Would you buy a truck that shows accidents on the Carfax report

I have been searching and searching for a 4wd double cab in my area. I finally found one with all the features I want. ~130k miles but well maintained with all records. I was all set to pull the trigger until I ran the carfax and it shows two accidents. One says accident and the other says structural damage. The owner says that one was a rear ender and the other was when someone backed into him. Both were repaired at a local shop and he has the receipts for everything done. He says they were all bolt off / bolt on parts that were replaced. Both he claims were minor repairs.

What are your thoughts. Would you purchase the vehicle anyway? It really looks great and appears to be a pretty good price.

Thanks for the help.

 

Ehhh, personally I would stay away...

 

I would dig a little deeper into what was repaired exactly maybe contact the repair shop to investigate if it all adds up to minor body repairs cool but if structural damage was claimed to the carfax that usually means frame damage at one point

 

Front end damage no. Rear end maybe, but it all depends on the price. If you can talk him down another 1500 or so, then it may be worth it. Someone rear ended my 2011 Tundra and went under the passenger side bumper. New bumper, exhaust pipe end was replaced/rewelded and the quarter panel was pulled out then repainted. You couldn't tell it was hit and there was no structural damage. Good luck.

 

when i was looking at buying my pickup the owner told me it had been hit in the rear by a drunk driver, (the tacoma was parked on the street and was hit when the drunk driver derped around a corner). told me all of the damages were covered under insurance and the frame was re-straightened afterwards.

this did show up on the carfax report as well. I had it inspected at two separate places, one a specialty import 4x4 shop and the other a toyota dealership. they found no defects or reasons for concern, the truck had a clean title (not salvaged or rebuilt), and drives totally straight and vibration free at highway speeds.

I bought it even though it had been damaged previously. I've had it for a full year now and so far zero regrets. you would have to be thorough in inspecting it though because there's no guarantee and all the responsibility does fall on you the buyer

 

Carfax ime makes really bad toilet paper. In all the vehicles ive bought, the more they hyped the carfax, the more obvious damage they were hiding. I remember testing an xterra a few years ago and the salesman whipped out "clean carfax" probably 50 times.

So during the testdrive its all over the road. Tight turns in a parking lot and it spins like youre on the teacups. Pull into a lighted bay at the dealership and easily find various colors of yellow on the sheet metal. I crawl underneath and there are so many marks on the hideously twisted frame from the shop that tried straightening it you could barely see metal.

I pointed all that out to the sales guy, and "clean carfax" comes flying out 10 more times as i head to my car.


So in the real world evaluate the vehicle for what it is and imo ignore the waste of paper and ink.

 

So the information was withheld until you found the carfax report? For that alone I was walk because the seller isn't upfront. Wonder what else isn't being told.

 

+1. If he didn't volunteer any of this information, it would make me uncomfortable. That being said, contact the shop that did the work, and if it is actually as minor as he says, and it's the truck you want - negotiate some more off the price and buy it.

 

OK. Thanks for all the responses. I did not ask about accidents when I talked to him because he kept talking about how clean the truck was. And it is. He has been very up front with everything but he did not tell me about the accidents either. He sent me all the repair records for the two accidents and it totals up to about 10 pages. There was A LOT of stuff fixed or replaced. The first repair total was around $10k and the second was around $7k. Seems to indicate pretty extensive damage to me. I may regret it but I think I am going to keep shopping. My truck must be out there somewhere. Thanks again for the help!

 

yeah keep shopping

 

While I won't argue with it being a good idea to walk away, I will say that thinking $7k or even $10k in repairs shows extensive replacement, I wouldn't rely on that alone. Hell, a damaged front bumper or rear bumper on some cars today could EASILY reach the $5-6k mark alone. If you run into a situation like this again I think the best advice has been given: Investigate with the repair shop that did the work and ask THEIR opinion. Since they most likely have no vested interest in you buying the truck, they will tend to be more forthcoming.

 

Too many other fish in the sea. I wouldn't.

 

I've seen too many auto body repairs go bad and rot out while the rest of the car still looked good, no I would not buy

 

Mostly the same answer as the consensus above, but I agree that something shown on Carfax in itself is not necessarily bad. A small scrape in the bumper that is repaired will show up, and is not a big deal. Unfortunately there is not much distinction between those small repairs and major repairs until you do some investigation.

I looked at a Tundra recently. I could see repair work on the passenger door and the left front fender, so probably 2 separate incidents, and not well repaired. I pulled the carfax and it showed 2 accidents, but looking into it, these were different accidents than where the repair work was done. I looked closer at those areas listed and they were flawless repairs. Apparently these other two accidents were smaller or the owner did not want to deal with insurance and had it repaired at a backyard friend-of-a-friend type place, and it was not even reported to Carfax. So, long story to say that not all accidents show up on carfax, and those that show up will have to be assessed to see what the damage was.

By the way, the carfax also showed that the Tundra was stolen and recovered 6 months later, so no telling how it was handled. That was a sure sign to move on...

 

As noted above, Carfax is a double edged sword. It might indicate minor or moderate repairs done well, or a clean carfax might hide bad repairs done by a lousy shop. When buying used there's simply no substitute for a lengthy, thorough test drive, an independent shop inspection, your observations about the vehicle and the person selling it, and of course your gut feeling.

 

If it was super cheap...maybe.

 

No.

 

Heh, it was maybe 15 years go someone hit my car on a really subzero night. Rubber bumper cover shattered like glass, no other damage. $3500 to replace it. 10 years ago had someone park theu hyundai under the rear of my f150 at about 40mph. Hyundai was totalled, insurance paid almost 6k to me. New rear bumper and new hitch. So if given the choice, be the guy in the truck.

So i short $ amount means squat, again evaluate the vehicle for what it is.

 

Carfax is good in theory, but absolutely abused by disreputable dealers. Way too many ways to work around it.

If you’re interested in the truck, go inspect it (or have someone do it for you).

A neighbor backed into my truck 7 years ago. Smashed the right rear quarter panel/bed. It was repaired and looks as good today as it did when I bought the truck 11 years ago (see pic).

 

I will say like others have carfax wont show all accidents my truck was hit by a kid at my school (luckily I just needed a new rim and tire) so his family paid for us to go to the shop of our choice to get the truck fully inspected for damage. Now that being said the truck drives perfect but still if i ever went to sell nobody would know it got clipped