boceltics17

I bought an 86 convertible with only 38k on it last July from the original owner. The car is in the condition you would expect for a 38k car.

I took the car at its own merits and bought it without running a Carfax.

A friend of mine had bought 1 month use of Carfax and offered to run my vin. I found a report that in 2000 the car failed smog inspection and recorded the car had 122k on it. Two years later there was another entery of the car having 32k. There was on "official" roll back alert.

Does anyone have any suggestion for how to sort this out? Is there any other source for car history information?

The bottom line, the way the car runs and drives, I would be shocked if it had anywhere near 100k on it. Even if it did, I would still be pleased to have it, especially since I only paid $7200 for it.

Thanks for any and all help.

Chewch87

Try running the car again....did you type in the correct VIN?? Maybe there is a TYPO on CarFax's end. An 86 with 38k....boy it should really
look good, did you check the brake and gas pedals for wear....with 100+k miles they should show some wear...unless they were replaced.
Did you say there was or was not an official rollback alert? If not then the "122k " miles may have been a typo...maybe it was 22k.
If there was a rollback alert...then maybe there was an odometer problem...or it was purposely turned back.
As far as a smog or smoke alert...maybe the owner removed the Catalytic converter at one time causing it to fail smoke emission tests. or something stupid like that

Just a shot in the Dark.

Wayne88

What was the entry before the 122K. Maybe it was a typo at the 2000 inspection. Maybe it was 22K.

purplemajesty

Carfax should by no means be taken as gospel. Unfortunately many people don't know this. Just out of curiosity I ran a report on my car that I have owned since '94 and it came back saying if failed emmissions in '98, but my car as always passed with flying colors.

boceltics17

Here is the break down of what the report said.
2/12/1998 smog inspection 122,000 miles (This was the first entry)
11/08/1999 failed smog inspection 35,207 miles
2/18/2000 smog inspection no mileage reported
8/18/2000 smog inspection 35,247
1/22/2002 smog inspection 35,940
2/19/2004 smog inspection 37,794

I am not worried about the smog inspection failure. I would have failed the visional inspection because it had long tube headers installed in 96. The seller told me he found a shop that was willing to over look that.

Does anyone have any ideas on where else I can get vehicle history information?

PSO3120

Here in TN, they don't hire the brightest bulbs on the string at the inspection station. My mother is in her 70's and does not drive anymore but refuses to sell her car, (can't say I blame her as that would be admitting that she will never drive again). Anyway, she has a '98 Lincoln with 9,000 mi. on the clock. The last time I took it to the inspection center for her, they gave me the report and it had 90,000 mi on the printout. I pointed this out to the moron and he refused to go into the computer and change it. His supervisor came along and corrected it after much bitching on my part and couldn't understand what the big deal was. I tried to explain the "Carfax" thing to him but it went right over his head. If it is an older car, they expect more miles and often screw it up at the inspection station

White Six Speed

Carfax is not as good as everyone thinks it is. I purchased my 1993 with 36000 miles on it. The Carfax says it is not actual mileage. This started from when the person I bought it from bought it in 2001 with 27500 miles. The wrong block was checked not actual miles and then the title was held by the finance company untill it was paid off just before I bought. This guy wasn't even aware of it. The car is 100% in the condition of a 36000 mile car, and also he had the maintance records from when it was purchased new to verify the miles (That really helped). Also Autocheck and Cafax do not match on some of the mileage dates?

smack123

CarFax is a joke. My Carfax was screwed up too on my 91 Coupe (hmmm, noticing a trend...?). Remember, this is all based on voluntary information and relying on morons like the dude who worked on the 98 Lincoln above who can't read the difference between 9,000 and 90,000.

redwing76

Carfax is a joke? Doesn't the word carfax mean its a factual statement?
Come to think of it Carfax is a made up word, figgures!
Its all free info in a ready to use package, for a price?

smack123

Actually, "fax" is a slang term for Facsimile, which is like a copy or a reproduction.

They should have called it CarFacts if they wanted to be factual *lol*

In any event, I still think it's mostly useless, some interesting info. but nothing i would hang my hat on.

Firevette

Does an a6 have a 5 or 6 digit odometer? If it is 5 and there is no x00,000 mile marker on the odo, the guy doing the inspection probably assumed it had rolled over being that it was a 12year old car at the time. Could have typed in 122k instead of 22k. That is a very common thing.

03whitecoupe

I don't know about Carfax, but if you truly got an 86 vert with only 38k miles for $7200 then you stole the car. I have an 86 vert with just over 20k miles and I wouldn't sell it for twice that much. You owe your friend a nice dinner.

92corvette

11/08/1999 failed smog inspection 35,207 miles
2/18/2000 smog inspection no mileage reported
8/18/2000 smog inspection 35,247

I really see some issue with the items above instead of the 122K
Why was it inspected every 6 months?
How did it only get 40 miles between these 3 inspections?

redwing76

Yeah, what a ripoff. Think he used a gun?

mitymek

well,the carfax did confirm one thing which carfax is fairly consistent about,and thats dmv records of title change.
if the guy was not the original owner like he said carfax would have probably showed a title transfer.
i bet its simply a smog check input error at 22k.
nice buy.
an odd thing that happen on later c4s (i know of 1 for sure) is someone leaving the digital cluster in km setting instead of miles and then having the wife read the mileage while sitting at the bank doing a title info exchange.all of a sudden the car has more miles at the time of title change than is actually on it.

Wayne88

IMO, the 122K is a typo.
What would concern me is the difference between these 2 readings:
11/08/1999 failed smog inspection 35,207 miles
8/18/2000 smog inspection 35,247
47 miles in 9 months, which includes to & from the inspection station.
This guy really didn't drive your Vette too much.

jerryL98

Once again folks.....Carfax is a tool. It records only information that has been collected by a state government. So, it is possible to get a car that has been totaled and that information won't appear on a Carfax report because, maybe, the owner took it home and repaired it himself without the title being stamped as a total. Look at it as a tool only. Your visual inspection will have to verify the information.

By the way....with so many rip off artists out there, Ive found it to be a very useful piece of information.

White Six Speed

Well I did get the Seller I bought mine from to lower the price $2000 because of the Carfax error, as it will probally hurt me if I ever decided to sell her, wich I am not ever planning to do. I also got this one at a steal.

groran

I went yesterday to get inspection, one guy checks & yells at the other guy & said 37000 & I said no it had 137000, cuz I ran a vin check too & I didnt want no hassle when I tried to sell it, to be accused of a roll back

jabez

My mothers 1990 Ford Tauras has roughly 40K on it. I took it in to get 4 new tires and watch the salesman type in 140K when inputting info on his computer. Had to point that out to him that he was incorrect.

The first entry in the carfax seem to be an error.
Probably an oversight by the smog technician and guessing it had 100K more since it would seem right for a 12 year old car at the time. he probably didn't know it was a little used car at the time.