"Pszemol" <Pszemol@PolBox.com> wrote in
news:gs1h3j.130.0@poczta.onet.pl:

> "Leftie" <No@Thanks.net> wrote in message
> news:hYPDl.12903$FR3.4364@newsfe04.iad...
>> honda.lioness@gmail.com wrote:
>>> On Apr 9, 5:16 pm, Leftie <N...@Thanks.net> wrote:
>>>> I got a refund from Carfax when I bought my '95 Civic EX. It
>>>> was
>>>> listed as one owner when it fact I was buying it from the third
>>>> owner. They snidely asked me if I didn't think the report was worth
>>>> *anything* and I replied that since I couldn't trust the info, no.
>>>> So they refunded my fee.
>>>
>>> How did you find out it had had three owners before you?
>>>
>>> I hear autocheck.com is better than carfax.com
>>
>>
>> The guy I bought it from had bought it from his uncle three years
>> earlier. Same last name, different first. The owner's manual had the
>> name of a third person written in it, and the kid (a college student
>> moving back out West - I got a good deal because it was a risky sale
>> but the car was rust-free and under book, with a new clutch and
>> transmission) confirmed that his uncle had bought it slightly used.
>> So Carfax had no excuse for calling it a "One Owner!" car.
>
> The question is - how carfax can know if you buy a car from family
> relative and do not change the plates or pay taxes?? People often
> avoid doing paperwork to save themselves the money related to
> the name flip. So if he did not re-register the car after the
> transaction within the family, carfax was not wrong saying 1-owner.



If one family member "buys" the car from another member but never changes
the legal ownership, it is NOT a legal ownership transfer. The car is still
legally owned by the person shown on the ownership papers, whom the family
now considers the "previous" owner.

The family may consider the car "owned" by the current "owner", but the
government and insurance company most certainly will not accept that as
legal if the legal papers are in the "previous" owner's name.

If there is in fact a LEGAL transfer of ownership, the the ownership papers
will reflect that fact, showing the name of the new owner. This may also
entail tax payments, new plates and other such. Some jurisdictions (such as
mine) waive the sales tax when a car is sold from one family member to
another, provided a sworn affidavit is made that the car has been
transferred as a gift, without payment.

However, Carfax must be TOLD of any ownership changes, insurance claims,
emissions failures, etc. If nobody tells, Carfax doesn't know.


--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/