Moose08

If a customer wrecks his Ford truck and takes it to an authorized Ford dealer to get repaired and decides he really likes the new body style so he buys a new one. If they take that wrecked truck Fix It and put it on the lot to sell it and the Carfax says it was never in a wreck and the dealership says it was just a trade in. Are they legally allowed to not disclose it was in a wreck or should that have been reported?

gone postal

CarFax isn't legally binding, and the only time damage is required to be reported, IIRC, is if the vehicle has a salvage title, which opens up a whole different can of worms.

Moose08

I knew carfax can be very shady what gets put on them so I understand that. But I was under the opinion if dealer knew truck was wrecked they had to disclose it salvage or not.
It's a 2012 FX4 bought for the wife and in great shape. I was changing oil on it for the first time today and I seen that the radiator core support had a shipping label for July of this year to the dealer I bought it from, And occasionally I get an airbag indicator light so that got me thinking it's something to do with that. I'm pissed at myself that I missed it when I looked at it. Even knowing that it was wrecked I probably would have bought it cuz the price was pretty good. Just kind of bitter they weren't upfront about it. So I was curious

I'm the kind of guy who give the whole back story history. I just sold an old work car for $850 by the time the guy bought the car he knew everything that had been replaced in the past 11 years on it and knew where every little Nic and scratch, and knew every little perk and Quirk with the car. But that's probably why I'm not a car salesman😂

FerdinandF150

The only time accident reports show up on CarFax or AutoCheck etc. is if a police report was filed for the accident, or if someone made a claim through their insurance and then was made to file a report with the DMV (typically an insurance company files the report with the DMV.) I'm sure there are other times, but the majority of the information they collect seems to come from those two methods.
While it would have been nice of them to tell you, the right hand might not talk to the left hand and if the lot has a body shop, they see hundreds of cars/trucks.
If they wanted to just repair it before selling it, they might have assumed it was already a reported accident.
I'm more skeptical of folks and if we want to assume the worst: someone had an accident, filed a claim and got paid for it through insurance, didn't fix it, traded it in, dealership buys it, fixes it as quickly as possible to sell it before it shows up on a CarFax.
All roads lead to you owning it now and not minding it was in an accident, you just wish people were nicer and here is my motto:
When it comes to money, people have a hard time doing the right thing.

NFortin1966

Personally, I inspect the underside of every vehicle I'm looking at purchasing. I carry a floor jack with me just in case they don't have a lift. If they have lifts, I ask to have it lifted for inspection, if they refuse, I walk off the lot. If they don't have a lift and won't let me use my jack, I walk away.

SmokeyJoe101

Not sure what the law is anymore in NC when I lived there they had to let you know if the accident was more than 30%of the value of the car. ( I think that is right ) been so many years ago. Long story short I caught them and they paid me damages In the form a of a new car and I do mean new

Firerunner

iTrader: (3)

They still are - from the NCDOJ website "NEW CARS - Dealers are required to disclose in writing any damage and repair that exceeds five percent of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price before you enter into a contract. If a new car has been repaired for damages that do not exceed five percent of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, then the dealer does not have to tell you about the damage unless you ask.
"

"For USED CARS less than five years old, the seller must disclose damage of more that 25 percent of the car’s fair market value to the buyer in writing."

jbone36

Carfax gets their wreck data from police crash reports that are submitted to their state's DMV or the like. In Michigan, the threshold for requiring an accident report is when the damage to all involved vehicles exceeds $1k and occurs on a public roadway. Accidents occurring in shopping mall parking lots etc are not reported. I'm not sure about the legality of dealers disclosing (or not) a damaged vehicle that wasn't reported to a PD.

I'm guessing your wreck wasn't reported to a police department and you were just going to pay out of pocket or have insurance pay it? Then before making the claim or paying for the repairs, you just decided to trade it in for a new one? That is why it would not show up on Carfax. The dealer probably saw it was an easy fix that wouldn't deter customers from it showing as wrecked on Carfax. It would probably be an issue if they "knowingly" said it wasn't wrecked when a customer specifically asked.

haha

My truck had a carfax with "accident reported". The passenger side door and fender were replaced. When I asked the dealer what happened he played dumb. I knew what to look for and could tell what was repaired. Title was clean.
Bought the truck with 23K miles and have 150K miles on it and had no problems due to he accident of the reported carfax. Got a great deal on the truck because the carfax scared people away.

Did you buy the "wrecked" truck or did you wreck the said truck and now you see the truck has no accidents reported?

Moose08

That's why I'm kinda pissed at myself because I had it on the lift and still somehow missed the sticker on radiator core support. The entire underside of truck is In Immaculate shape so new core support didn't stand out and catch my eye.



I didn't wreck it, I bought it and I'm assuming this is what happened not really sure. I did ask why so cheap and their story was used truck is harder to get loan for then new. Which I know my bank for longest time wouldn't give loans for vehicles with more then 70kmiles so that was believable. But there was nothing that stood out to suggest wrecked.

I bought the truck and car fax didn't have any wrecks recorded. When I checked. Which would have been 3 months after the date on the core support sticker

I'll say this much their body shop is top notch because if it was damaged enough to replace the core support I can't tell other then the sticker on core support and paint on 1 bolt in core support is slightly smudged and just light blemish.