chasingthecool

took my car to the mechanic to get back bumper fixed. found out that the car has been in a accident even though the carfax is clean. it was a 2008 tl purchased in august.

BG74

Carfax is completely useless. My wife's car was in a $9K accident that Geico paid for, and the Carfax was 100% clean when we traded it in. It was crunched in front and rear, and only had 600 miles on it when the accident happened.

josiel

hmmm now you have me thinking i just got my 06 tl with 100k on it carfax report says its only had 2 owners and i got it for 12k cash what do you guys think

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to hear that man. Hopefully the accident didn't extend down into the frame of the car.

dave_ramkumar

iTrader: (5)

good to know,i always trusted carfax , guess not anymore

Chessie724

Carfax relies on the service providers, e.g. dealers, garages, etc. reporting the work done on the car. Plain and simple, not every place does. But Carfax is a tool that can be useful as it generally, but not exactly gives the service history of the car. There is always the possibility that something was done that wasn't recorded.

jwr0ng626

iTrader: (1)

sucks to hear, =\ sorry dude,

check for vin numbers all around the car! easy way to tell if somethings been replaced

winkyyy

A possible way to check if the car as been in an accident is check if the bumper doors etc have matching VIN numbers. When you get your bumper replace or something it shouldnt have a VIN number on it.

samjcg

where do you find the vin number for bumpers and doors? i never notice that.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Same thing happened to me. My front bumper needed to be replaced and I found out that both the front and rear bumpers had been replaced before even though CarFax was clean. Bunch of horse shit.

josiel

good idea with the matching vin numbers just went outside and my doors hood and trunk match couldnt find the one on the bumpers but will look at it tomorrow

crazybrew609

the owners count and the mileage count and the inspection count is ALWAYS right. the accidents are easy to cover up, no police report accidents are the easiest to slip under the rug

07tl-s6spd

iTrader: (1)

the door ones are like where the child locks would be and you cant miss the rear bumper one ..when you open the trunk its right there on the bottom

Souljah

Common sense that if insurance was not involved, it won't show you anything.

samjcg

where is vin number in the front bumper. is there anything? also is there one on the engine itself? would love to know places that has vin numbers.

BG74

I think it's right on top of the bumper when you open the hood - by the latch.

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

You can't always rely on a Vehicle Report. CarFax does have a "Buy Back" guarantee if anything suffices (no experience with that).

That is why it is ALWAYS recommended to bring the vehicle you are looking at to a trusted mechanic.

Jackass

My '05 had a clean carfax as well, but I can tell both bumpers have at least been re-sprayed if not replaced. Didn't really care. I got under the car prior to buying it and looked and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Cars get bumped. Cars get fixed. If it is fixed correctly, it is not a big deal. My previous car was involved in 2 major'ish accidents (once rear ended and once ran into a telephone pole) and you would never have known if you looked at it. Carfax showed it had been sideswiped once even though that was just a mirror that a passing drunk had knocked off. All a matter of how well the previous body shop put the car back together.

mikee_boy

i've had my '05 TL for about a year and a half now. carfax didn't show anything about being in an accident. i just recently switched over to a new car insurance carrier 2 months ago when i later found out it's been in an accident. ugh..

Dave_W

The problem with Carfax is that it's a reference tool at best. But people swear by it. Vin stickers not matching or not being on a panel means nothing in terms of the structural integrity of a vehicle. People sometimes change out parts. I've seen a few TLs on her with CF hoods. What if the owner sells the stock hood after they buy the CF hood. Then 2 years later they decide to sell the car, but want a stock hood. Now they have to buy one. Of course, the Vin stckers won't match. Doesnt mean the vehicle was in an accident. I worked at an Acura dealership for 2 years, so I met the bumper guy while I worked there. He would visit us twice a week and make all the bumpers look pretty again. I've seen him fill in holes in bumpers, and cracks. There is a lot of that kind of work out there. More than you would expect. Doesn't mean the car is junk or was in a bad accident. Just means the buyer needs to go over the car with a fine tooth comb, and don't trust anybody you don't know.

VQPower37

sux to find out that a car u thought was pristine has been in an accident ... but as long as it has been fixed to ur standards, it shouldnt be a problem

Comptechtl2367

I have been saying this for YEARS! Everyone trusts CarFax like its God! Its only reported if its done by a proper shop and not by some back yard hack, insurance only reports about 30% of all accidents to CarFax, and mechanics send even less!
Look over the car yourself, its the best way to see if anything has ever been done!

nikoatx

^agreed, I have bought a few cars and ran into the same thing. I even sold one that I had crashed, with a police report and with insurance involved. Didn't show on the car fax 6-8 months later when I sold it, so I am sure there is also an extended turn around time.

Mug

Just pull a TSA on the car before you buy (open palm pat down).

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

could be worse i suppose. i have a friend who's mazda6 was hit by a deer (meaning the deer hit them) at like 10mph. front end a complete mess. the deer lived to prance off with her friends. they take it to the bodyshop only to find out that the frame is bent from a previous accident from the previous owners that never showed on the clean carfax report. and previous owners did nothing to fix it and didnt' mention anything to my friend. now he's stuck paying for fixing the frame and then coughing up his money for the deductible for the body work from the deer.


so to the OP...hopefully there is nothing MAJOR wrong with the car structurally.

RonJonTL757

Can vouch. 2 accidents on my TL and both reported to Insurance and my car fax is 100% clean!!!!

CARFOX FTL

ionojimbo

same thing here, i took off my bumper to work on my headlights and bam! there signs of a dent on my bumper support

VQPower37

dont they have to fix the bumper support after an accident?

mani

Wait doesnt CARFAX have that WE WILL BUY YOU CART BACK warranty ?

3gstealth

iTrader: (2)

I know how you feel man. The same thing happened to me when I bought a used car back in 2004. It had a clean carfax but the longer I owned the car, the more I kept noticing signs that it was in at least one significant accident. Carfax is completely useless! I believe that they have been sued several times since their advertisement of their product is so misleading.

myron

iTrader: (4)

you just got to find the honest sellers. I never used carfax though. When I got my car, seller showed me pics of the damage and receipts of the fix. It was just the back bumper so I got the car.

ScorpioNAtl

You really just have to do your own homework (guess I'm Agent Moulder, LOL). Carmax fed me a line with an '06 Nissan Titan where the rear end was hit and Carmax was clean. I should've known from the orange peel but live 'n learn. Try to look at it in the perspective I did. Unless it's hindering the safety of the car and may just be cosmetic, what you didn't know won't hurt you if you plan to keep the car. I happened to find a bud that wanted a used Titan, so I got an escape luckily (hence, the TL purchase and gas was $4/gal here at the time in metro Atlanta.

chasingthecool

i purchased the car at a toyota dealership.

ionojimbo

its not serious dents or anything but its still a dent i guess

Eric Perry

Same thing here, involving my TL I just bought maybe 3 months ago.

ronhensley

The Carfax buyback guarentee states that if the car has a branded title like salvage, rebuilt, flood, fire, hail, lemon BRANDED title they will buy it back. And only if you find it within one year of the date the Carfax was pulled. So the buyback guarentee doesn't really help.

Biggi_e

iTrader: (1)

yea i was on the same boat as you. i was installing my aem v2 intake, took the bumper off and noticed my car had been in an accident before. carfax title was clean and dealer said it was clean. its bullshit but what can ya do?

cjj2d

exact same thing here. Clean carfax.... found a crack in my bumper a month or two after buying. went to see about getting it fixed or replaced and the guy was like "this bumper has been fixed once before and quite a poor job actually, that is why it has cracked again."

really sucks! but cant afford new bumper right now. its not that big or very noticable but drives me crazy.

OntheJob

car fax is only for REPORTED accidents... if someone hits your car and you trade information and do not report it to your insurance for whatever reason, (happens alot and I have done it before) where you just trade info since its not a bad accident hence a average (dent, scratch, or scrape) and have a private body shop fix your car by paying for it out of POCKET and not having your premiums go up for your insurance......carfax knows nothing, nor does insurance agencies, and best of all its NOT ILLEGAL... I thought everyone knew that?

pkarandi

No - that IS NOT what everyone is saying. Numerous posters have already mentioned that they had their cars fixed THROUGH INSURANCE and it still was not on carfax. I don't think most people expect Carfax to know about accidents that people get fixed on the sly (no police report, no insurance, etc.)

I will add to that with one more. My previous car (1994 Prelude) was in an accident. I did everything through my insurance company (no cops though), and when I sold the car 3 years later, Carfax was 100% clean. I was honest to the buyer and told him about the accident though. I didn't want that shit on my conscience!

To the OP, don't worry about it too much. These are the risks you take when buying a used car. Just get your original problems fixed and enjoy your car.