Clean Carfax but without any service history record? What's your thought?

[xianglongliu]

Guys, I came across this 2015 M3 in my local (Edmonton) dealership (not BMW). And they showed me the car has clean record, too clean that the car doesn't even have any service history. The car originally was purchased in BC. It had 2 past owners. The car has several cosmetic modifications here and there, but not sure about the powertrain mods in the past.

I am not going to ask "is this normal?" type of question cause it's not normal obviously. However, I do understand many people do their own oil change and maintenance services at home or at buddy's shop. And whoever serviced the car doesn't have to report to Carfax because no law requires to do so.

So the point of making this post is to ask your experience/input on such case considering buying this M3.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Adam

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

thats a tough one. would have to get a PPI

[discoboy1]

did you get it yourself or they gave you a copy? I made the mistake from a private seller not to check myself and the document was tampered/ edited. I found out because when I sold the car two years later the buyer had the "true" report in hand...
also if this is a Canadian car I would use carproof, carfax is better if car was is US at some point in its life.

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

thats a tough one. would have to get a PPI

They have their in-house inspection done but it is hard to believe, for sure they are biased...

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by discoboy1

did you get it yourself or they gave you a copy? I made the mistake from a private seller not to check myself and the document was tampered/ edited. I found out because when I sold the car two years later the buyer had the "true" report in hand...
also if this is a Canadian car I would use carproof, carfax is better if car was is US at some point in its life.

The dealer showed me the report on their computer. Not the hardcopy. I thought Carproof and Carfax are now the same company...? No?

[Rastarize]

If you have the VIN, you may be able to call a local BMW dealership and ask if they can look up either the service history, or the dealership that originally sold the car. Then you can always call that dealership to ask about maintenance history.

I don't find CarFax does a great job of service history in Canada.

[allinon72]

I would not consider a car that did not, at the very least, have the 1200mi break in service listed. You don't mention the mileage of the car, but it should also have history after that as well under the maintenance warranty. Too many red flags on this one - no history, 2 previous owners, modifications. No reason to take a risk.

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by allinon72

I would not consider a car that did not, at the very least, have the 1200mi break in service listed. You don't mention the mileage of the car, but it should also have history after that as well under the maintenance warranty. Too many red flags on this one - no history, 2 previous owners, modifications. No reason to take a risk.

I agree with you on this one. There are way many things that dealer wouldn't tell me about. Maybe that's why the car is almost 5k below the market price. Car is at 48xxx km now. Yes, the car doesn't even have the BMW service record on report. I haven't checked with my local BMW dealership to see if they have anything or not.

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by Rastarize

If you have the VIN, you may be able to call a local BMW dealership and ask if they can look up either the service history, or the dealership that originally sold the car. Then you can always call that dealership to ask about maintenance history.

I don't find CarFax does a great job of service history in Canada.

I didn't write down the VIN. But I will try to get it somehow and check with BMW dealership.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by xianglongliu

Guys, I came across this 2015 M3 in my local (Edmonton) dealership (not BMW). And they showed me the car has clean record, too clean that the car doesn't even have any service history. The car originally was purchased in BC. It had 2 past owners. The car has several cosmetic modifications here and there, but not sure about the powertrain mods in the past.

I am not going to ask "is this normal?" type of question cause it's not normal obviously. However, I do understand many people do their own oil change and maintenance services at home or at buddy's shop. And whoever serviced the car doesn't have to report to Carfax because no law requires to do so.

So the point of making this post is to ask your experience/input on such case considering buying this M3.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Adam

Check carproof.

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by itrocks4u

Check carproof.

Carfax Canada is now the Carproof since March 2018. That's the report dealer showed me with no service history. The only so called "Service history " was the car got brought to a Dodge dealership for unknown work……

[jlorenzen]

I'm a Pre-Owned Sales Manager (used to be one at a BMW store in the GTA) and I'll give you my two cents...

Service history on Carfax is hit and miss. Most of the time service history from OEMs are not shared with with Carfax unless they've signed an agreement on the OEM level. It's normally just independent shops history that ends up on Carfax in this case. Take the VIN and contact your local BMW dealership to get any and all service history (it's a shared network among BMW dealers). For a vehicle of that age there should be warranty and recall records at the very least.

If you're worried about the history of the vehicle, you can always pay your local auction service (Adesa Edmonton, etc.) to do a PPI. This will give you a full condition report of the vehicle including tire measurements, paint meter readings, etc.

You can also ask the dealer to run a new or up-to-date Carfax report while you're present. It's very important to get a current report because a dealership can purchase a damaged vehicle from auction, repair it and sometimes sell it before any history appears on Carfax.

If you have any further questions or concerns, you're more than welcome to PM me.

Good luck!

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by jlorenzen

I'm a Pre-Owned Sales Manager (used to be one at a BMW store in the GTA) and I'll give you my two cents...

Service history on Carfax is hit and miss. Most of the time service history from OEMs are not shared with with Carfax unless they've signed an agreement on the OEM level. It's normally just independent shops history that ends up on Carfax in this case. Take the VIN and contact your local BMW dealership to get any and all service history (it's a shared network among BMW dealers). For a vehicle of that age there should be warranty and recall records at the very least.

If you're worried about the history of the vehicle, you can always pay your local auction service (Adesa Edmonton, etc.) to do a PPI. This will give you a full condition report of the vehicle including tire measurements, paint meter readings, etc.

You can also ask the dealer to run a new or up-to-date Carfax report while you're present. It's very important to get a current report because a dealership can purchase a damaged vehicle from auction, repair it and sometimes sell it before any history appears on Carfax.

If you have any further questions or concerns, you're more than welcome to PM me.

Good luck!

Very informative! Thank you. A PPI will be ordered.

PS. Our forum member just found me this vehicle's service history from BMW dealership database (Big thanks to him!). Looks like the car has been serviced till 2018 June.

[ilovemym4]

PM me the VIN, I can get you a Carfax link if you want.

The guys on the forum are correct. Carproof has been absorbed by Carfax. Service history on these reports are spotty at best.

This combined with your service history report from the BMW dealership database is great however one thing I would do is ask for an independent service to inspect the vehicle just in case. Definitely worth the investment.

Good luck!

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by ilovemym4

PM me the VIN, I can get you a Carfax link if you want.

The guys on the forum are correct. Carproof has been absorbed by Carfax. Service history on these reports are spotty at best.

This combined with your service history report from the BMW dealership database is great however one thing I would do is ask for an independent service to inspect the vehicle just in case. Definitely worth the investment.

Good luck!

Thanks, I will order a PPI from my local shop. My main concern is to see if the car has been extensively modified by previous owners and got reverted back to stock before trade in. Also I want to check if the car has any indication of damage repair from accident (Even though the carfax shows no accident reported).

Thanks for the input!

[FreeDarko]

Originally Posted by xianglongliu

Thanks, I will order a PPI from my local shop. My main concern is to see if the car has been extensively modified by previous owners and got reverted back to stock before trade in. Also I want to check if the car has any indication of damage repair from accident (Even though the carfax shows no accident reported).

Thanks for the input!

It's most likely that it was modded and then serviced at a independent garage to ensure they wouldn't lose their warranty.

I think most of us now know that the chances of BMW not being able to detect a tune etc even after going back to stock is slim at best.

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by FreeDarko

It's most likely that it was modded and then serviced at a independent garage to ensure they wouldn't lose their warranty.

I think most of us now know that the chances of BMW not being able to detect a tune etc even after going back to stock is slim at best.

Someone from the forum pulled the service record from BMW database. It has been serviced in BMW dealership till June 2018. The only question now is if the car has been involved in any accident or not.

[ilovemym4]

PM'd you the Carfax links! Sorry for the delay - this website normally notifies me of PM's and replies in this thread, but for some reason it didnt'?!

Anywho good luck with your hunt!

[xianglongliu]

Originally Posted by ilovemym4

PM'd you the Carfax links! Sorry for the delay - this website normally notifies me of PM's and replies in this thread, but for some reason it didnt'?!

Anywho good luck with your hunt!

Thanks! Greatly appreciated!

[90SLOWE]

Originally Posted by xianglongliu

Someone from the forum pulled the service record from BMW database. It has been serviced in BMW dealership till June 2018. The only question now is if the car has been involved in any accident or not.

Hi, how were you able to get this info - I'm looking at a similar vehicle with Carfax history gaps. Would love to learn more about the vehicle before purchasing.