TLDR Warning.
Looking at a 2016 ATS-V for sale on an ATS FB group. It is a Sedan with the 6sp with 20k miles and only a tune and not heavily modded, so a rare combination. Car is probably between KBB Excellent and Very Good. Asking price is $5.5k over KBB Excellent top dollar. Seller has been somewhat reluctant to give full information about its history. When I point blank asked about the car's history, if it had a clean Carfax, any mechanical issues, etc. he just said it was a super clean and well cared for car. When I asked if it was a track toy or a Sunday cruise machine he said he did "a couple track days" when he first got it. Overall, the guy has just put off a vibe of reluctance to be fully upfront about the details. So I pull a Carfax before driving 2.5 hours to go see it, and it has "Minor Damage" noted in 2023, and a bunch of failed emissions test in 2022. So I send him the report and ask for details, and he gives me what sounds like a BS story about slowly riding up on a curve and denting a fender, and thus replacing the dented fender. But then he didn't have any pictures of the damage to share. The emissions deal was a plausible story about the tune and doing a battery reset and then repeatedly failing until the cycles reset which I totally believed. The overall sketchy vibe made me decide not to go see the car. Who doesn't keep pictures of car damage from a year ago on their special car? I also figured with the damage on the Carfax, and the fact that the replaced fender will likely not fade at the same rate as the rest of the car's panels, I just figured I would not likely be willing to pay his price.
So we keep conversing, because despite the sketchiness, I am still somewhat interested in the car, but not at his asking price. He does eventually produce pictures of the fender damage, and it appears he was being honest about the source / extent of the damage. It was a slow speed incident with a curb that only did cosmetic damage.
I make an offer I admitted was lower than he would likely entertain, halfway between the KBB top dollar for Excellent and Very Good. Told him it wasn't personal, but regardless of the minor nature of the incident, the Carfax report wasn't going to go away, and there was, in my opinion, a hit on the value due to it.
He contends that the Carfax report is meaningless in the value equation because it was minor damage that he had fixed. He said he arrived at his price based on polling users on various ATS forums / Sites and it is a special car, an ATS-V. (I think I know he did not tell his forum buddies about the replaced fender when he was asking for their thoughts on his car's value).
I have moved on, but would like the board's opinion on the diminished value from a blemish on the Carfax, and the potential color matching issues down the road. It could have a bad match now, I haven't seen it in person and I have no eye for mismatched panels.
Is this car immune to Carfax blemishes? I mean value is subjective and is only real when it matches what someone is willing to pay today. I see his side as a seller, but are their buyers that will blindly ignore the presence of the Carfax ding?
Looking at a 2016 ATS-V for sale on an ATS FB group. It is a Sedan with the 6sp with 20k miles and only a tune and not heavily modded, so a rare combination. Car is probably between KBB Excellent and Very Good. Asking price is $5.5k over KBB Excellent top dollar. Seller has been somewhat reluctant to give full information about its history. When I point blank asked about the car's history, if it had a clean Carfax, any mechanical issues, etc. he just said it was a super clean and well cared for car. When I asked if it was a track toy or a Sunday cruise machine he said he did "a couple track days" when he first got it. Overall, the guy has just put off a vibe of reluctance to be fully upfront about the details. So I pull a Carfax before driving 2.5 hours to go see it, and it has "Minor Damage" noted in 2023, and a bunch of failed emissions test in 2022. So I send him the report and ask for details, and he gives me what sounds like a BS story about slowly riding up on a curve and denting a fender, and thus replacing the dented fender. But then he didn't have any pictures of the damage to share. The emissions deal was a plausible story about the tune and doing a battery reset and then repeatedly failing until the cycles reset which I totally believed. The overall sketchy vibe made me decide not to go see the car. Who doesn't keep pictures of car damage from a year ago on their special car? I also figured with the damage on the Carfax, and the fact that the replaced fender will likely not fade at the same rate as the rest of the car's panels, I just figured I would not likely be willing to pay his price.
So we keep conversing, because despite the sketchiness, I am still somewhat interested in the car, but not at his asking price. He does eventually produce pictures of the fender damage, and it appears he was being honest about the source / extent of the damage. It was a slow speed incident with a curb that only did cosmetic damage.
I make an offer I admitted was lower than he would likely entertain, halfway between the KBB top dollar for Excellent and Very Good. Told him it wasn't personal, but regardless of the minor nature of the incident, the Carfax report wasn't going to go away, and there was, in my opinion, a hit on the value due to it.
He contends that the Carfax report is meaningless in the value equation because it was minor damage that he had fixed. He said he arrived at his price based on polling users on various ATS forums / Sites and it is a special car, an ATS-V. (I think I know he did not tell his forum buddies about the replaced fender when he was asking for their thoughts on his car's value).
I have moved on, but would like the board's opinion on the diminished value from a blemish on the Carfax, and the potential color matching issues down the road. It could have a bad match now, I haven't seen it in person and I have no eye for mismatched panels.
Is this car immune to Carfax blemishes? I mean value is subjective and is only real when it matches what someone is willing to pay today. I see his side as a seller, but are their buyers that will blindly ignore the presence of the Carfax ding?