Crazy Carfax question

About 6 months after I bought my new 2022 sport someone backed into my drivers side tail light and cracked the cover. The only damage was the tail light itself and a very minor scratch on the bedside where the tail light meets the bed. The scratch did not penetrate the clear coat and I was able to buff it out and it looks like new. I bought a new tail light and replaced it myself. This happened in my drive way and the fellow that backed into it had his insurance covered the damage. His truck suffered MUCH more damage. The angle he backed into me the ball on my hitch creased his bedside. They sent me a check and I took care of the repairs myself.

So, just for the heck of it, I checked the value on carvanna last night and it shows as 1 accident reported on the carfax. Is this common practice? There was no paint work or any type of metal or body damage to my vehicle. Heck a rock thrown from a mower would probably cause more damage than it had. Seems to be misleading to show an accident for such little of a repair. In hindsight I could have bought a tail light form the for sale forum here for $50 and been done with it. Anyone have any carfax experience like this before?

 

There was an insurance claim. CarFax probably picked up on that.

 

FWIW, the vehicle was involved in an accident. The accident was reported to insurance, you received money for damages, and regardless of the extent of damage, the vehicle was reported to be in an accident. It should be fully expected to be a part of the carfax report and is not misleading in the least.

 

Be confident that your minor accident is going to be treated the same way by Carfax as if the entire bed has been ripped off and then Bubba and Bill‘s body shop did a half assed job of fixing it and straightening the frame.

 

CarFax is an infringement of your privacy IMO.
My daughter went to trade her car and it showed an odometer alteration. The last place that did an emissions test transposed the mileage numbers. The dealers were all trying to steal the car from her…..more than they usually would.
You need an act of congress to get it reversed.
Think twice before putting a claim for damage, the insurance adjuster will probably write a “set up and measure” for a bumper cover claim and “carfarce” will report frame damage.

 

Happened to my 2nd gen. My windshield was fogged up one morning when I left the house and I accidentally cut a corner a bit tight at a 4way stop. I ended up swiping the front bumper of another car with my front wheel(wider aftermarket wheels). I had ZERO damage anywhere to my truck. Just a scuff on the tire. Other guys car needed about 2k worth of paint work which was paid by my insurance.

When I went to sell the truck last year the car fax showed my truck had been in a minor accident even though I had no damage.

 

Sounds like the insurance industry wants it to be this way, to discourage people from making claims.

 

Up here Ive seen two types of "Auto colissions" reported. Some will have no info, and some will have value of assessed damages and location. I assume it has to dp with the vendors ability to enter it into the system.
Likewise Ive also seen Service Record details on Carfaxs, and again assume its the shop that enters the details.

Some do. Some dont it seems.

 

I’m just more disturbed that dealers act like Carfax is now some type of legitimate organization and you have to abide by it.

I’m curious if they also start dinging you for not taking your vehicle in for dealer service.

I get these little updates from my dealers telling me that my vehicles are “late” for service intervals which I either do myself or get an independent mechanic to do.

 

This doesn't surprise me.... credit reporting is just as fubar lol

All that stuff is a scam

 

I’ve seen some surprising stuff on a carfax. We had an unsold new vehicle in inventory that needed a battery and it showed up on a carfax. I’d like to know how they can get into your car’s warranty and maintenance history. I’ve also seen carfax call out a vehicle for having no service history.

 

how... they buy data the data...

and insurance is happy to sell them the data for the almighty $

 

Interesting that the viewpoints here seem to be only from car owners - what about car buyers? Personally, despite it's downsides and inaccuracies, I think Carfax is an asset. I've been able to walk away from vehicles I otherwise would have pursued or purchased simply because I was able to find info via Carfax which I otherwise wouldn't have been able to find on my own. As someone who only buys used vehicles, Carfax is a great resource. But of course, don't be an idiot and trust it explicitly. Use your brain a little, often times you need to read between the lines.

I recently had a claim on one of my cars when a tree branch cracked the windshield and put a couple small dings in the hood. Yeah, it sucks that it's now going to come up as an "accident" on Carfax but I'm not too worried about it because I have photographic evidence of the damage and detailed info regarding the repair. I'll happily provide that to interested parties when I sell the car and don't expect any dimished value because of it. Sure, if you're gonna sell to Carvana or trade into a dealer then you should expect them to assume the worst when they see "accident" on the Carfax. But they're also already going to try and give you the least amount possible. If you actually care about value then you wouldn't be selling to Carvana or trading in anyway.

 

Exactly. All great points, and I agree completely.

 

You’re assuming somebody will document the repairs.

All this is doing is making unscrupulous individuals do repairs off the books to prevent a vehicle from losing value on Carfax.

I replaced an entire front panel on my 911 because of a race track mishap (insurance won’t cover that anyway) that doesn’t show up on Carfax.

 

(in GOD we trust) is printed on all US currency , that's a fact

 

I'm not defending CarFax, but does it say damage or accident? Often times it will state one or the other, and they have a severity scale -- minor, moderate. or severe. So...hopefully it's listed as minor and just damage as opposed to an accident.

 

i carry a sharpie to mark it out.

 

as a buyer, i think they are a good starting point. i look for big red flags and maintenance trends. the toyota owners site is great too, as you can punch in the vin and see what the dealer has done

 

I bought my truck with a carfax reported accident. Previous owner had a piece of metal road debris pierce the rear PS door. A new OEM door was installed by Toyota body shop. I have pics of the damage and the repair report, if I ever sell it and am called on it. Several prospective buyers shied away from the truck from the blanket report. I dug a bit further with owner and realized it was bullshit after I inspected the door and even spoke with he body shop tech who "repaired" it. The paint is a perfect match