I posted this weeks ago. I run known bad vin.'s (archive)

through car fax all the time and seldom is there any mention of problems. Try it your self. Get your rent-a-car VIN or jot one down from a salvage yard.

Greg S.

I recently purchased another 528 from an online dealer. I did the obligatory carfax search which came up A-OK. Having bought vehicles online before with nary a problem I felt confident.

I will make a long story short and get to the point. It turns out the car had been totaled at one point but this was NOT reflected on a Carfax report. I was able to pull some strings and find out the previous owner. The owner in fact HAD crashed the car, bought it back from his insurance company and had it fixed (hatchet job), then traded the car off.

Don't always count on a Carfax as being gospel, especially if buying on an online auction, dealer or even an unknown individual!! Titles can be and are laundered simply by registering them in a state that does not have salvage titles, then registering them back to the state of origin. Often times these same vehicles can go unreported by the insurance compainies as wrecks, therefore not being reported to pools that agencies such as Carfax get their information.

My deal turned out alright in the end but I hope someone can learn from my mistake. Carfax is a fantastic service and I am in no way putting it down. The plain truth is that people shouldn't rely singularly on this to make their buying decision. There are ways that people can get around these things and in my case they did. Unscrupulous sellers can and do get away with this!

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