I ran Carfax on 2 different Corvetts and they both have been in an accident. Can someone tell me which one to stay away from? Why is there soo little info on the accident with car #2?

Car #1 -

Police Report
Scott City, MO
Case #0060092803 Accident reported
Involved right front impact
with another motor vehicle


Car #2 -

Collision Repair Facility
Vehicle inspected after an accident or other incident

CARFAX began reporting information from this source on 1/23/2008

 

Why not ask the seller(s) about the accidents?

 

Because they are both at dealers. I have info on what shops they have been serviced at. You think a shop would give me contact info on a previous owner?

 

Find one that has not been hit. Plenty of vetts for sale out their

 

I wouldn't buy either one.

 

I would ask the repair shop what was involved in the repair(s).

 

I called the dealership where they have been regulary serviced and was told they can't give out personal information. Car #2 which I am most interested in, the CARFAX only says it was "checked out" at the "Repair Facility" it doesn't give the name of the facility it was checked out at. The car passed the Structural/Frame Damage Check and the Airbag Deployment Check. I want to believe that the car was just backed into or something little/simple like that.

 

I would pass there are soooooo many deals out there right now. I ran a Carfax on my 07 Cadillac CTS which took a 12k hit by a giant tree and the accident didn't even report. I also ran it on the 04 vette I recently purchased with 16k miles and it was clean, however after careful inspection IN THE SUN I could see that some blending had been done on the driver door. Hey I went to school for bodywork and managed a few detaill shops and I still did not pick up on it when I bought the car. Something about buying a corvette, once you get near it and drive it, you just have to have it. Choose wisely.

 

Keep looking, there are plenty of clean C5's out there at very reasonable prices. No need to buy someone elses' problem.

 

Listen to Mark.

 

I searched 100 miles from my zip... All Z06's btw.

The one I'm looking at 04 Silver 15,500 miles $26,000


03 Black 28,325 miles $29,995

04 Black 30,790 miles $27,845

02 Silver 22,400 miles $26,000

04 Black 53,049 miles $24,998

04 Yellow 10,649 miles $34,990

04 Lemans Blue 14,000 miles $32,900

03 Black 14,000 miles $29,900

03 Yellow 53,000 miles $28,900

01 Red 19,642 miles $28,900

02 Silver 13,005 miles $27,998

03 Black 30,575 miles $26,990

03 Black 15,318 miles $26,495

03 Yellow 59,520 miles $23,995

02 Black 32,498 miles $23,990

02 Black 70,916 miles $20,999

01 Red 87,000 miles $19,900

03 Yellow 11,802 miles $29,995

 

I'd trade miles for a no accident car. Looks like you have plenty to choose from in the price range you're looking.

 

its your cash but I would pass on the hit cars

 

I am an auto body technician and from my experience, while a great idea in theory, CarFax should not be the deciding factor when purchasing a car. I say this for two main reasons, accuracy and amount of detail.

CarFax would like you to believe that you are getting an extremely accurate record of everything ever done to the car as far as collision work. That simply is not true. It is the insurance company (at least at my shop) that submits info to carfax, not the body shop. Some companies submit information to carfax, others don't. If an owner pays for a repair out of pocket there will be no record of that either. My employer does a lot of dealership work too. I have repaired cars with less then 10 miles on them (2miles is my record ). There are paint defects from factory, shipping damage, door dings, etc. Do you really think a dealership is going to submit a carfax report on a vehicle they are trying to sell as new? Not a chance. Even brand new, off the showroom floor, less than 10 miles on them, cars can have already been to the body shop for repair work. Lets talk about the "do it yourselfer" for a minute too. Take the time to scan the "used parts for sale" section of this website and you find many adds for body panels either for sale, or "want to buy". These people are buying/selling body parts to fix their cars themselves, some even look for color specific pieces to avoid painting costs. Do you think these guys are submitting CarFax reports after fixing their cars? Doubtful. Bottom line is: Even if a car comes up clean on CarFax it DOES NOT mean the car was never in an accident.

The detail is the second issue and my problem there is the amount provided. Unless you see a copy of the estimate, which Carfax doesn't supply, it is hard to know what all happened and how extensive the damage is. Would you really want to pass up a good car just because it had a bumper cover replaced and CarFax is saying it was in a front end collision? Bottom line is: With a CarFax report there is no way to determine the extent of the damage.

When dealing with a Corvette specificly, nearly all the panels are bolt on and easy to fix. Using CarFax you could buy a car that is "clean" but actually has had more work done than a car that came up as "in an accident". What I am trying to say is don't pass up a great car because the "Sub par"Fax report says it was in an accident. There are way more important things to base a car purchase on besides a non credible, hit or miss accident report.

All the best in finding your new Vette

 

Amen!!!!

A Beacon of Reality Award is deserved for this post. It should be made a sticky.

Besides Vettes are pretty tough. I saw one involved in a fender bender at less than 10 mph where it hit a Toyota Camry. The Vette drove home with some damage to its right front corner and the Camry went a shop on the hook as the left front suspension was in the engine comparment.
Bill

 

While the above may all be true what is also true is that not being able to present a clean Carfax will certainly affect resale value. With the prices clean C5's are going for I just don't see any reason to buy a problem.

 

Just for more info, my previous car was in a fender bender where the rear bumper was repaired and a police report was filed and the other driver was issued a ticket. I ran a carfax on it before I sold it and neither the police report or repairs showed up.

If you liek one of the cars you mentioned, take it out and inspect it as closely and detailed as possible. If there seems to be no problems then don't hesitate to buy it.

 

I am sure a whole bunch of those vettes sold with a "clean" Carfax are in actuality not clean at all!

 

Carfax does not even exist in my eyes. It is so absolutely inaccurate and incomplete, it's not worth the energy it takes to type in the website.

 

I am certainly not singing the praises of Carfax, I'm well aware of all the inaccuracies. What I am saying is that right or wrong, not having a clean Carfax report will negatively affect the resale of the vehicle. There are too many C5's out there in excellent condition at bargain prices with clean Carfax reports to bother with one that will become a problem at sale or trade in time.

Think about it, if this wasn't so would this thread even exist?