Is CARFAX Still a Thing?

[Captante]

I bet if I take a poll of 100 people using their service department and 100 people buying brand new vehicles and ask them if they are aware of that BMW, or in this case Hendrick's Corporation, is sending Carfax data on your vehicle, or the vehicle you are about to buy and do so on a monthly, or some scheduled basis, I bet they will tell me they were just as ignorant as I am. But, let me doing something here and see if I can get a response from BMW USA or the Hendricks Corp that owns my particular BMW dealership. I'm curious to hear it from the horses mouth and learn exactly how long this has been going on.

Not to imply that I think any violation of privacy especially without any kind of consent is okay btw. I've just become numb to it I suppose.

Also while I've come to expect the "general public" to be shocked and dismayed about this sort of thing... I expect better from my fellow propeller-head's around this place where I had assumed this stuff was common knowledge!

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I do not mind it when I agree to something going in, such as buying a house in my county makes the sale, value and history public information, but this wasn't something disclosed. I went ahead and sent inquiries just now to both BMW USA and the Penske Automotive Privacy contact. Let's see what comes of it if anything.

BTW, I was one of those types that way back in 2000 when TiVo-equipped DirecTV DVRs had a dialup modem wouldn't connect them. Even the more modern units with an Ethernet port I do not connect them. But I do understand ahead of time that streaming is a different beast. But that beast was made aware to me ahead of time.

 

[manly]

Not to imply that I think any violation of privacy especially without any kind of consent is okay btw. I've just become numb to it I suppose.

Also while I've come to expect the "general public" to be shocked and dismayed about this sort of thing... I expect better from my fellow propeller-head's around this place where I had assumed this stuff was common knowledge!

Is it really a violation, though? Look I'm not trying to defend CARFAX and it's no joy to know all of our data exists in multiple corporate databases. The service data in a CARFAX report is pretty minimal, but more to the point do I actually own it? I own my car, but I took it to the stealership so they recorded the mileage and what the service job entailed. Who truly owns that data? A small portion of this detail is then sold to CARFAX. As long as there is no personally identifiable information that points back to me in any way, I'm not that concerned. If his dealership hadn't notified him, the op would have never even known! I've seen free CARFAX reports linked from active sale listings; soon after the vehicle is sold, the URL no longer works. You'd have to know the VIN and pay for a report.

And yeah we are numb to it, and have to pick our battles. Some are more privacy-focused than others. If it really bothers you, obviously you'd avoid any car dealership's service department (not just BMW). Indy mechanics are good, but even they use computers! So you'd have to convince them to NOT capture your personal info; or you can service the car yourself at home. Some old-school shops still use carbon-transfer documents instead of computer software. I know when I got oil changes done at the local Firestone, my auto insurance company would attain the odometer reading to use as a rating factor.

 

[ElFenix]

autocheck is better in my experience.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Well, BMW USA responded late yesterday saying the act of taking customer information and providing it to the likes of Carfax is a local dealer thing and not conducted by nor endorsed by BMW USA. That is good to know. I have yet to get a response from the Penske Automotive group, which is now the focus of the informational transfer initiative. At least I know what to be on the lookout for going forward, and if I do get another BMW, it won't be with this particular Penske owned dealership.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I just got a response from Penske Automotive. They referred me to my individual dealership policy in regards to how they use, share and protect customer personal information, BUT they do sometimes share such information with the like of Carfax. So, it isn't just information on the products and services haven been sold, but customer information as well. The email went on to say I can opt-out of receiving emails, but no where and no time can I opt out of having my information from being shared.

That settles that. This seems like a case for a grass roots legislation on privacy. It'll never happen, though, because not enough people care. So, as the wife, we have terminated business with Penske dealerships.

BTW, it isn't that they had been doing this for awhile and to my ignorance, but that they strive to not openly inform you of such things, do not provide an opt-out option, and basically sell my information as their product.