Don't rely on Carfax

1320goat

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A couple years ago, I was in need of an extra truck for pulling trailers for our farm. I found and purchased the 2013 F350 Platinum from a small, diesel specific dealership in Ohio. Not only did it have a clean Carfax, it showed absolutely no signs of being in an accident. I paid in full for the truck and received a clean title for the truck.

Fast forward to today. With the used vehicle market soaring, and this being an extra vehicle, I decided to put it up for sale. Someone asked for the VIN, they ran their own report.. Carfax comes back with structural damage. I didn't believe it so I ran my own report. Sure enough..

So. On 8/20/20, 1 year after I purchased the truck, Carfax retroactively added structural damage all the back to 9/2015!! 5 years have gone by and this just slips through the cracks until now!? I have my doubts that this is legit, but this is terrible business practice.
 

1320goat

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Here is what they added 5 years after the fact.
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7998

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Man that sucks. Are you sure it's your truck? Someone could've reported it with the wrong vin.
 

SID297

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Carfax is a guide, but certainly not gospel. I've had your same situation happen in my family. I've also seen the reverse, where a wrecked/totaled vehicle has a clean Carfax. Remember, if the damage was not turned in on insurance or reported to a dealer it's not going to show up on Carfax.
 
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1320goat

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Man that sucks. Are you sure it's your truck? Someone could've reported it with the wrong vin.
I sent all of this info to someone at Carfax as well. It is definitely my Vin on the report, but somebody could have filed a single digit incorrectly. Regardless, their system is flawed. They should not be going back 5 years and adding substantial data to the reports. Consumers rely heavily on these reports at the time of vehicle purchase, but now I see it's worth nothing.
 

1320goat

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Carfax is a guide, but certainly not gospel. I've had your same situation happen in my family. I've also seen the reverse, where a wrecked/totaled vehicle has a clean Carfax. Remember, if the damage was turned in on insurance or reported to a dealer it's not going to show up on Carfax.
True, and I understand that completely. And I also understand slight delays in the reporting of incidents. But 5 years?
 

Lambeau

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Carfax is a guide, but certainly not gospel. I've had your same situation happen in my family. I've also seen the reverse, where a wrecked/totaled vehicle has a clean Carfax. Remember, if the damage was turned in on insurance or reported to a dealer it's not going to show up on Carfax.

Don't you mean, "if the damage was not turned in on insurance or reported to a dealer it's not going to show up on Carfax"?
 

13COBRA

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Does your truck have an aftermarket B&W hitch or anything? Lift kit?
 

13COBRA

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Yes. But unless I went back in time to 2015, I don't see how that is relevant. It says in 9/2015 the damage occurred, but was reported in 8/2020

What's the VIN?

It very well could have been mis-dated. Facts are, if you have a B&W Hitch in it, and/or have lifted it, it would 100% qualify for 'structural damage' at an auction today. I don't see where the gripe is. Whether it was shown as being done 5 years ago, or 1 year ago, it's all the same.
 

1320goat

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What's the VIN?

It very well could have been mis-dated. Facts are, if you have a B&W Hitch in it, and/or have lifted it, it would 100% qualify for 'structural damage' at an auction today. I don't see where the gripe is. Whether it was shown as being done 5 years ago, or 1 year ago, it's all the same.
The suspension components that I have on the truck were only on during my ownership. No one has "visually inspected" damage or took note of suspension modifications during my ownership. The garage it goes to for inspection is a friend of mine.

Is it possible that the auto auction took note of a regular hitch as "structural damage"? If so, why did it 5 years to show up?
 

13COBRA

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The suspension components that I have on the truck were only on during my ownership. No one has "visually inspected" damage or took note of suspension modifications during my ownership. The garage it goes to for inspection is a friend of mine.

Is it possible that the auto auction took note of a regular hitch as "structural damage"? If so, why did it 5 years to show up?

0 chance that the auction said a normal trailer hitch was structural damage. What's the VIN? Would love to look into it more for you.
 

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