Don’t sign those Carfax Reports! As you may know, at the end of a Carfax Report, there is a signature line for the customer to sign and next to it there is a signature line for the dealership representative to sign. Some dealerships feel that it is necessary that they counter sign the Carfax Report. However, dealerships need to steer clear of this practice. Dealers are neither representatives of Carfax nor can they vouch for the accuracy of its reports, which can sometimes be inconsistent. Indeed, Carfax Reports (as well as Autocheck Reports) are not always accurate or complete.
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Plaintiff’s lawyers claim that by signing a Carfax report the dealer implied that they endorsed the accuracy of the information contained within it. This could lead to legal complications. The only reason the consumer signs the Carfax reports is for the dealer to confirm that the consumer received a copy of the Carfax report. The best practice is to have the consumer sign ALL of the pages of the report, as plaintiff’s lawyers sometimes claim that the consumer was not provided the full report and the dealer had the consumer sign just the last page.
To avoid potential legal issues and claimed misrepresentation, dealerships should avoid signing Carfax and Autocheck reports. For more complete disclosures as well as disclosures that are designed to defeat plaintiff’s lawyers’ fake claims, use your DealerXT software.
