Carfax Nightmare
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Florida Gulf Coast
Carfax Nightmare
Over the last three months I have been painstakingly going over my F150 with a fine tooth comb in preparation to sell my baby. Replaced the passenger side exhaust manifold; replaced all pulleys and serpentine belt; new radiator; new brakes, etc. Now comes the crazy part. I ran a Carfax.
Carfax shows a drivers side collisions/accident with resulting frame damage. Accident allegedly occurred 5/24/2016. I bought my 2005 FX4 Screw brand new in 2005. I have been the sole owner ever since. My truck has NEVER, repeat NEVER been in any accident whatsoever. I have appealed to Carfax, but have no response from them as of yet. Has anyone here ever run into this problem? Any advice?
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Vernon, NY
I only use things like Carfax as a guide. I don't take everything seriously on it.
Give you some examples:
1. '03 Ford Escape -- Hit 4 deer with it. Got police reports and had to submit accident reports. Did anything show up? Nope.
2. '07 Jeep Compass -- Hit 3 deer so far with it, and once rear ended, same thing nothing on Carfax.
3. '99 F150 - 3 deer, and someone smashing into the box. You guessed it -- no reports of it.
Some other stuff like inspections, registrations and title changes don't all show up. It's random. Still shows my '03 Ford Escape as me still being the only owner. LOL
With that being said, unless I am invincible to Carfax, I don't trust it.
Give you some examples:
1. '03 Ford Escape -- Hit 4 deer with it. Got police reports and had to submit accident reports. Did anything show up? Nope.
2. '07 Jeep Compass -- Hit 3 deer so far with it, and once rear ended, same thing nothing on Carfax.
3. '99 F150 - 3 deer, and someone smashing into the box. You guessed it -- no reports of it.
Some other stuff like inspections, registrations and title changes don't all show up. It's random. Still shows my '03 Ford Escape as me still being the only owner. LOL
With that being said, unless I am invincible to Carfax, I don't trust it.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,994
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From: Wilmington,NC
I only use things like Carfax as a guide. I don't take everything seriously on it.
Give you some examples:
1. '03 Ford Escape -- Hit 4 deer with it. Got police reports and had to submit accident reports. Did anything show up? Nope.
2. '07 Jeep Compass -- Hit 3 deer so far with it, and once rear ended, same thing nothing on Carfax.
3. '99 F150 - 3 deer, and someone smashing into the box. You guessed it -- no reports of it.
Some other stuff like inspections, registrations and title changes don't all show up. It's random. Still shows my '03 Ford Escape as me still being the only owner. LOL
With that being said, unless I am invincible to Carfax, I don't trust it.
Give you some examples:
1. '03 Ford Escape -- Hit 4 deer with it. Got police reports and had to submit accident reports. Did anything show up? Nope.
2. '07 Jeep Compass -- Hit 3 deer so far with it, and once rear ended, same thing nothing on Carfax.
3. '99 F150 - 3 deer, and someone smashing into the box. You guessed it -- no reports of it.
Some other stuff like inspections, registrations and title changes don't all show up. It's random. Still shows my '03 Ford Escape as me still being the only owner. LOL
With that being said, unless I am invincible to Carfax, I don't trust it.
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Florida Gulf Coast
Ran Autocheck last night. All clear on their record of my VIN. Still nothing back from my Carfax customer support efforts. I am going to call a tire shop where I had an oil change around 5 days from the reported accident frame damage report. Might be connected.
update: just got an email from Carfax notifying me that they are initiating a “data dispute” and that they are sending out an “inquiry” to verify the structural damage information.
There should be an app like credit karma that alerts subscribers to any reports on their vehicles.
update: just got an email from Carfax notifying me that they are initiating a “data dispute” and that they are sending out an “inquiry” to verify the structural damage information.
There should be an app like credit karma that alerts subscribers to any reports on their vehicles.
Last edited by jkmason; Jan 31, 2019 at 09:35 AM.
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Junior Member
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From: Florida Gulf Coast
Well, Carfax got back to me this afternoon. They said that they contacted the “data provider” and verified the information regarding ny accident/frame damage was correct. Well, it’s not.
I am am going to contact my local Ford dealership. I will ask them to inspect my vehicle for any evidence of a passenger side accident/frame damage. I hope they will be able to report that information to Carfax in an effort to cancel out the incorrect report.
Lastly, they don’t tell you who made the involved report so that makes it very difficult to sort things out.
If if you have a lot invested in your vehicle, this problem is something to be aware of. If anything changes I will update this thread.
I am am going to contact my local Ford dealership. I will ask them to inspect my vehicle for any evidence of a passenger side accident/frame damage. I hope they will be able to report that information to Carfax in an effort to cancel out the incorrect report.
Lastly, they don’t tell you who made the involved report so that makes it very difficult to sort things out.
If if you have a lot invested in your vehicle, this problem is something to be aware of. If anything changes I will update this thread.
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Florida Gulf Coast
Interestingly enough I retrieved an article written by NBC 6 in Miami, FL. The article was dated December 14, 2018 and was entitled Error on Carfax Report Kept Woman From Trading In Her Car. The woman reached out to their affiliate NBC 4 in Los Angeles and an investigation was conducted by the station. Carfax was contacted as part of that investigation. The matter was resolved when Carfax revealed that they had a police report from an accident that said the airbags deployed. The police department corrected their report to show no airbag deployment and Carfax quickly fixed its report. The article closed with the following statement:
"Carfax says it collects data from more than 112,000 sources, so it might receive conflicting information. If it does, it says it'll share all the information with you to help right a wrong report."
They did not share any information with me to help remove the error on my vehicle's Carfax. My dispute with Carfax continues.
"Carfax says it collects data from more than 112,000 sources, so it might receive conflicting information. If it does, it says it'll share all the information with you to help right a wrong report."
They did not share any information with me to help remove the error on my vehicle's Carfax. My dispute with Carfax continues.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 10,636
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From: Vernon, NY
Your case is different. You don't have any accidents (or not supposed to). So of course, it's all hearsay.
Again, why I just use Carfax as a guide.
Don't want to change the subject, but it ain't no different than NICS checks nowadays.
Even though everything is computerized -- the data is only as good as the person entering it. Period.
I work in the industry, and trust me I know this!
Good luck in trying to get this resolved. Keep us posted too.
Again, why I just use Carfax as a guide.
Don't want to change the subject, but it ain't no different than NICS checks nowadays.
Even though everything is computerized -- the data is only as good as the person entering it. Period.
I work in the industry, and trust me I know this!
Good luck in trying to get this resolved. Keep us posted too.
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Florida Gulf Coast
I will keep this thread updated. Carfax said that they reached out to the data inputer and confirmed that the accident info was correct. Why would someone confirm an accident that never happened? It’s a real puzzler. I sent my story to a local newspaper and TV station. I am hoping it gets picked up.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,248
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From: Rochester, NY, USA
I will keep this thread updated. Carfax said that they reached out to the data inputer and confirmed that the accident info was correct. Why would someone confirm an accident that never happened? It’s a real puzzler. I sent my story to a local newspaper and TV station. I am hoping it gets picked up.
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Florida Gulf Coast
Guess what? I get to close out this thread on a positive note! After numerous emails back and forth with Carfax i received an email from a real “supervisor”, someone with a first and last name. They asked me if I could send them my service receipts for the time period surrounding the damage report entry. Several days later they sent me an email reflecting removal of the damage entry. I don’t know who made the entry, but Carfax did the right thing. My advice to anyone facing this kind of problem is to be professional and persistent with Carfax. Ironically I was going to list the car for sale today, the same day that I received a clean Carfax. I feel like celebrating!
