Can CARFAX be wrong? Grievance??

[Polecat]

Last month I was going to purchase an 87 Buick Grand National with 56,000 original miles on it from the second owner. VIN # 1G4GJ1177HP439319. When the carfax was run on the vehicle, it only had one odometer reading from one state DOMV at 127,000 miles. The owner felt that this was wrong was going to file a grievance against CARFAX. Has anybody heard of them being wrong in the past? I feel bad for the guy if he is being truthful as he might of bought the car feeling that it was a low mileage vehicle or perhaps it is a low mileage car with a bad odometer reading on carfax report.

We were going to make a deal at 13,000 which is great for a 56 K car but for a 156,00 perhaps a little high. He is confident of the mileage he says that it is and won't move from 13,000. Car has a 5 year old paint, new carpeting, headliner, and some minor rust under the doors, other wise all original.

I regret not buying but should a guy just walk away from the car and keep looking? I wont post the guys name but here are a couple photos without anything identifiable to him.

[Polecat]

I just found a related link and have found numerous responses that indicate that Carfax and the Dept. Motor Vehicles can be wrong, and have been wrong on numerous vehicle reports.

It's a great looking car and I'll take the owners word on the mileage.

[cruzn57]

I purchased a car ( expensive) and did carfax, and got carfax insurance,
later found out car had been sotlen, and in accidents, I told carfax,and filed for replacement value with them, there reply was sorry , your not covered, and sue us if you don't like it!
I warn every one I can that carfax is a fraud.
there is a class action lawsuit against them , and yes I am part of it.

ask your 5yr old neighbor for car history before you ask carfax!! you'll be better off.

[excobraguy]

Yes, carfax can be wrong and the DMV can be wrong. Mileage reporting on cars is a joke and yet it stays with the title forever.........and if an owner accidentally checks the box "Mileage is beyond mechanical limits"........good luck trying to get this one fixed. The DMV won't budge on it, at least in missouri. And also, Carfax only reports what is reported to carfax......if I own my own bodyshop, total my car out, repair it and then sell it........this was never reported to carfax so it won't show up. I'm amazed sometimes how people believe everything is reported to carfax!

[gnxjames548]

Originally Posted by Polecat

Last month I was going to purchase an 87 Buick Grand National with 56,000 original miles on it from the second owner. VIN # 1G4GJ1177HP439319. When the carfax was run on the vehicle, it only had one odometer reading from one state DOMV at 127,000 miles. The owner felt that this was wrong was going to file a grievance against CARFAX. Has anybody heard of them being wrong in the past? I feel bad for the guy if he is being truthful as he might of bought the car feeling that it was a low mileage vehicle or perhaps it is a low mileage car with a bad odometer reading on carfax report.

We were going to make a deal at 13,000 which is great for a 56 K car but for a 156,00 perhaps a little high. He is confident of the mileage he says that it is and won't move from 13,000. Car has a 5 year old paint, new carpeting, headliner, and some minor rust under the doors, other wise all original.

I regret not buying but should a guy just walk away from the car and keep looking? I wont post the guys name but here are a couple photos without anything identifiable to him.

A 13k car should look like New !!!

[Anthony P]

CARFAX is only one step in checking the background of a car. One of my '87s does not exist in the CARFAX database...

***CARFAX report says no records exist for this vehicle, but I have plenty of records going back to the original application for title when 12 miles were on the odometer.***

[87Regal3.8SFI]

Carfax only shows what is reported on a vehicle. If your car was ever wrecked but not reported by the cops or you to insurance, Carfax will not show it. Spend your $24 elsewhere.

[Pronto]

It's a guide but not an absolute answer to if the car has issues. Don't base 100% of your decision on it. The ones I have have had for my cars were accurate but then I knew about the cars history anyway and was doing the report for yucks.

[simple]

you can get free VIN checks from insurance companies. they will usually use more then one source to check vehicle history as well.
might not always be 100% accurate either but its another route to take.

[hottrawd]

your really screwed in tx if you title a vehicle in TX, if it is 20 years old or older they mark the mileage as beyond mechanical limits no matter if you have proof of mileage or not. So both of my GN's that have under 70,000 miles are now screwed.

[JSTTA]

I'm an insurance adjuster and sometimes if i look at a car that is locked or can not get the mileage, I used to estimate miles based on the year of a car, I do not do this now because any damage to a car over 1500.00 in new york gets reported to the state dmv, so if i have mileage thats not accurate , it can be posted on car fax that the car has higher miles or lower in some cases. Thats were car fax gets there info from.

[gnxjames548]

Originally Posted by hottrawd

your really screwed in tx if you title a vehicle in TX, if it is 20 years old or older they mark the mileage as beyond mechanical limits no matter if you have proof of mileage or not. So both of my GN's that have under 70,000 miles are now screwed.

That's not right.

[gn.87]

Reply to HOTTRAWD... Beyond mechanical limits in Florida is a branded title. What we have here in Florida is any car 10 years or older gets a "exempt" on the title unless we state otherwise "actual miles". I just titled a 12 year old car and did not fill out the mileage on the title. The DMV put exempt in my behalf. The car only had 26k original miles. Pissed! Branded titles are not good news.

[19TTA89]

Originally Posted by hottrawd

your really screwed in tx if you title a vehicle in TX, if it is 20 years old or older they mark the mileage as beyond mechanical limits no matter if you have proof of mileage or not. So both of my GN's that have under 70,000 miles are now screwed.

I recently bought a car from an older Gentleman in TX,He brought the car to a garage to get the inspection done,It seems the yahoo from the garage took the Mileage from the tripometer rather than the odometer...(Digital dash car)..So the mileage went from 42k to 2700 in one year.

Obviously carfax doesn't want to know anything about it,And the Guy I got the car from never even thought they took the mileage because of the age of the car.

So,I have an original 46k mile car that has a spot on the carfax,And even though the carfax states that it could be a clerical error,They want nothing to do with making it right.

[gnxjames548]

The problem is not with car fax it's with the yahoo who did the Inspection

[19TTA89]

Originally Posted by gnxjames548

The problem is not with car fax it's with the yahoo who did the Inspection

Originally...yes,But when there contacted,And don't want to hear anything about it in order to get it resolved...Then I put the blame on them.

carfax sucks.

[19TTA89]

Im not worried about it for my car...If I put it up for sale,There would be no question that it is a low mile car.