I have a 33 year old daughter who lives in Durango, CO, who is looking for a used car in the under $10K range. She looked at an '00 SAAB 9.3 four door hatchback on a consignment dealer's lot with 47K on the odo. This car was certainly not enthusiast-owned. Paint scratches, cigarette burns, and dirty seats. But the price was right and daughter thought it "fit her." I checked Carfax, and it was clean as a whistle.

Then the consignment guy dropped the fact that the car had a new engine installed only 1K miles ago by a dealer in Scottsdale, AZ. I asked him to fax me the details of this, and what I got showed that last August a SAAB dealer had installed a USED engine in this car under an extended warranty issued by a company called Ryan. No way of telling how many miles that used engine has on it. And the car's value is hurt by non-matching numbers. Daughter has been advised to avoid this car like the plague.

But did Carfax pick any of this up? Nooooo!

Thanks,
Richard

 

Just curious as to how Carfax would know about an engine change unless it was part of an accident report

 

......


D.

 

CarFax does not pick everything up, period. I have a vehicle that I got into an accident with- A semi tried to merge into the lane I was in driving down the highway @ 70 mph. The state cops came, made a report and gave the truck driver a ticket. $2k in damage to my car!

Guess what? That car has a clean CarFax.......

 

Carfax get's their info from dealers, DMV's, independent shops, etc...
They don't investigate every car and scrutinize it. They just have the info reported to them and to other automotive agencies. So a car could be a complete loss and you would still never know if no one ever reported it.
It happens daily... People buy wreck cars from individuals fix them and no one ever knows. Hell, a good portion of the flood vehicles from down south will make it to other states, never be reported as flood damaged and sold to you as nothing ever happened.

 

carfax is just information... i think
1 of my friend who just bought 350z has clean carfax but when we lifted car on the lifter i saw sign of front end damage.
we knew front bumper was repainted(or replaced) and here is what i found out. car had new radiator support, cheap aftermarket radiator, cheap aftermarket a/c condensor, welded oilpan, cracked radiator fan/shroud, bent a/c lines/hoses, missing both side fender liners, missing lower engine cover and there was alot more i cant think of right now...

i really dont trust carfax anymore after this....
cousins mustangs gt.
clean title and clean carfax.
lifted car up (few weeks later) right front frame rail was swaped from some other car.
all bad...


i think best carfax is bring the car to your local shop and lift it up(check w/ mechanic)

 

Look on the plus side - that Saab will never be collectible, so matching numbers aren't a problem

 

Carfax is just a tool you can use to spot possible problems such as rebuilt title or theft. It is not the see all, know all in buying the car. Use it, but don't base all your belief on it being the gospel.

 

yeah i had a carfax account so i check my old car on it. it said it had a clean record and no major accidents...

my last car was totalled by a drunk driverin a huge truck!!