Most of us have seen the Carfax logo at our local dealer or seen a commercial about the Carfax and their cute little fox. But what do they do, and how does it affect you? Carfax is a company that documents vehicle history. For example, if a dealer or body shop participates with Carfax and most do, they can add value to their operation by documenting regular vehicle maintenance and repairs showing the vehicle has been well taken care of. Or if a body shop does a repair, they describe the damage, usually based upon a description from the insurance company.
Now here is the most important part; in a body repair, how the damage is described will greatly affect the value of your vehicle. It can affect the value of your vehicle by thousands.
Also, the more expensive car you drive, the greater the potential for loss of value. So when do I lose this value on my vehicle you ask?
Great question. Most of the time your vehicles value is affected right away but you don’t know until trade in. The dealers are experts in profitability. They are trained to look for repainted panels even if you paid out of pocket and used a shop that doesn’t report the Carfax vehicle history report system. Many of our customers have experienced this in the past, and It can affect your vehicle by thousands of dollar on trade in, and you will pay interest on the additional money financed into your next vehicle.
Thus the reason why we stress anytime you can avoid repainting your car its best for the value of your vehicle. Even if you have damage that may only be 90 or 95% repairable with paintless dent repair. Whether that means you touch up a scratch, crack or chip in the paint. Used vehicle are assumed to have minor imperfections. That’s what makes them used. Minor paint imperfections do not affect the value of your vehicle. Its always good to check your Carfax report after having a repair done to make sure they have documented the damage properly. If not you can call Carfax and dispute it. Make sure you have the proper documentation ie: photos and paperwork to prove your claim. And remember: Don’t paint your car try PDR.