I'm disturbed about the way CARFAX affects the resale value of
cars that have been in accidents.
My understanding (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) is that
many users of CARFAX filter out reports for vehicles that have
been in any accident at all, no matter how minor. There is no
opportunity for the seller (or the body shop) to explain exactly
what happened -- any accident report is a black mark which most
buyers simply do not want to be bothered to understand.
Is there any available remedy here? If I had included in my
insurance claim an additional amount compensating me for the
likely reduced resale value of my car after the other guy
rear-ended me, would the other guy's insurer take me seriously? I
assume I wouldn't have had any recourse against CARFAX, which is
free to say anything they want about my car as long as it can be
backed up with facts, and which has no real control over how
careful (or cursory) an examination users of their service give
their reports.
Rich Wales <richw@richw.org> wrote:
I'm disturbed about the way CARFAX affects the resale value of
cars that have been in accidents.
My understanding (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) is that
many users of CARFAX filter out reports for vehicles that have
been in any accident at all, no matter how minor. There is no
opportunity for the seller (or the body shop) to explain exactly
what happened -- any accident report is a black mark which most
buyers simply do not want to be bothered to understand.
Is there any available remedy here? If I had included in my
insurance claim an additional amount compensating me for the
likely reduced resale value of my car after the other guy
rear-ended me, would the other guy's insurer take me seriously? I
assume I wouldn't have had any recourse against CARFAX, which is
free to say anything they want about my car as long as it can be
backed up with facts, and which has no real control over how
careful (or cursory) an examination users of their service give
their reports.
I suppose you could take Carfax to small claims court and sue them
for negligently misrepresenting the value or condition of your car.
You might also try your car insurance company (you'd probably have to
sue them too for this) because they really didn't properly compensate
you for the loss due to your accident. But I can't think of anything
else.
I don't see how it makes sense to sue Carfax since all they do is
report on the car's accident history. They don't set the value..
It's really up to individual buyers to decide if they want to use
Carfax to determine whether a car has had an accident, and each
buyer has a perfect right to do that. I don't see any basis for a
legal action here - it's just bad luck on your part that the car
you want to sell was once in an accident. This is frankly why
many buyers will get rid of a car as soon as it's been in an
accident, even if it has been repaired thoroughly to the same
condition as before the accident.
I don't see how it makes sense to sue Carfax since all they do is
report on the car's accident history. ...
If that's all they do, then I agree with you. I'm not familiar with
Carfax, but it sounded from what someone said, that they don't give
the complete story. ...
It appears that Stuart O. Bronstein <spam...@lexregia.com> said:
I don't see how it makes sense to sue Carfax since all they do isIf that's all they do, then I agree with you. I'm not familiar with
report on the car's accident history. ...
Carfax, but it sounded from what someone said, that they don't give
the complete story. ...
They tell you what they know, from registration and insurance info.
They know there was an accident report, they know if it was bad
enough that the car was totalled and now has a salvage title.
I agree that "people would pay more for my car if they didn't know it
was in an accident" does not seem like a winning argument.
On Sunday, January 9, 2022 at 2:55:11 PM UTC-5, John Levine wrote:
It appears that Stuart O. Bronstein <spam...@lexregia.com> said:
I don't see how it makes sense to sue Carfax since all they do isIf that's all they do, then I agree with you. I'm not familiar with
report on the car's accident history. ...
Carfax, but it sounded from what someone said, that they don't give
the complete story. ...
They tell you what they know, from registration and insurance info.
They know there was an accident report, they know if it was bad
enough that the car was totalled and now has a salvage title.
I agree that "people would pay more for my car if they didn't know it
was in an accident" does not seem like a winning argument.
Is the accident history from insurance claims?
Would a dealer report repairs to anyone?
I had a very minor accident not too long ago and I'm wondering if my car will
show up as being in an "accident" when the damage is repaired if not reported to the insurance company?
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