A Chicago-area man looking to sell a used car is surprised by CARFAX about the vehicle’s history

LAKE ZURICH, Ill. (CBS) – CARFAX and other similar vehicle history services can be a great tool when purchasing a used car.

But a Lake Zurich man said he was paying the price for an update to his report that showed damage to his vehicle for which he was not responsible. In fact, the damage in question occurred before he even owned the car.

That’s why Thomas Riolo of Lake Zurich has a love-hate relationship with his 2015 Nissan Pathfinder.

“It’s a nice, smooth ride,” Riolo said. “You know, otherwise it’s just – now I can’t bear to look at it.

Riolo purchased the used vehicle in 2022 and completed a CARFAX report on the vehicle prior to purchase.

“It said no accidents, nothing to worry about, so I made the purchase,” he said.

But when Riolo recently wanted to sell the car, he noticed a glaring problem in the CARFAX report. Now they say the rear bumper was damaged in 2021 – a year before he even bought the car.

Riolo said updating the CARFAX report drastically reduced the car’s resale value by thousands of dollars.

“It pretty much said my car wasn’t worth anywhere near what it was worth because of an accident,” Riolo said. “I asked myself: What the hell happened? You know, I wouldn’t have bought this car if there had been an accident. There must be a mistake.”

CARFAX said there was no error and is continuing to update Riolo’s vehicle history. The company described its database as “alive and evolving.”

CARFAX said in a statement, in part: “We receive 6 million new records every day, and some data sources may include historical events going back several years in a vehicle’s history.”

“There is no guarantee that everything you receive or learn about a vehicle will be accurate and complete,” said Paul Eisenstein, automotive journalist and editor of Spotlight News.

Eisenstein auto history services like CARFAX should be a first step in purchasing a used car, but also suggest having the car inspected by a mechanic if possible.

“No matter what happens – no matter how good the report comes back from CARFAX, Vincheck or any of the other services – it’s possible there are problems,” he said.

Now Riolo wants his experience to serve as a warning to others.

“More than frustrating, you know? And I’m sure I’m not the only one they did this to,” he said. “I just wanted to make people aware to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

CARFAX also recommends buyers first complete a vehicle history report, but also conduct a thorough test drive – and take the car to a trusted mechanic – before proceeding with the purchase.