Wednesday, March 12, 2008
[auto] More Damaged Cars Being Sold
A new Carfax.com study shows that the
number of "salvaged" cars checked by the company's customers increased 50% in five years.
This is big news and worth any consumer's time.
A salvaged car is one that has essentially been damaged to a point related to its value. That percentage varies from state to state and the calculation methods used vary from company to company. It obviously benefits some companies, such as an insurance company, to avoid declaring the car as a salvage vehicle and instead repair the vehicle.
But even when cars and light trucks were reported to the state as salvaged, they were often transported to other states where reporting requirements or other technicalities allowed someone to sell the car without disclosing the extensive damage. This practice is called "title washing", and while still seen today, companies like Carfax that pioneered the concept of national vehicle history, have surely cut down on the number of such vehicles.
Those salvage cars are out there, however, and the volume surprised Carfax, which eats, breathes and sleeps vehicle history information.
"This problem is more widespread than we previously thought," said Larry Gamache, Carfax's communications director in a statement. "Based on our data, the number one concern consumers should have right now, even above flood damage, is unknowingly buying a used car that was badly damaged in an accident. Buying a salvaged car may not be a bad investment, but you must make sure you're aware of any prior damage and, more importantly, see that the proper repairs were made.
Labels: autos, carfax, safety, vehicle
Monday, October 01, 2007
Cars To Have Additional Protection By 2013
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a directive stating that all passenger vehicles sold in the US by model year 2012 (typically in fall of the previous year) have new protection.
Head protection, sometimes called side curtain protection, is due to be phased in for 2010 model vehicles, just two years away. Full implantation throughout all new car models is due two years later.
Side protection is becoming more common in safety-conscious buyers, who until now have paid a premium for the protection in either higher vehicle prices or in a more expensive trim package that offers the additional protection.
Approximately half of 2008 model vehicles offer some sort of side protection. The federal agency said that hundreds of lives could be saved with full implementation.
Labels: autos, NHTSA, safety
Monday, May 07, 2007
Free Airbag Deployment Goes Live At Carfax
Industry experts estimate that as many as one out of 25 previously damaged vehicles may have non-functional air bags. Con men purposely replace deployed air bags with anything from packing peanuts to stolen units. This growing scam is threatening the lives of used car buyers everywhere. To help consumers protect themselves, Carfax now makes the air bag deployment information in its database available for
free.
“No question, air bags are a lifesaver,” said Larry Gamache, communications director at Carfax. “To best protect yourself, follow these two important steps: Use the free Carfax air bag check and always have your mechanic test the air bag system to ensure it’s functioning properly before you buy. Do not assume your car’s air bags will deploy when you need them, because most victims of this scam may never know until it’s too late.”
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, nearly 20,000 lives have been saved by air bags deploying in an accident. As the height of used car buying season quickly approaches, consumers need to be on the lookout for scams like air bag fraud that can threaten their safety.
“While we don’t know about every air bag deployment, we want consumers to have access to what we do know,” added Gamache. “We also encourage all of our customers who have information about a previous air bag deployment not currently in our database to tell us so we can further help consumers steer clear of this scam.”
Consumers can log on to
www.carfax.com/airbag to access the free Carfax air bag check and can report air bag deployment information using the “Tell Us What You Know” link on all consumer-purchased Carfax Vehicle History Reports.
Labels: autos, carfax
A new Carfax.com study shows that the number of "salvaged" cars checked by the company's customers increased 50% in five years.
