Ever seen a "good" carfax that still made you worry?

[Hydroblueguy]

Been lurking since I bought my '20 Big Horn in July 2020 (that I love), and I have a burning question for you folks.

I have been looking for a while for what seems to be a rarity: low mileage used Rebel (20+) level 2 with 33gal tank and air suspension. Most of my trips involve pulling a camper. I finally found something that seems perfect, though it has one of the optional rebel bed decals that I would rather take off. Looking at the carfax though, it seems pretty suspicious: '21 Rebel sold 2/9/21 that has already had 3 owners in Texas before being sold at auction to a small town GM dealer in NC.

Owner 1
2/9/21 Title issued El Paso, TX
3/2/21 Vehicle service-inspection and oil @5,328mi
5/11/21 Vehicle service-inspection and oil @11,501mi
6/29/21 Texas safety inspection passed @14,722mi
7/2/21 Vehicle service-oil, wash and detail, electrical system checked
7/2/21 Title updated, loan released

Owner 2
7/23/21 Title updated-new owner Odessa, TX
10/30/21 Vehicle service-oil @22,835mi
11/28/21 Vehicle offered for sale @23,669mi
12/07/21 Vehicle service- Pre-delivery inspection, 80k mile service (???), wash/detail, GPS/nav install, oil change, tire balance and rotate, safety and emissions inspection @23,705mi

Owner 3
3/10/22 Title updated-new owner Seminole, TX
4/21/22 Vehicle service- inspection, air filter, fluids checked, oil, tires checked @31,569mi
8/11/22 Vehicle service- engine checked, body electrical system checked, shift linkage checked, driveshaft checked, shifter cable replaced, auto transmission shift cable adjusted @33,653mi
8/26/22 Vehicle sold-listed as dealer vehicle (auto auction)
9/9/22 Vehicle sold (auto auction)

No Owner yet
9/10/22 Vehicle offered for sale in (western) North Carolina
9/21/22 Vehicle serviced- battery/charging system checked, wipers replaced, four wheel alignment, safety inspection, oil, tires rotated, brake fluid flushed/changed @33,659mi

And now it is still for sale at that same dealer in NC. Less than 2 years on the road, 7 oil changes, and a lot of electrical checks. While it is nearly everything I am looking for, every other Rebel I have my eye on has a clean one-owner history. What do you think? Lemon with issues lurking under the hood, or standard stuff from being passed around so much? Thanks

edit: Standard Hemi V8, no etorque

I’d stay far away from that. Something is not right. My 21 Laramie started having electrical issues at 8000 miles. Finally fixed, I think after 4 dealer visits! Maybe it would be ok, but I’d pass for sure?

 

[Limited Legend]

That is for a commercial vehicle sold to a single business in Canada then sold to a dealership and imported to USA where it sits at the currently selling dealer. It's a 1 owner vehicle if you actually read the Carfax.
It was imported to the USA and lists the Ontario Ministry of Transportation as an owner which obviously was\is not true. It then lists the buying dealer as another owner, where it currently sits for sale

Ok

 

[gofishn]

Pretty sure Texas does not force Salvage title on Insurance total Vehicle claims.

My Sate law used to be if cost to repair was less than 50% of value, no salvage need, and a lot used car dealers woudl buy Texas wrecks. fix them up in their own body shops, show a repair charge of just less than 50% and sell it off as clean title.

Folks got wise, complained, so m State raised the requirement to 75% of value to force a salvage title.

 

[Malodave]

My last trip was 2600 miles over a Week's time. My brother blew his warranty of 36K miles in an S10 pickup in 6 months.
He was doing a 2 hour commute to work before he moved closer.

I have 38K on my 2021 Laramie EcoDiesel now. I have had it in the Shop once for a Trailer Steering Recall and the Rear Parking
Sensors stopped working. There is now a Recall on the CP4 HP Fuel Pump that parts will not be available until Q2 2023. I
started feeling a litle shaking in the Steering wheel at 70+ mph. Turns out the Wildpeak tire has some manufacturing Defects.

But all the Electrical issues would have me saying no.

Malodave

 

[PurpleRT]

Yep I would find something else… way to new to have that many owners. Mileage wouldn’t scare me however since depending on the type of work one might do. For example in the past 5 months I went from ok city, to Cali, to Washington, back to Cali, then Louisiana for work in a short period of time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[lacobi]

Carfax is junk.

My wife's 2015 Camaro 2LT had a clean Carfax, but shortly after we bought it from a local stealership learned that it had been a rental car, and crashed sometime after having been stolen (information I found online by looking up the VIN, and Carfax should've had but didn't). Apparently, it was recovered by the rental company, repaired, and sold to whomever our local stealership obtained it from without ever having the Carfax updated. I was not wanting to buy that actual car, since we were going to get a nicer red one in DFW the next day. But she'd never driven one so we test drove it and then she decided that's the one she wanted instead. It was her car, so I wasn't going to argue, but the shards of broken glass I found still in a few strategic places and the missing Camaro badge from the driver side fender were red flags to me. It ended up totaled around 6 months later thanks to a street racer who lost control and slammed into us, so we wound up getting a nicer red RS carvins, anyway.

CarFax advertises itself as a great way to know the history of the used car you are purchasing. This is a complete fabrication. Only shops that pay for their service report anything to them. Today I inspected another used car post purchase. My customer bought it online from a central California, major manufacturer dealership. It's a 2015 vehicle with 17,000 miles. It was delivered to the customer after the online transaction. It was advertised as a clean title with a clean CarFax. Complete ********. The customer was concerned because, her words "the car is floating". I test drove the vehicle and confirmed the vehicles handling characteristics were extremely poor. To the point I was afraid to drive it. I did my best to limp it off the freeway, back to my shop. It was extremely uncomfortable. Inspected the vehicle and not only found severe fitment issues, but severe structural damage and an airbag location that was poorly hand sewn back together. During my test drive I found serious flaws in the handling to the point I felt unsafe over 55mph. I ran a Carfax check on my personal car. The Carfax for that came back clean as well. I know for a fact it was wrecked before I bought it. While I owned it, I know it had $6000 hail damage and was rear ended twice, all reported to insurance, and nothing on Carfax. Wife's vehicle also had $3000 in hail damage, also reported to insurance, also did not show up on Carfax. Besides the current example and my own vehicles, I see at least one car a month that was advertised with a clean Carfax, and my inspection reveals that it is complete ********.

 

[Gren71]

Agreed to be careful with carfax..but im in the camp where its helped me often. Im fastidious about keeping my vehicles up to date on it, and my dealership does as well. Ive used it as a bargaining chip to get higher trade values nearly every vehicle ive traded for years. Just like any other tool its good for what it is but it often takes more than one tool to complete a job.

Also…

ZOMBIE THREAD!

 

[rick619]

I get it that everyone wants a one owner vehicle that is perfect, but that isn't always the case. Keep in mind that if a used vehicle sits too long, the dealer is going to sell it at auction, that is normal.

People put too much weight on Carfax. My wife was side swiped at a low speed in her old Jetta. It was a minor repair. There was a guy that came to look at it with his daughter. He was interested and then freaked out when he saw it had an accident reported. Walked away like it was a salvage. Not all accidents are major repairs.

If you want to hold out for the perfect vehicle, that is up to you. Though that vehicle might not exist. If you're buying used, you're not going to always get exactly what you want.

 

[Driver]

Never, never, never rely on a Carfax, even if it is your own car!

I sold a 2 owner Lexus to the local Lexus dealer, and bingo, they cleansed the Carfax because the next day it became a Lexus certified one owner car! (the dealer pays a monthly fee to Carfax, and that gives them enough clout to have reports changed)

I had $3000 damage to a new Ram I owned. The repair went through insurance and a body shop, yet the Carfax remained clear.

I've seen a national study performed by a respected national survey firm which found recently that something like 65% of Carmax, AutoNation, Carvana, and other used car customers nationally, ERRONEOUSLY believe that if a Carfax is clean, then it means the vehicle has not been wrecked. This means that annually hundreds of thousands of used car purchasers are unsuspectingly buying repaired wrecks.