CarMax sold a Used car with no damage report & Carfax says otherwise. What to do ? (auto, salvage)
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Did he get a Carfax report or a AutoCheck report from the Kia dealer. Ive seen things that were on one but not the other. For example, Ive been shopping for my youngest son a vehicle, I found one truck e both really liked. Carfax was clean, but Autocheck showed something to the effect of "minor damage reported" and upon closer inspection found where the truck had been repaired.
I find this (two different services) the most likely explanation, but I've also heard about significant delays in reports to Carfax. So, it is also possible the accident wasn't on Carfax when the car was purchased, but it showed up shortly after.
First, I would verify that the new dealership is correct in saying it had been in an accident. I would get a copy of whatever report they were referring to, and doublecheck it. I wouldn't be surprised if they were lying about it, to get him to pony up more money on the spot.
If it's true the car had been in an accident, I don't see that the guy has any recourse. He can't even prove the Carfax was clean, unless he printed it out from online. Or unless he has a copy of a report from the dealer he bought it from, saying it was clean. But it probably has a disclaimer on the report, saying that the report may not be correct.
But a good lesson for me to check Carfax AND Autocheck AND any other sources there may be.
I also read once that a car coming in from out of state can have things not show up in reports, since things are reported differently in different states...and sometimes not at all.
I also wouldn't want to buy a used car from an area that had recent natural disasters, like flooding. Odds are that the car had been flooded.
Even if the car isn't worth what he paid for it, he still got a reasonable deal, if it's been reliable. I also don't see the point in buying a car just for two years. Lease, or keep your old car, if you only want a car for two years, I should think.
A relative of mine bought a used 2013 Kia from CarMax 2 years ago and was shown a CarFax report only online that the vehicle had never been in a accident.
About a month ago he went to a Kia dealer looking to trade it in and was given a printed copy of a CarFax report that shows his vehicle was in a accident in the year previously before it was sold to him.
The dealer told him that his vehicle was nowhere near the value he bought it for due to the accident and he couldn't trade it in unless he had a large down payment.
They suggested he should get a lawyer & sue CarMax but lawyers are expensive.
Will a lawyer take on his case without upfront fees ?
Any suggestions ?
Vehicles are bought as it.. nothing he can do.. their suggestion is garbage..
Definitely would do this first....Reminds me of someone on here (shady) that mentioned selling a wrecked vehicle after repair but before it shows on Carfax (shaaaaaady!).
Was it the real Shady, or one of those other Slim Shadies who are just imitating? I wish he'd stand up.
Carfax and the like are not guarantees that a vehicle is accident free. Your relative is stuck with the car and I highly doubt there is any recourse that he/she can do. Especially knowing that they have had it for 2 years now. This should be a lesson that when you buy a used car, you should always do your own due diligence no matter where you are buying the car from.
This. We bought a vehicle brand new that was involved in two different accidents in the time we owned it. Before we sold it, I ran a CarFax on it to make sure there were no surprises. I found that the first accident was not on the report, but the second one was. I'm not sure what made the difference, but the claims were run through different insurance companies, one was our fault and the other was not, and the repairs were done at different shops. We fully disclosed both accidents to the person who bought our car.
We've only bought one used car, and had it inspected by an independent mechanic before doing so. I felt that provided more genuine peace of mind than ordering a CarFax report.
Carfax is good for finding the purchase, registration, and location history of the car. Can't really mess that up since cars have to be registered yearly.
Basis behind this is if you are looking for warm weather cars or cars that were never registered in flood prone areas, etc...
I wouldn't use it necessarily for accident history.
A relative of mine bought a used 2013 Kia from CarMax 2 years ago and was shown a CarFax report only online that the vehicle had never been in a accident.
About a month ago he went to a Kia dealer looking to trade it in and was given a printed copy of a CarFax report that shows his vehicle was in a accident in the year previously before it was sold to him.
The dealer told him that his vehicle was nowhere near the value he bought it for due to the accident and he couldn't trade it in unless he had a large down payment.
They suggested he should get a lawyer & sue CarMax but lawyers are expensive.
Will a lawyer take on his case without upfront fees ?
Any suggestions ?
It can take up to 200 days for a Carfax report to be updated. Unless CarMax had the car on the lot for more than a year (have no idea how long they keep cars on the lot), it's likely that CarMax didn't feed them with any false info at the time of the purchase. Hindsight is always 20/20, but always take the car to an independent mechanic before purchase.
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