[jarzo]

Hi,

I'm just thinking ahead to the day that I sell my JK. When looking at used cars I've noticed a few Carfax reports, which indicate that an oil change, etc was performed by the dealership.

If I take my Wrangler to the Jeep dealership for an oil change, is there anything I need to tell them so it's reported on the Carfax?

Can I take it somewhere else and still have it reflected within the Carfax?

Yes, I can do it myself and keep the receipts. But, I'd prefer for it to be recorded on the Carfax report.

Thx

 

[sloSS]

Years ago I worked for a dealer and a claim to fame of the service department was they reported all service work to CarFax for the purpose of improving your resale and trade-in value.
Ask your dealer if they do this or perhaps suggest it to the general manager for the purpose of customer retention and satisfaction.
If they don't do it, have the oil changed at a facility that reports all their service work to CarFax.
A few dealers do this, most don't.
Congrats on the new Jeep!

 

[5Horizons]

My other vehicle is a VW, and they put everything on Carfax. All maintenance, oil changes, etc. I hope Jeep does this as well. That way there's never a question.

 

[2five22]

If you want resale value, it is incumbent on you to save all the receipts of all work done. Carfax is meaningless to many buyers and I wouldn't trust them to accurately track it.

 

[kik]

If you want resale value, it is incumbent on you to save all the receipts of all work done. Carfax is meaningless to many buyers and I wouldn't trust them to accurately track it.

This is it, on the money.

 

[Resist]

Yes, I can do it myself and keep the receipts. But, I'd prefer for it to be recorded on the Carfax report.

Believe me, it's not that critical to have oil changes reflected on Carfax. I wouldn't worry about it. Save yourself some money and change the oil yourself.

 

[JeeperKreepers]

I would just call Carfax and tell them when you change the oil.

 

[rtkane]

I'm selling a 2008 Honda Pilot with 52k miles on it. Changed the oil religiously at a jiffy lube type place local to me. Not a single oil change was recorded. Fortunately I have every single service receipt.

On the other hand, one day when my wife was out and about, when she was backing up from a parking spot, some idiot didn't see her halfway out and backed up into her. The ONLY thing that happened was a crack in the tail light. Cost me $75 to replace but because the other driver insisted on having to report the accident to the police (no damage was done other than the cracked light) Carfax now shows it as being in a car accident. While technically true, the reality is that it severely affects what people think when they see that report for a non-issue.

Fortunately I made our insurance company document the damage so I do have a report from the adjuster showing it was only a tail light, but it still sucks having to explain it.

Moral of the story--Carfax doesn't give you a true picture of what a car's history is, so be wary of whatever is (or isn't) in the report (and if you're buying a used Honda Pilot in NJ I'll give you a good deal! Only 1 accident!!!).

 

[Jim85933]

I disagree. Carfax is an excellent source of history , and I would never buy a vehicle without a carfax report

 

[Old Dogger]

I disagree. Carfax is an excellent source of history , and I would never buy a vehicle without a carfax report

Welcome to the Forum, from Cave Creek AZ.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Be careful about filing receipts away for a record - if the only receipt you have is printed on a thermal printer that receipt will turn a dull grey after a few years and all the information on it will disappear. To overcome this, make a good copy of the receipt with a good ink-jet or laser copier.

 

[USStrongman]

I disagree. Carfax is an excellent source of history , and I would never buy a vehicle without a carfax report

What others are saying is that it "can be" an excellent source of history, but since CF doesn't tell you exactly what happened in an accident ($75 tail light lens vs a bent frame and 25lbs of bondo) the information is only as good as what is given. In the above case, it wasn't remotely accurate.

 

[AlaskaErik]

I disagree. Carfax is an excellent source of history , and I would never buy a vehicle without a carfax report

Carfax is only as good as the information it receives. My truck had a bashed in rear panel that was repaired by an auto body shop. It was never reported to Carfax.

 

[the_saint]

Be careful about filing receipts away for a record - if the only receipt you have is printed on a thermal printer that receipt will turn a dull grey after a few years and all the information on it will disappear. To overcome this, make a good copy of the receipt with a good ink-jet or laser copier.

QFT! Faded / non-readable receipts are not that helpful.

Not a Jeep, but when I sold my 2004 Subaru STi last year I supplied the new owner with EVERY receipt of oil change/maintenance, upgrades (with receipts of parts purchased and install), dyno sheets, contact for the tuner etc.

Car Fax had half of the work done as I either did work myself or had an independent shop work on the Subaru once off warranty.

The car was being sold exactly as it was : A daily driven car that has seen the track and autocross duty. Have an agreement that if it comes up for sale again to let me know. Would gladly buy it back!

 

[Deen]

I disagree. Carfax is an excellent source of history , and I would never buy a vehicle without a carfax report

There is no legal requirement to report anything to carfax, so it really has no meaning and their money back warranty only pays what you paid for the carfax report. Pretty meaningless to me

 

[ghstrydr]

I had an interesting experience with CarFax recently. I traded in an '09 Frontier Pro 4x for a '14 JK Sahara and only later while look at my truck for sale on the dealer website did I find out that the Frontier had the air bags deployed back in 2011. Now I purchase the the Frontier in 2014 and the CarFax at that time did not show that the air bags had once been deployed. It was on the current report, in fact the CarFax stated that the information was only added regarding the air bags in 2017 that it 3 year after I purchased the truck. Not everything makes it to CarFax in a timely manner, if I had known that the truck once had the air bags deployed I probably would not have purchased it. However, I did have 6 trouble free years of use and the dealer where I traded in the truck did give me a fair trade in value and did not use the air bag deployment to low ball me.

A vehicle history reports helps but it is not the end all for information regarding any vehicle. It is just one more piece of information to use as you make the decision to purchase or not.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Your probably more likely to be hurt some how by the dealer doing your oil changes then you are by doing it yourself and not having it documented on Carfax.