Does a Paintless Dent Repair Estimate affect your CarFax Report?

In other words, if you schedule an appointment for an estimate to get dent damage fixed on your vehicle, will the auto body shop, Paintless Dent Repair shop, or dealership report the inspection of damages?

No.

If you come in after getting a door ding, hitting your mailbox, etc for a dent repair estimate it would not go on your CarFax. If there is no report of an accident, there is no proof of an accident.

This is what CARFAX says about what gets reported and by whom:

CARFAX does not have the complete history of every vehicle. A CARFAX Vehicle History Report is based only on information supplied to CARFAX. Other information about the vehicle, including problems, may not have been reported to CARFAX.

What Does CARFAX Actually Report and How?

CarFax gets its information from multiple sources and there is no 100% guarantee that everything will be documented. We hope the information we provide below will help answer a few of your questions.

Is Cosmetic Damage Reported to CARFAX?

If you are worried that every little cosmetic repair that you make to your vehicle will be reported to CarFax, this should put your mind at ease.

One of the most amazing things about getting your vehicle repaired with Paintless Dent Repair is that once the vehicle has been repaired, the condition will be just as it was before it was damaged. As long as there wasn’t any paint damage such as scratching, lifting, bubbling or chipping, the original paint warranty from the manufacturer of your vehicle stays intact.

Does CARFAX have information about accidents?

If the accident has not been reported to a source to which CarFax does not have access to, it will not show up on your vehicle’s CarFax Report.

In fact, most auto body shops and Paintless Dent Repair shops will not report any records to CarFax. If they report anything at all, the repairs are often documented as “Vehicle serviced.”

If the accident involved a police report and the accident was reported to either insurance agency, and if the damage was so severe that the car was determined to be “totaled,” the chances are good that it will show up on a CarFax.

What DOES show up on your Vehicles CARFAX?

Again, to make this article even more confusing, please understand that nothing is 100% guaranteed but the following are the most likely to show up on your vehicle’s CarFax Report.

Previous wrecks that have compromised the frame, structural integrity of the vehicle or whether or not the airbags have been deployed.

Odometer records.

DMV branding of a title due to flooding, fire or salvage.

Lemon status or cars that have been recalled or repurchased by dealers due to major issues.

A history of previous owners and whether the vehicle was used as a rental, leased or corporate car.

Service and maintenance records.

Dealer warranty information.

Safety recalls and reliability ratings.

To learn more about CarFax reporting, give us a call and we will do the best we can to help answer all of your questions.