 Oct 2014 15:29:31 <-- Viewing This Message, Mon, 20 Oct 2014 23:28:23, Wed, 22 Oct 2014 11:22:47
, Tue, 21 Oct 2014 07:51:24, Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:26:25, Sun, 19 Oct 2014 04:25:26, Sat, 18 Oct 2014 16:05:42
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