[Frosty]

Mods - I'm putting this here as I felt it was something owners may want to look for but if you feel it should be in off topic feel free to move it there.

So, I may the only person living under this rock but I just learned, over the weekend, that PDR (paintless dent repair) can be recorded on systems like carfax and autocheck and it shows up as a minor accident. I had no clue it would tag the car with an accident or I never would have done the repairs through a company and would have just tackled it myself or found someone to do it off the record. I found out when selling our Durango RT. KBB was showing $30K for trade in value but I kept getting offers from Carvana, Vroom, givemeyourvin, etc of low $20's. A little frustrated I took the vehicle to my local Dodge dealership and they offered to buy it for something I felt was more reasonable (still less than the $30K though). I was really surprised when the appraiser wanted to talk to me about it's previous accident. I assured him, being the only owner of the SUV, that it had never been in an accident. He then showed me the carfax that showed an accident a little over a year ago. Now all those low offers made more sense. I gave him the a copy of the PDR invoice that matched the timeline and he's keeping it with the car for the next owners and to help easy a potential buyers concerns on the vehicle. As such he increased their initial offer a couple grand and I took it just to be done with things.

What happened was that we had some very minor hail damage but enough that it bugged my wife. We took it to a PDR specialist and had it fixed. Was less than $2K to have the about dozen or so hail dents (could only be seen in specific lighting), a couple door dings removed and to have the headliner reattached in the rear (they said a magnet or clamp had come loose so it was sagging a bit in the back). So, all in all, basically just the "we're anal about our car" work done. No paint work or removal of any panels even.

I felt I would post as I was thinking of having the same thing done to my hellcat as it has a couple door dings that drive me nuts. They are stupid small but I know they are there. Now, I have to think twice about it. Accident on a Durango's history isn't the end of the world, even though it does reduce value, but I've gotta assume an accident on a HC's report will significantly reduce it's value and/or make it way harder to sale down the road. As such, I wanted to advise on this incase it wasn't a one off situation so others knew about it.

Hopefully, I'm just the only one naive to this but figured I'd share.

 

[OldMoparGuy]

I would think if you went through insurance it would show up on a report but if no claim, no harm?

 

[Under-Pressure]

Thanks for sharing this!! I will check if my PDR guy shares this info & has a good dental plan if he does.

 

[Unavowed]

Was you job paid out of pocket or through an insurance claim? If the former, I'd be pissed. If the latter, that's what I'd expect. I assume the "accident" history of a CarFax report is really a VIN history of insurance claims.

 

[usmc341]

Mods - I'm putting this here as I felt it was something owners may want to look for but if you feel it should be in off topic feel free to move it there.

So, I may the only person living under this rock but I just learned, over the weekend, that PDR (paintless dent repair) can be recorded on systems like carfax and autocheck and it shows up as a minor accident. I had no clue it would tag the car with an accident or I never would have done the repairs through a company and would have just tackled it myself or found someone to do it off the record. I found out when selling our Durango RT. KBB was showing $30K for trade in value but I kept getting offers from Carvana, Vroom, givemeyourvin, etc of low $20's. A little frustrated I took the vehicle to my local Dodge dealership and they offered to buy it for something I felt was more reasonable (still less than the $30K though). I was really surprised when the appraiser wanted to talk to me about it's previous accident. I assured him, being the only owner of the SUV, that it had never been in an accident. He then showed me the carfax that showed an accident a little over a year ago. Now all those low offers made more sense. I gave him the a copy of the PDR invoice that matched the timeline and he's keeping it with the car for the next owners and to help easy a potential buyers concerns on the vehicle. As such he increased their initial offer a couple grand and I took it just to be done with things.

What happened was that we had some very minor hail damage but enough that it bugged my wife. We took it to a PDR specialist and had it fixed. Was less than $2K to have the about dozen or so hail dents (could only be seen in specific lighting), a couple door dings removed and to have the headliner reattached in the rear (they said a magnet or clamp had come loose so it was sagging a bit in the back). So, all in all, basically just the "we're anal about our car" work done. No paint work or removal of any panels even.

I felt I would post as I was thinking of having the same thing done to my hellcat as it has a couple door dings that drive me nuts. They are stupid small but I know they are there. Now, I have to think twice about it. Accident on a Durango's history isn't the end of the world, even though it does reduce value, but I've gotta assume an accident on a HC's report will significantly reduce it's value and/or make it way harder to sale down the road. As such, I wanted to advise on this incase it wasn't a one off situation so others knew about it.

Hopefully, I'm just the only one naive to this but figured I'd share.

Maybe I missed it but did you go through insurance or pay cash? A cash repair should not show up on Carfax.

 

[2ndAmend]

Good info, thanks for the post. PDR is amazing, I was driving down my street in my 2 week old HC and an acorn dropped and dented the hood!!! 😡 Fortunately PDR for $150 and no one will ever know!

I have a $1k deductible because I avoid insu are much as possible. But if someone bumps you now I know I'm screwed!

 

[Under-Pressure]

Insane that you have to take a diminished value hit for PDR work. Do you think ANY dealer informs anyone of new cars damaged on the lots and fixed. These diminished value games should apply to NEW cars also. I will gladly take a 10K discount on a new car for repaired door dings.

 

[2ndgen]

While I was parked, the lady next to me backed out and cut too soon and dinged my left rear quarter panel and bumper. Tiny unnoticeable crease, and scraped the paint clear through. You wouldn't know it was there unless I pointed it out to you. Clearly her fault, no significant damage (just cosmetic), but it's still a $2500 repair estimate. But because this went through insurance (mine and hers ultimately), I know this will show up on future car history reports--but that's why you can also put in a dimunition of value claim to cover that difference.
So, the big question for me is figuring out just how much reduction in value the incident will cause if I ever do go to sell it. If a mere PDR for a door ding showing up in a carfax drops it over $10k in value...

 

[Frosty]

I did use insurance so maybe out of pocket wouldn't have hit it. I've always been told it's the shops that report to carfax but maybe it's both. I know neither the shop or insurance said anything about carfax. Just don't know why something like a windshield replacement doesn't hit as an accident but PDR would.

Lesson learned for me to at least ask those questions now and get it in writing.

Told someone on my son's baseball team about this and he ran into the same issue trading his truck in about 6 months ago for their new car. I wish I had a vin or two of cars I know got damaged while new at some dealerships to see if they were tagged to.

 

[snobrdrdan]

Pay cash, no paper trail = problem solved

 

[Slidd]

Pay cash, no paper trail = problem solved

Unless you received that cash from an insurance company or there was a police report filed on the incident.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Under-Pressure]

Well it looks like CarFax is intertwined with most of the shop management systems shops are using. Your Vin # & info are being mined behind the scenes. Thanks big tech!

 

[Kru510]

Mods - I'm putting this here as I felt it was something owners may want to look for but if you feel it should be in off topic feel free to move it there.

So, I may the only person living under this rock but I just learned, over the weekend, that PDR (paintless dent repair) can be recorded on systems like carfax and autocheck and it shows up as a minor accident. I had no clue it would tag the car with an accident or I never would have done the repairs through a company and would have just tackled it myself or found someone to do it off the record. I found out when selling our Durango RT. KBB was showing $30K for trade in value but I kept getting offers from Carvana, Vroom, givemeyourvin, etc of low $20's. A little frustrated I took the vehicle to my local Dodge dealership and they offered to buy it for something I felt was more reasonable (still less than the $30K though). I was really surprised when the appraiser wanted to talk to me about it's previous accident. I assured him, being the only owner of the SUV, that it had never been in an accident. He then showed me the carfax that showed an accident a little over a year ago. Now all those low offers made more sense. I gave him the a copy of the PDR invoice that matched the timeline and he's keeping it with the car for the next owners and to help easy a potential buyers concerns on the vehicle. As such he increased their initial offer a couple grand and I took it just to be done with things.

What happened was that we had some very minor hail damage but enough that it bugged my wife. We took it to a PDR specialist and had it fixed. Was less than $2K to have the about dozen or so hail dents (could only be seen in specific lighting), a couple door dings removed and to have the headliner reattached in the rear (they said a magnet or clamp had come loose so it was sagging a bit in the back). So, all in all, basically just the "we're anal about our car" work done. No paint work or removal of any panels even.

I felt I would post as I was thinking of having the same thing done to my hellcat as it has a couple door dings that drive me nuts. They are stupid small but I know they are there. Now, I have to think twice about it. Accident on a Durango's history isn't the end of the world, even though it does reduce value, but I've gotta assume an accident on a HC's report will significantly reduce it's value and/or make it way harder to sale down the road. As such, I wanted to advise on this incase it wasn't a one off situation so others knew about it.

Hopefully, I'm just the only one naive to this but figured I'd share.

Same thing happened with me had a ding done and they tagged it as a accident. I was going to sell my car but they were giving me like 40K for a 2019 Challenger Hellcat wide body with 3,000 miles on it. I'm just going to keep it. CARFAX is full of shit.

 

[2ndAmend]

This is a great thread. For a small ding, make a cash deal with the jerk, give him a discount, nothing on his record, nothing on your car's record.

Think about what the NSA has on every one of us!

 

[Kru510]

This is a great thread. For a small ding, make a cash deal with the jerk, give him a discount, nothing on his record, nothing on your car's record.

Think about what the NSA has on every one of us!

What's crazy is my repair was done at the dealership body shop

 

[Ron b]

A door ding is a long way from hail damage.

 

[Frosty]

A door ding is a long way from hail damage.

Not always. Sometimes that door ding can be harder to repair and worse than a hail dent. Like in our case. It was nickel size hail and the dents were only noticeable in certain lights. No paint issues at all. I've got a door ding in my HC that drives me NUTS and would be much harder to repair than any of the hail damage we had repaired on the Durango. It's not super deep but it's right in the crease on the body line of the rear quarter. Was going to have fixed but now second guess that thought.

If we are talking golf ball size hail then yes, you are right and I think that is what most peoples minds go to when they think of "hail damage". But the small stuff doesn't do much damage at all.

 

[baabootoo]

LAST February, when I got mine, I got it for a steal because of an unexplained "moderate damage" on Car Fax. After investigating it (and calling local police agencies), and having the car inspected by body shops, it turned out to be hail damage down south. No one found panels replaced, bolts, bondo, etc. The good news is that it had a brand-new paint job in "Tri-Coat Pearl". The bad news.........none yet! Secondly, a local garage who used to do tire work for me (since he runs a top alcohol funny car), mis entered my VIN. When I did a Car Fax, it came back over 104K, which is doesn't have. I had to clear that up and it took a month or so. I am continually stunned how it seems EVERY place screws up.

 

[Ron b]

Not always. Sometimes that door ding can be harder to repair and worse than a hail dent. Like in our case. It was nickel size hail and the dents were only noticeable in certain lights. No paint issues at all. I've got a door ding in my HC that drives me NUTS and would be much harder to repair than any of the hail damage we had repaired on the Durango. It's not super deep but it's right in the crease on the body line of the rear quarter. Was going to have fixed but now second guess that thought.

If we are talking golf ball size hail then yes, you are right and I think that is what most peoples minds go to when they think of "hail damage". But the small stuff doesn't do much damage at all.

Agreed but those reporting agencies don't differentiate and really can't blame them would be impossible to investigate degrees of damage.

My new Red-eye also has a vehicle damage report on Carfax because I had the wheels replaced under warranty because they had chips from the factory.

I contacted them but they said what I told you.
I just kept the paperwork from the dealer detailing the damage and warranty replacement.

 

[59 wagon man]

The dealership must disclose on a specific form if any bodywork was done on a new car on the lot