CarFax - Some, Not All, Of The Facts

by Lina Maini



For a variety of reasons (defect history, ownership records, prior accidents...) attorneys often turn to Carfax for vehicle background checks in MVA-related incidents, car purchases and increasingly, in bad faith online car sales actions (usually processed through ebay).

Carfax is a private corporation; compliance is voluntary. Many dealerships join Carfax to lend credibility to their merchandise and often, potential buyers uncover previously unknown details that influence his or her purchasing decision. CarFax legitimately compiles as much information as is publicly available on vehicles in their registry but Carfax should never be mistaken for a governmental agency or presumed to provide complete and vetted information. It is simply a general-access information tool (albeit one of the better ones available) and should be treated accordingly - as a starting point in any vehicle investigation or research.

Be thorough and use a variety of sources such as:

- the owner's personal records
- your state's DMV records
- safercar.gov (a division of the NHTSA) for vehicle recalls and defect records

BNI Operatives: Street smart; Web savvy.

As always, stay safe.

Accident Report Cheat Sheet

In any lawsuit involving an MVA, one of the the most important initial tools required is the accident report. A completed MV-104A New York State Department of Motor Vehicles POLICE ACCIDENT REPORT (PAR) establishes that a) an accident did in fact occur, b) your client was somehow involved in said accident and c) the factors involved in your client's MVA. It is important for the trial professional to also have the ability, via an "answer sheet", to decode the responding officer's notes on the PAR.

The police lingo for this answer sheet is "flysheet". One simply aligns the category numbers to the correspondingly numbered areas on the actual report and from there decodes the reporting officer' handwritten digits. In the bottom right of the attached flysheet, you will note the words "Cover Sheet" and a white space below that. Generally, that space contains a letter (NYS is currently up to the letter "O") which refers to the model number of the answer sheet. The flysheet is usually only upgraded if a substantial change or category addition is required to the accident report itself. The MV-104 form is used by all New York State agencies authorized to prepare an accident report.