What triggers an "accident" report on CARFAX?

Corey, the Lord works in strange and mysterious ways. The same dealership whose minion was accusing him of failing to disclose was the same dealership that he had the car towed to for the flat tire. When he informed the minion that he didn't fail to disclose but that it was likely another minion within the dealership or their shop management software that erroneously reported the accident, the dealership checked their records, which they should have done in the first place, came to Jesus, gave him a fair trade value as well as a fair deal on the car he was purchasing from them. I assume that when they resold my partner's car the carfax report miraculously and correctly came back as clean to the purchaser.

 

Ran into this since last week I had a small issue / accident. Someone hit me from behind at a traffic light. Minor issue but the CF diffuser will need to be replaced. Insurance tells me I need to report it to the DMV - https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv-virtual-office/accident-reporting/

Worried this will then show up on the carfax report.

Thoughts?

 

Accident insurance claim and reporting an accident to the DMV....think hard about this one buddy.

 

I am thinking hard about it, that's why I'm reaching out!

It wasn't my fault, so no penalty from an insurance POV. And I've had a couple of these in the past and I didn't have to report anything.

I'm trying to see if anyone has gone through the same situation.

Thx in advance.

 

You're asking about carfax, whose fault it was has nothing to do with it. It's an accident you're claiming on insurance and reporting to the DMV....if that doesn't get reported to carfax then what exactly does? The car has to fall off the roof of carfax headquarters and explode?

 

I'm claiming on insurance since I don't want to pay out of pocket. The reporting to DMV is what I'm not sure I need to do, and I've never had to do it. That's what I'm wondering...

I understand Carfax sources information from body shops and I'm guessing from DMV too.

 

Okay you originally asked about carfax not if it needed to be reported to the DMV. I honestly don't know the answer to that but you're just going to tell the insurance "no I'm not doing that"? Believe me they would LOVE an excuse not to pay your claim if you want to give them one....

But even without reporting to the DMV you're taking a chance, not all show up but that's an oversight not the norm. The cost of a rear diffuser is probably far less than the diminished value from an accident on the record.

 

I hear ya...

 

Good luck either way brother, I would pay the piper on the diffuser myself. From personal experience of someone who is shopping for a car at the moment there is a massive price drop in cars with accidents on them and I am specifically avoiding one...

 

Penny wise...

 

Both the DMV and the insurance company will report to CarFax ( been there, done that on daily drivers over the years for myself and my family).

Even though it wasn’t your fault and you have been wronged, you are best off not filing an insurance claim at all and not generating a police report unless it costs 5 figures to fix….because you will be dinged 15-20% when you go to sell…..and hell, a lot of buyers see any ding on a CarFax report and just go to the next ad without bothering to find out the circumstances.

 

"Diminished Value" is a legitimate insurance claim against the attacking vehicle. For daily drivers it doesn't really matter, but for a $$$$$$ vehicle you should definitely be talking to a specialist lawyer about that.

 

Sooooooooooooooooooooo..... I have my Corvette C8 for a couple of years. One day the top stops working so I bring it in to the local Vegas dealer under warranty. They fix it but they say it needs the rear cover of the roof to be repainted. Now, when I dropped it off I couldn't see (and neither did the person who wrote up the work order) anything that was scratched or damaged. But they say they need to send it to a body shop and have them respray that part under warranty. I'm like... OK. It takes about 2 weeks, partly because they had to order the stripes from the factory.

I get the car back. The dealer calls me up and says they saw the car and they want to know if I'll sell it to them. I'm not convinced but I agree to a meeting. This was only about 3 or for days after getting the car back from them.

The salesmen (about 4 or them) go to see my car. They come back and tell me "Well, we have a problem. Your car was in an accident". I'm like... no. "Well, it shows up on Carfax that part of the rear has been repainted. How did that happen? We can see evidence and it WASN'T DONE VERY WELL. There are streaks everywhere".

They show me the Carfax. It showed a minor respray had been done.

I am LIVID. I chew these guys out right in the middle of the showroom. "Your own dealership did the work under WARRANTY! Now you tell me the car has lost value? You see my car in the repair shop, you call me, you have me come down here to tell me the car is DAMAGED and the work was poorly done --by you guys?" I walk out.

Its absolutely ridiculous that this happens but if the car is repaired under warranty by the dealer it can show up on Carfax and used against you.

 

Yes 100%. Always if it’s a franchise dealer.


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I can also happen if your vehicle has a “accident type” part ordered with your vehicles VIN.


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Update from today:

I spoke to my insurance company and confirmed their original request for me to report to the DMV is merely suggestive. Totally up to me to do this, which of course I won't, especially given the simplicity of the accident, no police, no injury, minor body work required.

Fact: I have had several accidents in the past years, with several different situations: Myself being at fault, animal on the road, and someone rear ending me (not my fault). Also a couple of windshield replacements. My insurance (State Farm, BTW) has always taken absolutely phenomenal care of me, as I filed claims for all, and they've NEVER reported anything to DMV nor CarFax. As far as I know, it's not the insurance but the SHOP that works on the car that you need to be careful they don't report it. Given the type of cars we're dealing with, at least in my case none of them reported it to CarFax, so I've never had an issue.

 

Why did you walk out?!?! You let that go?!

 

How much is that diffuser that you're going to take that chance?

 

https://store.millermotorcars.com/products/ferrari-f8-carbon-fiber-rear-diffuser

+ labor

But what chance are we talking about? Because if I have the same result as with the other accidents, I got nothing to worry about.

 

I dont think a previous incident has anything to do with the next one, there are unlimited variables in that. Those are outliers you experienced, it's not the norm for claimed incidents to not be reported and I think that's especially true if we're talking a 20k repair caused by vehicle collision, I don't think that is the same as windshield replacements and roadkill.

Hey it's your car just trying to help it would really suck to have an accident hanging on the car over a diffuser. I suppose if it does get reported you can go after diminished value but that's a whole other disaster can of worms.

At this point have you considered just asking directly if it's going to be reported?

 

I hear ya bro.

One of the things I've already done is reiterate to my agent how critical it is that nothing gets reported. Same with the shop I'll work with - likely the same as previous times. If I hear or feel anything weird, I'll definitely reconsider. I appreciate ya...

 

I still have the car. I rather like it!

 

You should have the dealership fix their "streaky" paint job then.

 

Its not streaky. It was BS to try to get the car price reduced.

These guys saw the Carfax report and tried to use it against me to get me to sell the car cheap.

 

All we can do is provide recommendations based on experience and it is up to them to take it or not.