Used Car Dealers Lakes Region

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by Just Sold

Car Fax is good but......not completely accurate. Remember the service/repair has to be reported to be in the report. My girlfriend's 2005 Toyota Corolla S was to me obviously in an accident - the whole right side was damaged and repaired but upon a physical look it was not as bad as it could have been and did not do structural damage. This was a major accident and not reported in the Car Fax report at all. So Car Fax reports can be suspect. Only as good as the reporting. BTW she still bought the car because she liked it and it did run and drive well. It was also purchased from a well known used car dealer in Hooksett.

There is a very easy way to check for that kind of damage:

-On Toyota's they put a decal on each body panel, doors, hood, trunk, quarters etc... that has the VIN number on it, if any panel is missing that or the VIN doesn't match it's been replaced.

-No matter how good a body shop is they can never completely prevent overspray in the door jams, wheel wells etc...

-run your fingers over each and every body seam and feel for variations in the gaps

-if you find something that feels a little off, take a magnet and a rag stick the magnet to the body panel with the rag between the two and slide it all over the panel, if there is body filler the magnet will fall off. A sure sign body work has been done.

Carfax will only report on police reports and insurance claims, they do not tell the whole story but it's better than going in blind.