anybody have a copy of their carfax?

[akhoundog]

i just bought 5 of these and tested one on my car. kinda cool!

[Pvt-Public]

But is it accurate? I did a carfax on 2 of my cars that I have had since new. 1 was reported as having been stolen and wrecked. I know for a fact it has not. The date of the alleged incident was 3 years after I took delivery of the car. Also if a car was in an accident and not reported to an insurance company it most likely will not show on a carfax report. No one is required to report anything to carfax.

[akhoundog]

true.

the only fact i know is the first owner was from PA and i am the second owner.

[fenixus]

Yeah hehe, but last time when buying car I took Autocheck (Experian) 60-day Unlimited and checked all cars I could (owned plus potential plus friends) LOL ... like 30 total ...

save a local copy of tht Carfax report on your HDD and the email link they send expires.
Autocheck reports are better because you still have access to those you ordered even after account access expired.

and agreed with above, if car had accident and no cops were called nor insurance notified, then it will NOT show up on report obviously ... why would it? e.g. you can take a hammer and smash wreck your car now and then fix it yourself without telling authorities or insurance company and then sell it as "no accident" to anybody

[ajkalian]

Having the information on a Car Fax report can be useful, but that information one day will come at a price. For now the information is just that, information. But the way the EPA and the Nanny state is going, it might one day become a mandatory check of whether or not you did, or didn't do whatever the EPA bureaucrats decided that you had to do to your car. If the maintenance wasn't done, when it was supposed to be done, no tags for you. Maybe even a fine.

Right now, the CARB (Calif Air Resources Board) is working on OBD III that will transmit the information directly to the EPA from your car. Throw a code, and CARB will know about it. It's just around the corner.


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[fenixus]

stop drinking

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by fenixus

stop drinking

You might want to check this out...

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/smogche...bd_only_im.pdf

It's a long document, but the interesting part begins on page 13 of the document and page 19 in Adobe.

OBD III (Remote OBD Based Inspection)
Examination of a vehicle’s OBD II system (MIL status, stored fault codes, and readiness)does not necessarily require a physical inspection of the vehicle. Various transmitter technologies (radio-frequency, cellular, or wi-fi) can be installed on vehicles and used to receive OBD information transmissions from vehicles through a network of receivers. When so equipped, vehicles could undergo an OBD based inspection without going to an inspection station at all. Information identifying the vehicle can be programmed into the vehicle’s transmitter, or it can be read from the vehicle’s on-board computer for newer model year applications. Vehicle owners can be made aware of the vehicle’s inspection status at the time of registration renewal based on the most recent OBD II data gathered remotely from the vehicle. The concept of remotely receiving OBD information from vehicles is often referred to as OBD III.

OBD III strategies offer possibly the most cost effective options for OBD-based motor vehicle emission inspections. Although an up front cost of approximately $50 per vehicle would be required to fit vehicles with OBD II information transmitters, the time and cost savings of not having to bring the vehicles in for an inspection would, over the course of a couple inspection cycles, outweigh the initial costs. In fact, over a vehicle’s lifetime, it has been estimated that OBD III technology could reduce Smog Check testing costs by about 75% compared to station-based OBD inspection programs


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[fenixus]

Originally Posted by ajkalian

You might want to check this out...

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/smogche...bd_only_im.pdf

It's a long document, but the interesting part begins on page 13 of the document and page 19 in Adobe.

OBD III (Remote OBD Based Inspection)
Examination of a vehicle’s OBD II system (MIL status, stored fault codes, and readiness)does not necessarily require a physical inspection of the vehicle. Various transmitter technologies (radio-frequency, cellular, or wi-fi) can be installed on vehicles and used to receive OBD information transmissions from vehicles through a network of receivers. When so equipped, vehicles could undergo an OBD based inspection without going to
an inspection station at all. Information identifying the vehicle can be programmed into the vehicle’s transmitter, or it can be read from the vehicle’s on-board computer for newer model year applications. Vehicle owners can be made aware of the vehicle’s inspection status at the time of registration renewal based on the most recent OBD II data gathered remotely from the vehicle. The concept of remotely receiving OBD information from vehicles is often referred to as OBD III.

OBD III strategies offer possibly the most cost effective options for OBD-based motor vehicle emission inspections. Although an up front cost of approximately $50 per vehicle would be required to fit vehicles with OBD II information transmitters, the time and cost savings of not having to bring the vehicles in for an inspection would, over the course of 14 a couple inspection cycles, outweigh the initial costs. In fact, over a vehicle’s lifetime, it has been estimated that OBD III technology could reduce Smog Check testing costs by about 75% compared to station-based OBD inspection programs


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actually I think it's a cool idea (you have to forgive me, I like all kinds of gizmos hehe)

I doubt they would fail your car instantly once code appears and you pass the freeway gate with a reader. instead, look at the bright side, when the inspection date comes you pass that reader gate somewhere and considered your car's ECU is tip top you pass inspection automatically without taking a day off and wasting your time in lines

however I hate possible implications you mentioned ... kinda dark side which *may* happen if things go wrong, e.g. you start paying fines for driving a car with faulty EGR or EVAP, etc.
another problem is geolocation of car, because since your "signed" transmitter would pass certain readers (e.g. at highway toll booth) while driving then authorities would have access to your recently visited places, dates, times, camera shots, who knows what else ... kinds of privacy invading stuff that I hate too.

me hates the idea of living in a f**kin' Big Brother show as well

anyways, always look at the bright side of life

[mr1114]

I know its not 100% accurate, but I always check Carfax first when purchasing a used vehicle.

[molson.david]

Carfax is a joke:
Statically about 30% of accidents never show on it and it takes up to a 6 and more month for them to get and process this info even if they get it.
I used to sell used cars and every other badly wracked and fixed car someone was trading in had clear Carfax.
And one more personal story.
I bought car with 33K miles in RI when I lived there.5 years later I moved to TX and sent my plated to RI DMV to turn them in and remove my car from records. By that time mileage was around 75K.
2 years later, when I decided to get another car, through Carfax new buyer of my car found out that car has mileage rolled back problem, because after receiving data from DMV about new title and mileage and than from inspection places, 7 years later, when I turned my RI title in they used same odometer reading as on registration date. So I bought car with, let say33259, than in7 years it grow up to 75K and then dropped to 33789 again. Because they were too lazy to get data from TX DMV, they just used last title reading and added couple 100’s miles on top!
Of course customer left “not happy”…
By law, my boss ( I trade it at where I worked) should’ve report my car and me to DMV.
But because he’ve seen same BS every other day, they sold it to someone’s relative as is dirt cheap as TMU-true mileage unknown.
I’m sorry for people when they paying for Carfax.
Take it to mechanic and pay him $40, he’ll tell you way more and accurate then CArfax.

[esvipron]

Originally Posted by fenixus

actually I think it's a cool idea (you have to forgive me, I like all kinds of gizmos hehe)

I doubt they would fail your car instantly once code appears and you pass the freeway gate with a reader. instead, look at the bright side, when the inspection date comes you pass that reader gate somewhere and considered your car's ECU is tip top you pass inspection automatically without taking a day off and wasting your time in lines

however I hate possible implications you mentioned ... kinda dark side which *may* happen if things go wrong, e.g. you start paying fines for driving a car with faulty EGR or EVAP, etc.
another problem is geolocation of car, because since your "signed" transmitter would pass certain readers (e.g. at highway toll booth) while driving then authorities would have access to your recently visited places, dates, times, camera shots, who knows what else ... kinds of privacy invading stuff that I hate too.

me hates the idea of living in a f**kin' Big Brother show as well

anyways, always look at the bright side of life

I do not like the idea at all, Big Brother is becoming Giant Brother, and you are going to lament it at some point dearly. It is an ominous way of operation, the way things are turning out. It is said also that by 2014 they are trying to pass a law I think, saying that you had to have only the specific cars they will allow you to have according with their new orientations related with fuel standards and blah, blah...however I still think that yoke will be hard to impose, because then you'll have your antique car staying in your garage for ever, among other serious things related with freedoms.

[Mister_Perkins]

I can't wait for OBDIII I'm excited I get to go back to school and learn about it then . hehe

[akhoundog]

Originally Posted by molson.david

Carfax is a joke:
Statically about 30% of accidents never show on it and it takes up to a 6 and more month for them to get and process this info even if they get it.
I used to sell used cars and every other badly wracked and fixed car someone was trading in had clear Carfax.
And one more personal story.
I bought car with 33K miles in RI when I lived there.5 years later I moved to TX and sent my plated to RI DMV to turn them in and remove my car from records. By that time mileage was around 75K.
2 years later, when I decided to get another car, through Carfax new buyer of my car found out that car has mileage rolled back problem, because after receiving data from DMV about new title and mileage and than from inspection places, 7 years later, when I turned my RI title in they used same odometer reading as on registration date. So I bought car with, let say33259, than in7 years it grow up to 75K and then dropped to 33789 again. Because they were too lazy to get data from TX DMV, they just used last title reading and added couple 100’s miles on top!
Of course customer left “not happy”…
By law, my boss ( I trade it at where I worked) should’ve report my car and me to DMV.
But because he’ve seen same BS every other day, they sold it to someone’s relative as is dirt cheap as TMU-true mileage unknown.
I’m sorry for people when they paying for Carfax.
Take it to mechanic and pay him $40, he’ll tell you way more and accurate then CArfax.

i agree that carfax (or other similar companies) should be taken with a grain of salt and that they can be manipulated easily but i disagree with discounting them all together. it's a purchasing tool... maybe not the best tool but it can still lead up to you not buying a car. because it's a less accurate tool just means it's less effective and should be put lower on the priority list. even after a clean history report I would still physically inspect the car and the owners closely.

[#2!]

Originally Posted by molson.david

Carfax is a joke:

Ya!
I was in a bind and needed a 2nd vehicle in a hurry. I came across a dealer with a 99 4runner in perfect condition but it was late in the day and couldn't really see everything. The carfax came up clean with nothing but 2 title changes and yearly renewals. So I jumped on it. A month later I first noticed the 4runner emblem on the tail gate is on the wrong side. I popped off the panel and looks like the entire tail gate was replaced. Which explains why the back window is all scratched up and the defrost terminals are broke off. And why the rear washer fluid jet keeps popping off. And why the rear side bumper piece has chrome pealing off and is rusting and yet everything else is perfect. I would have asked $1500 off the price if I had known it was wrecked.