What a night! I purchased my car about two months ago for what I thought was a really great price. When I was researching the car, I ran a CARFAX that showed no problems at all, one owner car, low mileage, which it was. No reports of frame damage or major problems. I was driving home tonight when I decided to stop in at the local CARMAX to see what was what and for sale this week, they were having their weekly auction. Anyway, one of the reps says to me, would I like to have my car appraised, I said sure, was just out killing time, looking for a new/used car for the wife. About 30 minutes later the rep and his appraiser come to greet me and say here is our offer......$9000! They had ran a check at autocheck.com that showed "frame damage". I said I don't think these cars have frames, they himmed and hawed and said it was in the vehicle report, but Carfax didn't show any damage. They said the entire right side of the car had been replaced by their investigation. That the paint was new. If it was repaired, I couldn't tell and my friend who went with me to look at the car couldn't tell, and he owns a autobody shop and teaches autobody at the local JC, for some 20 plus years. No overspray, door gaps, hood gaps, truck gaps are all lined up perfect. So I thanked them and said I didn't agree with their assesment. They said to think about it, yeah, OK.

So on the way home, I decided to call the original owner, who I do not know. This car was originally owned/used by a Chrysler exective as a comapny car. When I bought the car from the dealer, this guys business card was still in the glove box, as well as a speeding ticket! I explained who I was and why I was calling. Very nice guy, he was happy the car stayed locally here in LA. When I told him my story, he said no way, never had the car been in an accident, no work ever to the right side of the vehicle. He did say that he had to have the drivers door repainted because a neighborhood kid had fallen off his skateboard and fell into the drivers door, making a dent, which he had fixed, and had the paperwork to show for that. He felt bad that this "frame damage" claim was now in the "system" for all to see if I ever sell the car. He offered to get a notarized letter from him stating who he was and that the car was never in any sort of accident, only had the one incident with the drivers door, (that was repaired), but in no way had the right side of the car been repaired, as Carmax claims from their expert appraisal team. I'am on vacation next week and may take this guy to lunch and get this letter, just to have it. OK, I feel better now that I have vented! Thanks.

 

$9,000
wtf????

 

Yep....$9000 was their offer to buy my car, based on the fact the 'autocheck.com" shows "frame damage". I told them that they would probably sell the car for like 17-18K, they said, 'oh no, we'll just sell it right at the auction, we won't make any money. We can't put a car out on the lot with frame damage". I believe them about not putting a car on the lot with frame damage. I responed with I thought you were a businees, how do you make money buying/selling cars at auction if you don't make a profit. Aren't you in the business to make money. Their respone....."we're just trying to help you out" OK, thanks for the help!

 

They sound like lying sacks of **** to me, trying to steal your car and then sell it for a profit.

 

hmmm,

I think there is more than one issue at hand, being played here. I had a similar experience with my Cousin's Honda Element. I sold him the car brand new in the Fall of 2007. Last month he decided he wanted something a little more fun to drive. I'm out of the sales business, so I went with him to CarMax. Same kind of thing. Keep in mind, I've been in this Element at least once a week since it was new( and it basically still is with only 11,000 miles). This Element is one of those special edition Element SC with the big rims, carpeted interior, orange interior trim custom headlights etc. I guess it was supposed to compete with the Scions. It cost about $23,000 new. We all know that Hondas hold ALL their value compared to most cars. They offered him $14,500 for it. The Rough Condition book value on it was $16,000. They claimed that they found Hail Damage on it. We were dumbfounded. We asked the appraiser to show it to us and he could not. I think they were just trying to steal a Mint Honda for nothing. I know that this Honda has never had ANY repairs at all. Not even a mechanical warranty issue. Needless to say, we think they are about as shady as you can get.

The other issue is with CARFAX. Carfax isn't worth the paper it's printed on. People believe that a carfax tells you everything, but it really doesn't show you that much. It is pretty good for verifying the title history and mileage accuracy, but that's about it. For example, Carfax records dealers as registered owners. When at the dealership looking at a carfax, it will show the first owner(if a 1 owner car), but as soon as you register the vehicle it will show that second owner(the dealersip) just trnsfered titles and it shows how long they had the title, maybe a few days, maybe a few months. This makes it look like you the third owner, not the second. Carfax doesn't do jack for showing accident and repair history. Most of the time it will not pick up body repairs. Only if there is a Police Report written at the accident scene and the damage is over a certain amount does it ever show up. I can tell you from being in the car business for years, that I saw cars all the time that had clean carfaxs, but had OBVIOUS evidence of significant repairs. Poorly matched paint, bad metal work, evidence of flooding, mismatched panels, unrepaired damage etc. I saw it all and it often didnt' show up on the carfax at all. So basically, Carfax is about 50/50 at best.

I'm VERY surprised about AutoCheck showing it has been in an accident. AutoCheck is run by Experian, which is the largest Credit Reporting Agency in the Country. AutoCheck is what I would consider 99% accurate. Something, somewhere, there is a glitch in the system. My guess is that the damage report was submitted with the incorrect VIN or something. Experian AutoCheck is the industry standard and what Geico, Progressive, Allstate and many reputable dealers use instead carfax. I don't know what to say about this. Did they show you the AutoCheck Report? If not, I would be suspect that they were playing off the fact that you are not the original owner, and gambled that you would fall for that "history". If it did actually show up as damaged and they showed it to you, make sure they didn't put the wrong VIN into the system. If it is correct, I would get that Notarized letter and contact AutoCheck and see if they can correct their records.

 

SCAM!!!!!!!!!, father always told me while growing up, Believe NOTHING of what you read or hear or are told & only one half of what you see & you will get thru life just fine, Oh how true that is!!!!!!!!

 

maybe both of you should call the problem solvers at your local TV station and have them investgate car max,
you know they addervise they will not sell a car that has been in a wreck, so if maybe they are scamming people (other than selling them cars)) maybe all of America should know.

 

This is very ture. We had owned a 1992 Cor0lla that was in an accident at around 2k miles and was totaled. We purchased it back from the insurance company and fixed it up to drove it for another 120k miles. We then proceed to sell the car and priced it accordingly with its totaled history and condition. The buyer did run a carfax and it came back clean! No record sof being totaled or any accidents. We did inform the buyer of this and the buyer and us agreed on the price fit for its history. Both the buyer and myself were very surprised that Carfax came back clean for it.

From that moment on I never trust carfax again..

 

Wow! Just for giggles i just ran an autocheck on my 05 and low and behold... Frame damage reported!! What is goin on?!! has anyone else out there run into this issue? This really freaks me out, how does one find out for sure if frame was damaged?

 

So, i did a little research on this. My autocheck stated frame damage reported by auction. I found folks on google that had the same thing happen to them, and the general statement was that banks or leasing companys report frame damage to avoid buy backs. after all, how does some banker in a suit qualify to determine frame damage? anyway, im not sure what any of this means but, its food for thought.