Carfax Issue

[nickl630]

Originally Posted by Bmock17

I went to the body shop earlier and there is definitely NOT any structural or frame damage. What they did say is they can tell the passengers side rear quarter panel has been painted along with the passengers rear door. The structural integrity of the car itself had not been compromised at all as none of the bolts had been removed or tampered with. They went as far as to say they could tell the quarter panel and door weren't even removed from the car when they were painted.

So that is good news. Now I have to figure out how to get this fixed with Carfax. The problem I am facing now is that I don't know where the car was fixed so I cannot ask them to update their filing with Carfax.

Well hopefully they didn't remove the quarter to paint it because if they did that's structural damage

Did they check the inner quarter in the trunk? Welds on the B and C pillars?

While its good you might not have frame... again getting it removed from Carfax is going to be extremely difficult.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by nickl630

Well hopefully they didn't remove the quarter to paint it because if they did that's structural damage

Did they check the inner quarter in the trunk? Welds on the B and C pillars?

While its good you might not have frame... again getting it removed from Carfax is going to be extremely difficult.

They did. They took the trunk apart and specifically said nothing was removed. They said they could tell nothing was removed from the car when it was painted.

[nickl630]

Originally Posted by Bmock17

They did. They took the trunk apart and specifically said nothing was removed. They said they could tell nothing was removed from the car when it was painted.

Sounds good. Maybe they'll tell you who notified them about the frame damage so you can request records of what was repaired/done.

I've seen them flag cars for frame when the repair order said it was put on a frame straightener just to check (and found there was none) So thats a possibility.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by nickl630

Sounds good. Maybe they'll tell you who notified them about the frame damage so you can request records of what was repaired/done.

I've seen them flag cars for frame when the repair order said it was put on a frame straightener just to check (and found there was none) So thats a possibility.

That is what I am hoping for, but I have no idea if they will give me the name of the shop that fixed the car. I am still waiting to hear back from them from my initial email Friday morning.

Any thought on a true frame report? The body shop I brought it to today said it might be worth it to submit additional documentation to Carfax.

[nickl630]

Originally Posted by Bmock17

That is what I am hoping for, but I have no idea if they will give me the name of the shop that fixed the car. I am still waiting to hear back from them from my initial email Friday morning.

Any thought on a true frame report? The body shop I brought it to today said it might be worth it to submit additional documentation to Carfax.

Certainly possible. It might cost some out of pocket expense to get it done on your part but would certainly be worth it in the long run. I know Carfax has done some partnerships with true frame in the past!

[Bmock17]

I talked to the dealership where I purchased the car from this evening. I was by the GM that their finance guy and the controller are working on this with Carfax. He said hopefully there will be a resolution by then end of the week. While I am certainly not counting my chickens, there is a very small glimmer of hope.

[John dillinger]

Originally Posted by Bmock17

I talked to the dealership where I purchased the car from this evening. I was by the GM that their finance guy and the controller are working on this with Carfax. He said hopefully there will be a resolution by then end of the week. While I am certainly not counting my chickens, there is a very small glimmer of hope.

just stay on them ~ you know how they are .... hopefully it all works out and its removed

[Bmock17]

So 4 months later and this is finally resolved. With the help of iND, A&L auto body, and the general manager at Patrick BMW, Carfax changed their report from frame/structural damage to minor/cosmetic damage. I was able to get the original insurance estimate from A&L as they were the shop that repaired it. $1700 in damage was the total. My neighbor is the general manager at Patrick BMW and I told him what was going on. After submitting the insurance estimate to Carfax they first changed their report to moderate/severe damage and removed the frame damage report. My neighbor called his Carfax rep they use at his dealer and told him that this is unacceptable and needs to be fixed. I just got an email from my neighbor with the new Carfax report and the accident is completely gone and it is now says minor cosmetic damage.

It's really sad how Carfax does this to people. Clearly there was no frame damage but they just didn't care. If it weren't for all the help I received this wouldn't have happened. It's a happy ending for me, but who knows how many people have been affected by something similar.

[omgf80]

Appreciate you updating this thread.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by omgf80

Appreciate you updating this thread.

[TheProjectM3]

Originally Posted by Bmock17

So 4 months later and this is finally resolved. With the help of iND, A&L auto body, and the general manager at Patrick BMW, Carfax changed their report from frame/structural damage to minor/cosmetic damage. I was able to get the original insurance estimate from A&L as they were the shop that repaired it. $1700 in damage was the total. My neighbor is the general manager at Patrick BMW and I told him what was going on. After submitting the insurance estimate to Carfax they first changed their report to moderate/severe damage and removed the frame damage report. My neighbor called his Carfax rep they use at his dealer and told him that this is unacceptable and needs to be fixed. I just got an email from my neighbor with the new Carfax report and the accident is completely gone and it is now says minor cosmetic damage.

It's really sad how Carfax does this to people. Clearly there was no frame damage but they just didn't care. If it weren't for all the help I received this wouldn't have happened. It's a happy ending for me, but who knows how many people have been affected by something similar.

That's great that you were able to get the frame damage changed to minor cosmetic damage, but lowkey sucks that there was $1700 in damage and repair that you didn't initially know about. A risk in buying anything used sadly and Carfax is never 100% as some shops and even dealerships don't even report everything

[Mar48]

Wow, this is literally a nightmare scenario!!! An accident it one thing (and we will run that risk regardless of what CarFax or Autocheck say)... but frame damage!!!! Glad it was sorted out after all the hoops you had to jump through. Can’t imagine someone with less connections would’ve been able to get the carfax changed from moderate to minor... which is lame.

[mjposner]

I was looking at a car to buy and the carfax showed an accident in 1/18. 1.5 years later carfax shows frame damage self-reported at auction. Pulled accident report, the BMW it a parked car and drove away, about $4k in damage, repairs to door and rear quarter panel.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by Mar48

Wow, this is literally a nightmare scenario!!! An accident it one thing (and we will run that risk regardless of what CarFax or Autocheck say)... but frame damage!!!! Glad it was sorted out after all the hoops you had to jump through. Can't imagine someone with less connections would've been able to get the carfax changed from moderate to minor... which is lame.

It's absolutely ridiculous honestly.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by mjposner

I was looking at a car to buy and the carfax showed an accident in 1/18. 1.5 years later carfax shows frame damage self-reported at auction. Pulled accident report, the BMW it a parked car and drove away, about $4k in damage, repairs to door and rear quarter panel.

Same thing here, the damage was reported 4 years after the incident occurred. But it was $1700 in damage and Carfax wouldn't budge without supporting documentation.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by Mar48

Wow, this is literally a nightmare scenario!!! An accident it one thing (and we will run that risk regardless of what CarFax or Autocheck say)... but frame damage!!!! Glad it was sorted out after all the hoops you had to jump through. Can't imagine someone with less connections would've been able to get the carfax changed from moderate to minor... which is lame.

Total nightmare.

[Poiseuille]

many thanks to OP for taking the time to publish all this, truly a public service. i can clearly remember when i used to assume that Carfax was some sort of authority in evaluating used cars.
bimmerpost should have a subforum titled 'Carfax Horror Stories'....i'm sure we could come up with a stealth title that would make the lawyers happy. i dunno, maybe 'Show you Carfax love', something like that.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

many thanks to OP for taking the time to publish all this, truly a public service. i can clearly remember when i used to assume that Carfax was some sort of authority in evaluating used cars.
bimmerpost should have a subforum titled 'Carfax Horror Stories'....i'm sure we could come up with a stealth title that would make the lawyers happy. i dunno, maybe 'Show you Carfax love', something like that.

Yeah they suck. I truly hope no one else has to go through this. I was literally sick when this first started several months ago.

[f80er]

Carfax is bogus from firsthand experience. When I traded in my old F80 carfax said there was an odometer inconsistency and the dealership (my local BMW) was trying to hold me over the coals for it. I had to call and email Carfax and when I finally did get a hold of someone it turned out to be "a mistake on our part." They rectified it but still having to jump through those hoops because of no fault of my own was a pain in the ass.

So fuck them.

[bimmer pleaser V2]

Originally Posted by Bmock17

So 4 months later and this is finally resolved. With the help of iND, A&L auto body, and the general manager at Patrick BMW, Carfax changed their report from frame/structural damage to minor/cosmetic damage. I was able to get the original insurance estimate from A&L as they were the shop that repaired it. $1700 in damage was the total. My neighbor is the general manager at Patrick BMW and I told him what was going on. After submitting the insurance estimate to Carfax they first changed their report to moderate/severe damage and removed the frame damage report. My neighbor called his Carfax rep they use at his dealer and told him that this is unacceptable and needs to be fixed. I just got an email from my neighbor with the new Carfax report and the accident is completely gone and it is now says minor cosmetic damage.

It's really sad how Carfax does this to people. Clearly there was no frame damage but they just didn't care. If it weren't for all the help I received this wouldn't have happened. It's a happy ending for me, but who knows how many people have been affected by something similar.

yep. the problem with Carfax is:
I get in a major accident but I don't have full coverage so I take it to a discount repairshop and they mickey mouse it using aftermarket and salvaged parts. Car gets back on the road but there will be no mention of the accident on Carfax because the shop had no contract with Carfax.
Now consider a case where I get in a minor accident, take it to an approved dealer shop and repair it with OEM parts. This time Carfax does report it as an accident because major repair shops usually have contract with Carfax to report.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by f80er

Carfax is bogus from firsthand experience. When I traded in my old F80 carfax said there was an odometer inconsistency and the dealership (my local BMW) was trying to hold me over the coals for it. I had to call and email Carfax and when I finally did get a hold of someone it turned out to be "a mistake on our part." They rectified it but still having to jump through those hoops because of no fault of my own was a pain in the ass.

So fuck them.

Agreed. They are awful. I couldn't even call anyone there. Everything was through email and they would take at least 7 days to respond. I just don't understand how it is ok that they do this. It was complete negligence on their part. There was no sign of frame damage and the shop that fixed it didn't report frame damage. It was minor cosmetic. This can seriously screw people royally and cost them thousands of dollars. A dealership most likely won't take a trade in that has structural damage reported. If they do you would probably be lucky to get $.50 on the dollar. You can't sell it private party unless the buyer is paying cash because banks won't give a loan for a car with structural damage. You're completely screwed.

[Bmock17]

Originally Posted by bimmer pleaser V2

yep. the problem with Carfax is:
I get in a major accident but I don't have full coverage so I take it to a discount repairshop and they mickey mouse it using aftermarket and salvaged parts. Car gets back on the road but there will be no mention of the accident on Carfax because the shop had no contract with Carfax.
Now consider a case where I get in a minor accident, take it to an approved dealer shop and repair it with OEM parts. This time Carfax does report it as an accident because major repair shops usually have contract with Carfax to report.

But the shop didn't report it as major damage. I have the original insurance estimate. It was $1700 in damage and nowhere on the estimate is there a line item for structural/frame repairs. It was Carfax who decided to report it as frame damage.