"Show Me the Carfax" -- Unless It's Too Soon

There's an interesting commercial making the rounds of various cable and television networks right now. The commercial goes something like this:

There's your prototypical used-car salesman trying to sell his wares to a wily youngish buyer who says simply: "Show me the Carfax!"

The salesman continues his spiel trying to get around facts that he may not want out in the open until the names are on the dotted line, but our wily consumer says, "Show me the Carfax!" And the beleaguered salesperson finally gives in.

Carfax is probably one of the best tools that have been rolled out during the last 10 years for both preowned vehicle salespeople and customers. With Carfax, all you need is the Vehicle Identification Number and it spews back what it knows from the sites it interfaces with.

That's why dealers are always so helpful when it comes to ensuring that Carfares of "clean" vehicles are right out there when you first appear at the dealership and they always want to make sure that the Carfax of any vehicle that they have for sale is also clean.

So far, so good, now comes the part you don't know about Carfax, this having been gleaned from spending six years on the inside of the car sales business by the author (normally I don't mention myself in a story, but, this information was confirmed by direct observation): Any car can appear clean until an accident is reported. Once that accident is reported whether it's to your Department of Motor Vehicles or police department or insurance company, then it becomes a vehicle of a different color.

The cry "Show Me the Carfax," may better be - for some dealers - "Stow that there Carfax" because the simple matter of truth is that it takes time for information about a vehicle to propagate throughout the industry and that a car that was involved in a frame-bending accident a week or two ago may not be reported as a questionable vehicle in Carfax.

Indeed, there have been cases where people Carfares have been pulled at some dealerships very soon after people reported their cars were involved in accidents and those Carfaxes were clean. So, in reality, if a problem turns up everyone is in the clear. Carfax did not have the information yet, so it could not be faulted; the dealer, relying on the Carfax, did not have the information yet, so it could not be faulted, so who is left holding the proverbial spare: the buyer.

Fortunately, there are states with Lemon Laws, such as MA where cars with less than 60,000 miles on them are required to be warranted by the dealer for three months or 3,600 miles; 60,000 to 90,000, the warranty is two months, or 2,500 miles, and between 90,000 and 129,000 miles, the warranty is one month or 1,250 miles, whichever comes first.

Interestingly, there are various levels of Carfaxes available, something that your dealer may not tell you about. If possible get the fullest Carfax possible because it will not contain all of the data that you can glean from a full Carfax, which usually runs about 13 pages or more on an inkjet printer.

Carfax computers have access not only to dealer warranty program computers, but also dealer service computers so that on a full Carfax you can find not only warranty usage information, but also service information to the level of when the vehicle last had its safety inspection.

It's the period between all of the reporting that you should be aware of and that can sometimes take up to a month or two depending on the owner, the police or department of motor vehicles and the insurer.

So, while a vehicle may have a "clean" Carfax, it may actually be hiding data that you should know about such as a frame-bending accident or an accident in which the airbags were deployed and were later fixed (some cars are so expensive today that it makes sense to repair and replace the airbag than to total it).

How can the consumer tell the real condition of a car? Here are a few tips: 1. take a close look at the paint - if it appears at all wavy or as if it has sand or dust in it, it may mean it was painted in a dusty environment and the result is that this is a vehicle to pass buy; 2. run your hand along the doorjamb or door itself and look closely - there are times where overspray from a paint shop can create a bumpy feel or you can tell because there's a speckled pattern (be sure to along the line of the hood, where it meets the windshield, as well as along the hoot itself and don't forget the fenders. You can easily feel overspray.

Also, major car pieces are supposed to carry either an embossed copy of the VIN or there should be a label with the car's VIN that's on a scannable computer label. Each major body component should carry this label and this indicates that the panel is original.

Here's another good tip and that's to take a close look at how the fenders and hood line up. If there seems to be a misalignment, then it might be wise to pass on the car.

These are just a few of the items to be aware of.

To its credit Carfax eventually gets a fairly complete record of the vehicle you are asking about, but only if it has time to do so. If it falls under Carfax's time radar, then saying, "Show Me the Carfax, " may not have any special meaning.

Sources: professional experience in used car business