Carfax fail - The importance of data redundancy.

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Aug 11, 2014
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Location
Virginia, USA
TL;DR: Make sure you don’t just use one application for tracking your service records.

This morning I logged into my Carfax app to put in an oil change that I did yesterday. Carfax has lost ALL DIY records related to my daily driver. Luckily, I use multiple apps and lower tech ways of tracking my DIY maintenance so all is not lost.

Weirdly, they have everything for my other cars but not for my Toyota anymore.

My Toyota now looks like a horribly maintained vehicle (see screenshot). :)
 

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I was once able to use their site to log in my own maintenance/services but now I can't.
I don't have the mobile app. To me, this is only important for resale of a vehicle. It's nice for the potential buyer.
 
OP- sorry this happened to you.

Can someone validate the do it yourself entries are visible to others on Carfax?

I thought I read somewhere that DIY Carfax entries are only visible for the person entering the repair/ maintenance, if your next door neighbor pulled a carfax (or dealer, etc) they could not see a DIY entry. Only entries from a registered service facility can be seen by others on a carfax?
 
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OP- sorry this happened to you.

Can someone validate the do it yourself entries are visible to others on Carfax?

I thought I read somewhere that DIY Carfax entries are only visible for the person entering the repair/ maintenance, if your next door neighbor pulled a carfax (or dealer, etc) they could not see a DIY entry. Only entries from a registered service facility can be seen by others on a carfax?
I don't know but that would make sense.
 
"The importance of data redundancy" pretty much sums it all up. I bet all of us have "been there, done that"!
 
What do you all use to track PM? I used to update a spreadsheet, but have been using Fuelly app for a while now Without issue.
 
I've been using Drivvo app to calculate PM and fuel. It's pretty basic but customizable and you can export data to Excel file. The only caveat is that if you want to track more than 1 vehicle it's $12 a year but so far I like it.

You can create any service type you want and set reminders at whatever intervals you want.

I'll also add that I don't record it for resell but just for my own peace of mind. Both of my regularly driven vehicles have over 250,000 miles and aren't worth much to anyone but me.
 
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This is why I use an Excel spreadsheet for all of my services, even non-DIY. It's simple to update and save.If I sell a vehicle on Autotrader, I can include photos of the spreadsheets in the online listing.
 
I hang on the vehicles for so long it doesn’t really matter. The resale value is going be so low that it is irrelevant. The last vehicle I sold had over 200K miles. I had little to no services records. When they questioned the maintenance history, I said it wouldn’t have made it to +200K in the shape it was in if I hadn’t been taking care of it. Kind of hard to refute.
 
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