Lezlie Simmons still has the Carfax report for the used car she bought last year. The Toyota Camry had a clean record. Under accidents it stated, "No issues reported."
But a week after Lezlie bought the car, she started having problems then learned it had been in a wreck.
Lezlie says, "The car had a suspension problem. It was making noises. The front axel had to be replaced."
The repairs cost four thousand dollars and she says the car still needs work.
A Consumer Reports' investigation finds what Lezlie found. You can't count on a car history report to tell if a car has been in an accident. Anthony Giorgianni found dozens of wrecked vehicles advertised online. Most of them later came up with clean records.
Giorgianni says, "Here is a 2007 Acura MDX. This vehicle has been dramatically damaged. Yet when we check on the Carfax report, it comes back as having no accident or damage."
None of the other car history reports Consumer Reports checked revealed the accident either.
Giorgianni adds, "The Autocheck report says 'this vehicle checks out.' and then it gives the vehicle a score of 89 out of 100."
Despite these findings, Consumer Reports says checking car history reports is still worth it for what they can tell you. And check several because one can miss what another picks up.
Besides Carfax and Autocheck consult the free or inexpensive services... Vincheck and the National Motor Vehicle Title Information Systems.
But no matter what the reports say, Consumer Reports says nothing replaces having a used car inspected by an independent mechanic and checking it out thoroughly yourself.
Consumer Reports says one reason the services miss accident is that they depend on the accident being reported to an insurance company. That doesn't always happen.
In light of this investigation... Carfax is looking at online advertisements for wrecked vehicles... To see if it's possible to include this information in its reports.