Carfax please

[Frank]

Hi,
Could someone with a carfax account please run vin WP0CA2986YU625506 for me.You can pm me or respond.
Thankyou,
Frank

[RandallNeighbour]

I ran a carfax on my boxster before I bought it and it did not show a bunch of important details about my particular car such as:

Engine replacement
damage repair to the front end of the car

It did show the title changes from owner to owner and dealer to wholesaler and auctions, etc. But that's about all it was good for.

My brother's Lexus was in the dealer's body shop for five week after it was flooded out... damage to interior and motor... he ran a carfax on it just to see if it showed up and the flood damage and repair was not to be found!

I no longer trust Carfax reports. They're only good as a title search.

[Subanez]

YEa, same thing happened to me. Turns out half my Boxster was replaced, including bonnet, boot, driver's side door, 3 quarterpanels, front bumper, and it was all repainted, and installed with parts other than Porsche. That was a WONDERFUL surprise when I finally had it in a Porsche shop. So much for Carfax. Blah.

[Frank]

So,is thier anything I can look for when inspecting at myself when shopping?

[tqtran]

If you have access to Lexis Nexis run the VIN.
It will tell you the ENTIRE HISTORY of the car.

Dates it was in for service, how much, and for what type of service
Dealer work and body shop work, also the amount
Owners and how much they paid for it and how long they had it
Dealers and how much they paid or gave in trade in for it and how long they had it
Everything you ever wanted to know about the car, everything you didn't, and everything you would never find out normally.

[Pilot2519j]

Don't you have to be a lawyer for the Lexis Nexus? My daughter used to use it with the firm she worked before going on maternity leave.

[tqtran]

Frank : That Boxster is clean, one owner, but has a recall on gas tank.

[tqtran]

Pilot2519j : access to it is not just restricted to law firm. Many gov't agencies and banks. use it too. Or you can pay the $3-5K per month for access. If you don't use it often enough to warrent the bill, ts best if you have someone that has access to it for the every now and then VIN lookup.

[RandallNeighbour]

Frank, one thing I thought of doing was taking my carfax report and calling the dealerships that DID report sales or service on the car.

My local porsche dealership said they are not networked together like Lexus and GM are now, so you'd have to call each dealership in the cities where the car was sold or bought and give them your VIN number and ask about a history.

I tell you, just getting a car up on a rack somewhere and doing a visual inspection is quite good... my mechanic told me about my new engine, that the front bumper had been replaced (paint drips on the bottom) etc.

[tqtran]

Frank : I agree totally with RandallNeighbour
A report can only tell you so much, example :
A small "joe bob's dealer" owns his own lot and body shop (trust me, I've seen this during my pursuit for a 986) and finds a damaged car. He fixes it him self so he doesn't have to report it and it all looks good on paper.

What does this mean? look for the standard, any ripples in paint? over spray? odd sounds when driving or idle? brand new shinney bults or screws when the rest look aged? bumpers or panels that do not line up? etc........

[Ronzi]

tqtran: The Lexis Nexis thing is very interesting. I had no idea.
I wonder if you could "hire" an attorney with access to it to run a Lexis Nexis search when you are seriously interested in a car?
I can't imagine why this would not be a billable "profit center" for a practicing attorney. A lot less work than making out a will, I would think. What's the catch?

[Frank]

thanks for checking it

[Subanez]

I sure would like to check out my VIN to this Lexis Nexis thing...I really do wonder what the hell happened to my car. We're still working through the problems, finding new things all the time.

But I don't have $5,000 for a month of being able to check my car out as many times as I want. ;-)

[tqtran]

The catch would probably "invasion of privacy" since you can basically look into the dealers' books, among other things. It not only tells you the history but also ALOT of info on the owners/dealers along with it.

edit : I only did it this once for Frank as a gesture to the 986 community. Please don't PM me to death with VINs.

Subanez : If you really want to know, PM me.

Anyone else : Again, please don't PM me to death. If its a dire need to know I'll concider having it looked up for you. But you may not like what you find out