Incorrect or Phantom Carfax "Damage"?

Hi All - 

We are looking to trade in SWMBO's 7 year old SUV.  At the dealer, they wanted to knock $4500 off the trade in price because there is a "damage" entry on the Carfax, dated 3 months after our purchase.  The car has never been in accident, and there is no damage at all in the location indicated on the Carfax.

It just so happens that the car was at this dealer for service *on the exact same date as the damage entry.*  We know this because the service is entered on the Carfax.  The dealer will not admit that it made the damage report to Carfax, and Carfax won't or can't tell us who reported the damage.  There are no police reports or insurance claims being cited.

I am trying to figure out whether this is an accident or epic E36 M3-baggery by the dealer.  We've been going in circles with Carfax trying to have this corrected.  I'm ticked off enough at the dealer that I will go out of my way t buy a car anywhere but there.  The thing is, will another dealer make the same reduction?

Has anyone had this experience with Carfax before? How were you able to resolve it? Any tips would be massively appreciated.

Have they shown you the Carfax?  Most likely the dealer entered incorrect data. 

I'd love for a class action lawsuit against Carfax for this type of BS.

Depends on the severity of the "accident" on Carfax (there are 4 grades).

Dinging you $4500 sounds like more of a negotiation tactic than anything else.

Accidents on Carfax can show up from dubious sources...ever had one of those "free" windshield repair guys approach you? Ever been offered suspiciously cheap hail repair? The grift in both cases is they file a claim with your insurance, which often results in a "damage" report on Carfax.

You're probably not getting the accident removed no matter what you try. I'd  go to Carmax and get an offer in writing. Much easier to negotiate up from that number. 

I just call out the dealer and say bullE36 M3. If they don't want to show or fix it they are being shady and don't want to pay.

Edit-I'd appraise at a different dealer just to see what the amount they come up with.

In reply to Ranger50 :

Absolutely, if it was their shop also, just say "well damn, you guys must have done horrible work 3 years ago"

Small claims court will compel them to either provide proof or remove it.

FWIW was the car in at the dealer for a suspiciously long time when it was serviced? The dealer may have backed into something and repaired it without your knowledge. That's not exactly uncommon.

Unfortunately they don't operate under the same rules as credit report agencies. You might try pulling your lexis nexis report (which by law they have to give you.) They include CLUE which might give you more info on whatever happened.

Thanks guys.     I have concluded that it was likely mistake by the service writer back in 2018.  The dealer staff is trying to be helpful, but I guess to the limit of their competence...  They have contacted Carfax, and we have too, but the issue now is Carfax.  Talking to them is like talking to a wall...

In reply to calteg :

Sadly, having been there with a obviously incorrect carfax, no. 
They are not the company they advertise themselves to be, and, in my case, prevented me from being able to get a $4000 short term loan on a $12,000 truck. 
Since most people think carfax is a honest company. 
I could prove the carfax report was not correct, carfax told me to suck eggs, and won. 

In reply to theruleslawyer :

Not in my experience. They can afford MUCH better lawyers than average folks. And did not mind telling me so. 
Nice to dream, though. 

03Panther said:

In reply to theruleslawyer :

Not in my experience. They can afford MUCH better lawyers than average folks. And did not mind telling me so. 
Nice to dream, though. 

That's the great thing about small claims. You don't need one. It costs like $50 to file and you just show up with your documents. I'm sure they like to intimidate you, but if they are fraudulently representing your car and it is costing you thousands in value it is probably worth a shot. The least you'll get out of it is a real explanation of where that accident was reported. Heck they may just clean the report when they get served to avoid paying a lawyer.

i had an issue where the dealer fat-fingered the odometer entry when they programmed a new key for me.  a few months later i got the car appraised for trade-in at a different dealer and this guy told me there was a flag on the CarFax for odometer tampering. the only way to clean up the CarFax was for the first dealer to contact CarFax and provide an explanation, which they did without any headache.  i think it took a week and a few phone calls but they were fairly apologetic about it.

if necessary, yeah, i'd have an attorney send the dealer a letter requesting all records of said damage which surely occurred while they had your car in their service department.  or some other lawyery stuff.

I had a former Florida Highway Patrol Mustang.  The title had on it that it was a former state vehicle, and Carfax reported it as a branded title.  It took a while, but was a pain to fix with them.  I provided copies of the old title, new title to prove that it wasn't a branded title at all.  I'm really glad I checked the Carfax before I sold it, I never would have known about the issue!