Car Fax HELP! How do you prevent a car fax report when it's just minor bumper damage?

There is no reason or law requiring anyone or any company or agency to report any damage to car cax. This is a private for profit company selling at best a very limited and often misleading document. They only get volantarily reported information. No law agency, Insurance company, or vehicle owner is required or obligated to give car fax any information what so ever.

car fax would lead you to believe they have all up dated and accurate information regarding all cars when in reality they do not. For expample of you have a fender bender, bumper scuff,or repairable damage, and you have your car repaired and your insurance pays for it, they do not as a rule make any report to car fax. Now that said, if the car was determined a total and sold for salvage, there usualy is a report made to the State where the vehilce is registered. Then the car is sold as a salvage vehicle, and at that point car fax may get around to listing it in their records.

As an automotive service center, We see cars frequently for buyer inspections with rather severe collision damage with obvious repairs that come back with a clean car fax report. Never rely on car fax when buying a used vehicle. Always get an up close and personal professional inspection. There is NO substitute for a hands on inspection.

Howard Musolf
1981 308gtsi
1982 400i Cabriolet
1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo
Maserati Spider
2 many brass era cars

 

You worry too much!

Bumper damage , repair and respray is a non-issue. It comes under the category of chip repair which in no way devalues the car.

Does Car Fax show your car was in an accident?

P.S. Car Fax is not the Bible and many will question the accuracy of their report. If you're trying to sell your car, an interested buyer will ask what the "accident" was!

 

There's no way to prevent the incident going on Carfax if a police report was filed.

Here's what you need to do: Keep EVERY piece of information. Take photos before and after the repair, documenting how minor the incident was. Fight misinformation, or lack of information, with information. This will help you when you sell the car.

 

phunny... the attitudes that are taken about the condition of cars when they have had their "cosmetics" adjusted or "wrinkles" pulled out... at one end nothing but a "virgin" will do while at the other extreme someone pulls out a few identifiable nasty looking odd parts from a junk pile and proceeds to "restore" 99% of the car that wasn't there, into an icon of worship. Exceptional work gets rewarded, crap goes to the toilet.

 

Do you own a Jeep by chance?

 

who's the q for ?

 

if it was just a bumper repaint, I would have never filed a police report knowing they show up on carfax and paid out of pocket. That $500 bumper repair and repaint is much cheaper than the devaluation due to the car fax report.

 

What's the VIN of your 360?

 

I never understood the carfax factor. I never let any carfax data stand in the way of me buying a good car.

 

I once saw a CarFax give the wrong colour of the car

 

Probably the best advice here.