When You Buy a Used Car (Even a Certified Used Car) You Can’t Rely on a Carfax Report Provided by a Dealer

Whey they buy a used car, many consumers rely on Carfax or AutoCheck to reports to see if car of their dreams has been in an accident, suffered flood damage,  been stolen, or had some other issue that would lower its value substantially. As a result, many car dealerships will offer to provide the Carfax report to prospective buyers.  However, consumers cannot rely on these reports and should get the car inspected by a knowledgeable mechanic and body shop before purchasing any used car.  We have found in our cases that Carfax reports can be incomplete for a number a reasons; many of our clients have been deceived by the Carfax report provided by the dealer and have purchased rebuilt wrecks and flood cars. Reports like Carfax have come under fire in the past for often providing inaccurate or incomplete information when information has been hidden from them such as past owners failing to report accidents and fixing the car without notifying later purchasers of the damage. Further, when the report is provided by the dealer, you cannot be 100% positive that the report is current and accurate and that the vehicle has not been in an accident flood or damaged.

3 Reasons Why it Doesn’t Make Sense to Rely on the Carfax Provided by the Dealer:

  • The dealer might have provided an outdated Carfax report. Unfortunately, Carfax doesnt always report accidents in a timely manner. If the dealer fails to hand or show you the most recent report then important information may be missing.
  • The dealer may alter the Carfax report to make the car’s title appear clean even though it is branded as flood or rebuilt.
  • The dealer may not be responsible for the inaccuracies on the Carfax report as in cases where accidents aren’t listed because a prior owner never reported it; however the dealer may have inspected the vehicle and may know it has flood damage or have substantial body work and other tell tale signs it was in a serioud accident. The auto auction may have announced these problems as well but the dealer has chosen to conceal them from you.

If you are a victim of auto auto fraud it is important to learn about your rights and to contact an experienced attorney.

Our Chicago car fraud and Lemon law attorneys near Schaumburg, Wheeling and Des Plaines bring individual and class actions suits for defective cars with common design defects and auto dealer fraud and other car dealer scams such as selling rebuilt wrecks as certified used cars or misrepresenting a car as being in good condition when it is rebuilt wreck or had the odometer rolled back. Super Lawyers has selected our DuPage, Kane and Cook County auto-fraud, car dealer fraud and lemon law lawyers as among the top 5% in Illinois. We only collect our fee if we win or settle your case. For a free consultation call our Chicago class action lawyers at our toll free number 630-333-0333 or contact us on the web by clicking here.

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