Carfax: Non-collision damage estimate?

[lasimmon]

Whats the story on a non-collision damage estimate? I am looking at a 2012 VW golf and the price is ok, but the carfax has this stated on it for $3,873.03.

https://vhr.carfax.ca/main?id=RdNGQ5QWXGx%2bSloBf6l9KRl5Ksb29bNS

The guy mentioned its been fixed to OEM spec. Sort of wondering if its worth going to take a look at it or not. Currently has about 115,000 km.

[corsvette]

Likely a vandalism or storm damage claim.

[Disoblige]

I mean, your best bet really is getting that info from the previous owner which I'm sure you tried already. Otherwise your guess is as good as ours. That claim doesn't look like much, but I would be interested in where the repairs occurred at to get a better idea if it's OK or not.
I'm assuming this car is going for pretty dirt cheap for you to consider it. I'd guess something around $7,500 or less?

[Mitsu3000gt]

If the owner can't provide detail on what was fixed as well as when and were it was fixed, it would be a hard pass for me. Also if it was anything more than purely cosmetic it would also be a hard pass. $4K is a fair bit of damage on a Golf - I would want to know exactly what happened. If it was anything on the metal I would pass, if it was replacing bumpers/plastic/headlights that would be OK IMO.

[lasimmon]

Ok that all makes sense. I was sort of wondering if non-collision would mean like Hail or something.

[Masked Bandit]

In Southern Alberta, my guess would be hail.

[C4S]

Just $4K, don't worry about it.

Nowadays, $10K claim is tiny .. someone "slide" to my car when stopped last fall, a new door panel, fender, wheel + tire, over $10K .. :banghead::facepalm:

[The_Penguin]

4k is nothing. When I traded in my CTS, there were 3 claims, 2 really minor collisions 1 rear-ender at low speed (trunk, rear bumper and misc other stuff) was $13,107 1 really low-speed sideswipe in a parking lot (both passenger side doors and rear quarter) was $13,540 and the 2016 hailapalooza fix was $9328. The car looked immaculate as the work was all done by a really good shop.

[RX_EVOLV]

Yep $4K is nothing.

Scratched up the bumper and one of the headlights on the GLK once... and that was $3800.

[Mitsu3000gt]

It's body/metal damage that I would be worried about. It's easy to get to $10K+ in headlights, sensors, bumper (full replacement), etc. A 4" piece of plastic on the front of my Civic was $250, and on nicer cars it's probably double that. 2 headlight assemblies for my S4 were over $5K. None of that is a big deal because you can replace the entire component without reducing the quality of the car whatsoever, but if they are repairing body panels or any part of the actual metal structure of the car, that's a hard pass for me. Plenty of other cars out there that won't be at risk of body issues down the road or have a giant hail claim on the carproof.