Carfax—lemon?

Hi, all!

I’m looking to buy a 4Runner and I’ve found one at a dealer. They sent me the Carfax report, which is attached. I’m a bit concerned as there seems to be quite a bit of service history in which systems were “checked” or “repaired,” including at low mileage and including the PCM module (twice), power steering, valve cover gaskets, engine oil leak, wheel bearings, etc. There appear to be more of these entries than I’ve seen in other 4Runner Carfax reports (and more than I would expect from a Toyota).

Am I getting myself into a potential lemon/money-pit situation? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

When were the repairs made and how long/many miles have gone since then?

 

Thank you for the response, Mtbpsych. There are quite a few repairs. I attached the Carfax in my original post.

 

I don't see anything in that carfax that would scare me. Looks like the owners were pretty good about taking it in for service. Unless I missed it, all I saw about the PCM was reprogramming. That's not unusual at all. They will sometimes reflash them when they feel they need to change some of the programming for whatever reason. I'd rather see a carfax like this than one where it never went into a legitimate shop for service.

 

Thank you very much, Importman! I did a FaceTime with the dealer to see the car as it’s a few hours away, anc I’m having a PPI done tomorrow. Wish me luck!

 

You're welcome. Hope it works out great for you.

 

It sounds like the previous owner just did what ever the dealer said needed to be done. The fact that the last owner kept it so long should tell you that this is not a lemon.

 

Where' si the carfax? What year? What milage?

Registration issued or renewed - Loan or lien reported - Passed safety inspection - Vehicle color noted as White 05/06/2019

Damage Report Damage reported: minor damage 2019

 

I'm really not sure how that "Damage severity scale" is calculated.

He's an example from mine;

 

Wtf! Looks like it was close to being totaled. Guessing bags didn’t deploy and frame wasn’t touched

 

Right? I too thought it would be totaled. Yes, no air bags deployed and as per inspection no frame damage. I was surprised to see Carfax report is as minor damage when dealership listed for sale.

 

That's substantial. Should have BEEN WRITTEN OFF AS A TOTAL IMO

Note: That is not the car that the poster (pythonian) is trying to buy - I don't think

 

This is my 4Runner's carfax not the one OP's trying to buy. I shared because I wasn't sure about carfax accident report.

 

I thought it was something like that.

 

Just a caution about CarFax, at least based on my experience: I traded in a car with engine problems that the dealer service department acknowledged but couldn't fix even after several attempts. The car had also been in a fender bender and was repaired with new body panels, light assemblies and paint at a legit, high-quality body shop, paid for by insurance. The very dealer that had failed to fix the car after several attempts put it up for sale on its used car lot. I pulled the CarFax on it from the dealer website advertising the car. Not one of the attempted engine repairs was shown. Neither was the accident. According to this CarFax, the car was well maintained and had a trouble free history. The service manager later told me that they sold the car to someone who experienced the same engine problems I had, the dealer was again unable to fix it, and they ultimately bought the car back from her. So much for relying on CarFax.

 

Good information thanks

 

that definitely reduces my trust in carfax. I would already be nervous buying something with an accident on record but this makes me think I wouldn’t touch one that shows one on the report now

 

Yes, in fact, I was doing some reading somewhere a long time ago that in one of Carfax's small print disclaimers, they say that it can take almost up to a year for some things to appear on a report. I'm guessing that this is how they get out of their "buyback warranty." Hey, let me report an accident in 2020 on March 31, 2021, with March 2021's date... Hey, YOU had that accident. I don't trust these services as well.

Cheers,

Sean

 

Yea I agree on car fax. I had a Honda years ago and the whole engine was replaced under warranty. Yes entire engine! This was not noted in any car fax and I pulled one myself.

Also a buddy had an accident got car repaired at a dealer and there was no mention of any accident two years later.

The car fax is only as reliable as the dealer or mechanic reporting the work. Be cautious. I suppose it’s better than nothing for those who were honest.

But too many use the car fax as gospel and I definitely would advise otherwise

 

Carfax is garbage.

I damaged the front plastic bumper cover on my 2013 and it had to be replaced for like $500.

There is no damage to the truck or the frame, but if you bring up my Carfax report it comes back as “severe front end damage.”

Also, I’ve been using independent mechanics or doing the work myself, so there is no maintenance history for the last 70,000 miles.

 

Before I decided on 4R or did research on it I considered a used 2010 plus V8 Explorer for towing and fit in garage.

There were a ton of cars and explorers and rangers coming down from the Maritime of Canada. Many of them were flooded from the storms up there. Carfax from Canada made no mention of this and these went to auction.

So no car fax for me. Everyone is a shikster

 

Carfax is necessary but not sufficient. In this case, Carfax says "run away" and you should, why you read it in the first place.

 

I use carfax and autocheck, for whatever reason they don’t always line up. I also was drinking beers with a used car guy that had a few lots. He said his rule of thumb was no more than 1 owner for every 3 years AND no new owner for at least a year after any incident reported on those systems. It’s not always 100% but for my own vehicles we always buy used and haven’t had issues yet…fingers crossed.

 

CarFax is good for one thing: sharing personal information with insurance companies and law enforcement. They sell data on where, when and how someone has maintained his car and the vehicle condition and damage history. This can assist with insurance claim denials, insurance fraud prosecutions, and locating a person's whereabouts.

It's interesting just how much data is out there to help locate and punish wrongdoers -- as well as how infrequently the same kind of data is used to exonerate the innocent. Thus the tens of thousands of people who have been wrongly imprisoned or otherwise ensnared by the legal system.