Carfax Reports what you should know

Before buying a used car you buy a Carfax report. You think that it will tell you all the accidents that the car has been in and the history of the car itself. While the report does usually show you if the vehicle has a salvage title, it won't show you all the accidents that the vehicle has been in.

The Carfax report will only show accidents the vehicle was in if the total damage of the car was over 25% of the value of the car at the time of accident. That is only if the owner turned it into the insurance company. If the customer paid cash to fix the damage from the accident, it will not show on the Carfax report. Many people do pay cash to get their cars repaired, and not turning it into the insurance company. If the damage was under 25% of the value, it could have damaged a major part of the vehicle, and if that wasn't repaired correctly, can be costly down the road.

A salvage title is issued for a car if a car was totaled in an accident with the damage being more than 75% of the value of the vehicle. If it gets resold the title would then be a salvage title. Sometimes Carfax doesn't show it being a salvage title. It will still show a clear title. Depending on how fast Carfax gets updated the salvage title may not show right away.

Carfax will not show you if the odometer has been rolled back. While it does show the mileage of the car at title transfers the odometer can be rolled back in between, and you will never know.

Frame damage on a vehicle will only show on a car fax report if it has been reported. Again if the owner of the vehicle paid cash to have the frame repaired it will not show up. If a body man owned the car and did the repairs himself it will not appear on the report. A body man could assemble 2 cars together and make it one car and it will not appear on Carfax.

There is a disclaimer on Carfax that it's not responsible for omissions, reliability, or accuracy on the report. They only can report what is given to them.

Anytime you buy a used vehicle do not depend fully on the Carfax report. While the Carfax report will give you some background information on the car, it may or may not be accurate. Always have a good mechanic check the vehicle over for prior damages, and potential problems.