CarFax Caveat All Car Shoppers Should Know

Is CarFax reliable when it comes to letting car shoppers know the true condition of a used car? One mechanic says no and has the opinion that CarFax is the equivalent of excrement. Is this true?

Resources When Shopping for a Used Car

When it comes to shopping for a used car, it is always a “buyer beware” situation. Which is why it is so important to use multiple resources to help guide your buying decision.

One reliable and trusted resource is that of Consumer Reports analysts who take a lot of the research work off of your hands and offer their take on a used car’s overall reliability.

Another resource recommended is typically a service like CarFax that provides a vehicle history report to let you know if there are any red flags you should pay particular attention to when looking at a particular used car.

However, a recent Scotty Kilmer YouTube channel video titled “Here’s Why CarFax is Crap” refutes the usefulness of a CarFax report. According to Scotty, CarFax does not physically inspect the cars they report on---only that they act as a database that is only as accurate as the information fed into it. In other words, his complaint is that many accidents never make it to a car history report.

But is this fair and accurate? Listen in on one of Scotty’s classic arm waving rants and then take a look at what CarFax is about.

Here’s Why CarFax is Crap

Caveats to Any Used Car Buy

One of the oft-repeated advice used on this site is that regardless of where your used car recommendations come from, that all of the more reliable info sources will tell you that you still have to have a used car pre-purchasing inspection to ensure that you are not being taken to the cleaners.

Related article: Signs of Hidden Damage That a Used Car Was In a Collision

The reason for this is that no matter how much research you can reasonably do, there will always be exceptions and hidden used car problems that evade even the best of us. And CarFax is no different.

While useful, a CarFax Vehicle History Report can provide some very important information that can impact your decision on whether or not to buy a used vehicle from a dealership, a used car lot, an ad in the paper, or even a relative. Information listed in a CARFAX report comes from thousands of sources and can include:

• Vehicle registration
• Title information, including salvaged or junked titles
• Odometer readings
• Lemon history
• Total loss information
• Stolen and recovery information
• Structural damage
• Accident indicators, such as airbag deployment
• Service and repair information
• Vehicle usage (taxi, rental, lease, etc.)
• Recall information

CARFAX is well-known for providing used car shoppers with important and updated information and warnings about vehicles involved in flood damage, reports of odometer fraud, and how buyers can avoid overpaying for a vehicle.

However, a CARFAX Report is not the end-all toward making a good used car buying decision. In fact, the CARFAX website tells users of their services that, “Not all information is reported to CARFAX.” And that, “The CARFAX Vehicle History Report should be used along with a pre-purchase vehicle inspection and thorough test drive.”

In other words, there’s no way any vehicle history report service can account for cases where the police are not alerted and the parties agree to a cash settlement or some other deal to avoid insurance rate increases.

In addition, when someone offers to hand you a CARFAX report they gathered for your convenience as proof of the reliability and condition of the car they are selling, you still have to be skeptical of what they are really showing you because reports can be faked and/or be a matter of a sin of omission.

So, was Scotty being unfair and inaccurate? Wellllllll…if you’ve followed Scotty for a while, you will know that he tends to be dramatic and use hyperbole to get attention. However, Scotty does appear to have the car owning public’s interest at heart and he does have useful gold nuggets of information from time to time.

Yes, CarFax reports are limited, but to say that they are the equivalent of excrement is unfair. CarFax reports can be useful as long as the aforementioned caveats are adhered to and car shoppers are aware that any report from any source is subject to error. It’s just the nature of the beast when it comes to used cars.

And finally…

For additional articles about buying a used car, here are some selected articles for your consideration that may prove helpful:

• Consumer Reports on How to Assess a Used Vehicle’s True Value

• Red Flag Used Car Dealers Do Not Want Buyers to Know About

• Used Car Seller Tricks to Resurrect a Flood Damaged Car

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Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

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