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CarFAX, hit and run question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Rhino, Jan 7, 2010.

  1. Rhino

    Rhino New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    So someone scraped my 3 week old 2010 Prius in the parking lot with their car. No dents. Heavy scrape on back door, front door, front quarter panel. No dents at all. In the old days, I think sanding, filling a bit and a repainting would fix everything. They did not leave any notes, I never figured out who did it.

    So I reported it to the police, insurance. Did everything by the books. The car is fixed after $1800 from the insurance company to their approved repair site. They ordered new body panels from Toyota and everything is brand new looking again. The repair from the accident center which fixed the car and which is in direct communication with my insurance said my car was T-boned which seems excessive but maybe it was put on to justify the cost.

    In the future, when I try to sell the car, will there be a Car FAX (or something comparable) report indicating my car was in an accident and was T boned. Does Car FAX differentiate between a crash and a parking lot scrape?

    The reason I am concerned is that it was a scrape - not like the frame was bent out of shape of anything. No dents were deeper than 1/8 of an inch. Just a series of long scrapes down the side of a car. The tires are not touched. The high cost is the cost of authentic Toyota body panels. With a Car FAX report, it would seem that my car was in a serious accident with someone ramming me on the side and this inaccurate assessment may bring down the value of the car.

    I was wondering what I can do to protect myself. I saved all the paperwork. I suppose it wouldn't matter if I try to sell my car to a used car dealer 5 years from now. They probably just based the price on some standard like bluebook + carfax.

    I guess it is bad for me all around and what is lost is lost. It just seems like the damage was more than just the repair. Now my car has a history.

    Your wisdom and experience would be appreciated.

    To summarize: Q1: will there be a car fax report? Q2: is there anyway to lessen the impact of such a report other than saving all paperwork.

    I am inclined to just leave it as is. Nothing I can do. Don't want to waste time correcting a report now for some future gain in car value when the future buyer may trust the carfax more than me anyway.
     
    #1 Rhino, Jan 7, 2010
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    This is the concept of diminished value. In theory you can receive compensation, but in practice you don't have much of a chance in your situation.

    Tom
     
    #2 qbee42, Jan 7, 2010
  3. Darwood

    Darwood Senior Member

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    I think the police report is the key. That's what the carfax will dig up. The majority of buyers do not use car fax though. Also car fax will see what the officer put down, which should be "scrape" not "T-bone".
     
    #3 Darwood, Jan 7, 2010
  4. risingsun

    risingsun seeker of the way

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    Go on the Toyota Owners website and leave a detailed owner's report on there as a record of what really happened. Not positive that Car Fax will pull this info, but at least it establishes a record of when and what occured, where the damage was on the car, how it was repaired, where it was repaired, etc. It can't hurt.
     
    #4 risingsun, Jan 7, 2010
  5. timo27

    timo27 Member

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    While this may work in your favor, it doesn't show well for carfax--my parents bought a used Corolla after looking at the carfax, and years later, when they were trading it in, found out from another similar service (I forget which one) that in all likelihood the odometer had been rolled back (i.e., it showed up on the logbook or whatever you'd call it as having been in Seattle, Atlanta, DC, East Jehosaphat and a bunch of other places many miles apart with just a few miles difference and a lot of time elapsed). The selling dealer offered more on their trade when presented with the evidence. I think from a buyer's perspective, carfax and the like should be looked at with an eye of "absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence."

    To address your question, did you get pics of the damage before repair? Years down the road, if it still looks nice, and you have paperwork indicating mainly cosmetic repairs, it's quite likely it wouldn't discourage a potential buyer--not like the frame got bent or something. Good luck.
     
    #5 timo27, Jan 7, 2010
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