rominl

iTrader: (4)

nop, definitely not in my case

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Well, if there's a police report would be another reason, or maybe bodyshops actually report on them?

Otherwise, how would Carfax know? Unless they trawl your credit card data to see you paid a bodyshop with one!

no2faber

No. I believe the way carfax reports accidents is on a state-to-state basis. Of couse, a police report who have had to been filed, but that doesn't automatically mean that it shows up on the car fax.

I don't think carfax has access to the police report databases of all 50 states. It's a really bizarre situation, but I guess that's what happens with a decentralized police records system. I know here in Jersey, dealers are required by state law to post the carfax of all used vehicles. Ironically, I don't think the state gov. made the police reports database accessible to Carfax. I guess that would be called a catch 22.

Well, that's carfax's accident reports to the best of my knowledge. I could be wrong.

typeshblue

if the dealer knows the car have been accident they must let the consumer know, i work for a dealership, if they knew about it i think you can cancel the contract if not call the BBB and complain

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

But you didn't say how carfax gets their info.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i reported it to dmv, it's on that record. and same with at least 2 of my friends, bodily damaged and amount reported to dmv. they never showed up on carfax

that says a lot

Samanator

From what I have seen a Car Fax report only shows if the owner made a claim. If it is fixed as a claim against another drivers insurance because they have been determined to be at fault (Even on no fault states) then it does not show. We ran one on two cars that I know were hit and nothing was recorded in the Car Fax report. Not worth the money you spend for it.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

maybe that's why they didn't show on the report.

if that's the case, it's pretty stupid, and proves how inaccurate the report could be

tfischer

Generally, in a contract situation like this, unless there is a specific statute which puts a burden of disclosure on the seller (common in many states with respect to real estate), the seller does not have to disclose anything. However, a seller cannot misrepresent anything, and remaining silent about a known defect is not misrepresentation (which is why statutes were passed for some situations).

Thus, in an car purchase situation, you don't have a claim simply because the dealer did not disclose a prior accident or body work UNLESS you specifically asked about it and the dealer lied to you -- in which case you would have to establish (1) that the conversation took place and (2) the dealer knew that what he was saying was not accurate. This is pretty hard to do.

As for the CarFax, there are a lot of disclaimers in their product to protect them from claims arising from something that happened to the car that is not available to them; such as a wreck that was never reported, etc, and they are pretty well covered there.

As a buyer, you have an obligation to inspect prior to purchase, but in some instances, you have a reasonable time after the purchase to inspect for conformity and the right to revoke your acceptance if the goods are non-conforming, but in this case, with a used car, the non-conforming issue gets back to the actual disclosures.

There may be some state statute that gives you more protection, and that would be your only way around the "fraudulent statement" problem that you have.