Will GM dealers enter repairs in carfax??

[Caligirl]

Husband and I are still chasing the elusive misfire, rough idle, P0300 & CEL (and now intermittent stabilitrac service light) on my 2007 Tahoe. He's going to either do some more troubleshooting himself (or his mechanic friend) to continue to try to chase it down. We have a list of potential "fixes." It's loooong

Since we bought it from a daughter of the deceased owner, was not able to ask questions about maintenance/repairs. Looking at how clean the interior and the engine was, I'd have to assume that he took good care of it.

Of course the 1st thought is I'm having the dreaded lifter failure, but we're not getting any sounds/power issues that indicate a lifter failure.

I would love to know what, if anything, was done to it before I bought it (including the known issues that were put out in bulletins that we all now know about).

If this vehicle was serviced at a GM dealership, would any of those fixes (if they were done) likely show up on a carfax report? Maybe I can at least start with some sort of knowledge of what has been done before I purchased it without having to have anyone tear everything apart to find the cause of this dang misfire(s)? Husband hasn't worked on this vehicle before and he thought he could just pop off the spark plugs and wires and change them around to check to see if any were bad haha nope! Doesn't have the fancy boot remover.

 

[Myfirstz71]

There are over 250,000 auto businesses that report to carfax by VIN. Some are more detailed than others, but generally you can get a pretty good snapshot of what was done, and how often. Even from jiffy lube.

If you PM me the VIN and an email address I will see about getting you a PDF of the VHR (vehicle history report) when I’m at work tomorrow.

 

[Geotrash]

Husband and I are still chasing the elusive misfire, rough idle, P0300 & CEL (and now intermittent stabilitrac service light) on my 2007 Tahoe. He's going to either do some more troubleshooting himself (or his mechanic friend) to continue to try to chase it down. We have a list of potential "fixes." It's loooong

Since we bought it from a daughter of the deceased owner, was not able to ask questions about maintenance/repairs. Looking at how clean the interior and the engine was, I'd have to assume that he took good care of it.

Of course the 1st thought is I'm having the dreaded lifter failure, but we're not getting any sounds/power issues that indicate a lifter failure.

I would love to know what, if anything, was done to it before I bought it (including the known issues that were put out in bulletins that we all now know about).

If this vehicle was serviced at a GM dealership, would any of those fixes (if they were done) likely show up on a carfax report? Maybe I can at least start with some sort of knowledge of what has been done before I purchased it without having to have anyone tear everything apart to find the cause of this dang misfire(s)? Husband hasn't worked on this vehicle before and he thought he could just pop off the spark plugs and wires and change them around to check to see if any were bad haha nope! Doesn't have the fancy boot remover.

I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that GM can also provide you with the maintenance history of repairs if they were done at any of their dealers.

 

[Caligirl]

I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that GM can also provide you with the maintenance history of repairs if they were done at any of their dealers.

That's the thing... I called probably 5 or 6 of them in the greater area near where the owner lived and none of them had records. Daughter said he was meticulous about taking it in and getting the oil changes and maintenance at the dealer. And the vehicle on the inside and outside looks virtually new besides for a few gravel chips on windshield and front hood (he lived on a ranch), minor bumper front bumper dings and some now-repaired interior dog chew damage lol. Doesn't even have the nefarious dash crack. I think he kept it garaged because there's no heat damage to anything and for someone who takes that good of care of the inside of the vehicle (besides doggy "love") you'd think there would be records somewhere of what he had done under the hood.

 

[BADRIDES]

We do not report to carfax at the dealership I work at and the only records I would have of a particular vehicle is any warranty work done to it or customer pay work done at my dealership. Our computers are not synced up with other Chevy dealerships to access info.

 

[Caligirl]

We do not report to carfax at the dealership I work at and the only records I would have of a particular vehicle is any warranty work done to it or customer pay work done at my dealership. Our computers are not synced up with other Chevy dealerships to access info.

That's what I suspected and was afraid of...but it is worth a shot. I believe he bought it new and was original owner so maybe some of the problems with that year may have been fixed under warranty? Just grasping at straws at this point. Money fixing it (on the CORRECT issue) is not the issue, it's just the time and anxiety about wondering if it's gonna break down when I'm driving it and have no backup vehicle. Live in a rural area with no bus or uber and too far to walk. We're kind of hoping that it would just take a c*** altogether so that we could figure out what it is.

 

[91RS]

I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that GM can also provide you with the maintenance history of repairs if they were done at any of their dealers.

GM only keeps a record of warranty repairs. The GM report will not show any CP work done.

Carfax only shows information voluntarily reported to it. Carfax is always a good place to start but never ever trust it completely. There are many municipalities and shops in this country that do not report to Carfax and most body shops do not report to Carfax either. When Carfax does have maintenance records, it is generally very vague because it is only as good as the person entering in the information who is usually not a car person.

 

[Geotrash]

GM only keeps a record of warranty repairs. The GM report will not show any CP work done.

Carfax only shows information voluntarily reported to it. Carfax is always a good place to start but never ever trust it completely. There are many municipalities and shops in this country that do not report to Carfax and most body shops do not report to Carfax either. When Carfax does have maintenance records, it is generally very vague because it is only as good as the person entering in the information who is usually not a car person.

Very helpful, thank you.

 

[Caligirl]

GM only keeps a record of warranty repairs. The GM report will not show any CP work done.

Carfax only shows information voluntarily reported to it. Carfax is always a good place to start but never ever trust it completely. There are many municipalities and shops in this country that do not report to Carfax and most body shops do not report to Carfax either. When Carfax does have maintenance records, it is generally very vague because it is only as good as the person entering in the information who is usually not a car person.

Thanks for the info...too bad they don't enter more. What is Carfax good for then? Accident reports to DMV or local authorities?

 

[swathdiver]

Husband and I are still chasing the elusive misfire, rough idle, P0300 & CEL (and now intermittent stabilitrac service light) on my 2007 Tahoe. He's going to either do some more troubleshooting himself (or his mechanic friend) to continue to try to chase it down. We have a list of potential "fixes." It's loooong

Since we bought it from a daughter of the deceased owner, was not able to ask questions about maintenance/repairs. Looking at how clean the interior and the engine was, I'd have to assume that he took good care of it.

Of course the 1st thought is I'm having the dreaded lifter failure, but we're not getting any sounds/power issues that indicate a lifter failure.

I would love to know what, if anything, was done to it before I bought it (including the known issues that were put out in bulletins that we all now know about).

If this vehicle was serviced at a GM dealership, would any of those fixes (if they were done) likely show up on a carfax report? Maybe I can at least start with some sort of knowledge of what has been done before I purchased it without having to have anyone tear everything apart to find the cause of this dang misfire(s)? Husband hasn't worked on this vehicle before and he thought he could just pop off the spark plugs and wires and change them around to check to see if any were bad haha nope! Doesn't have the fancy boot remover.

I used the CarFax for my vehicle to determine which businesses did work to it. Then they were each contacted and they kindly sent me pdfs of the receipts for the work performed. I reckon it's not complete but it sure did answer some questions and provided a good maintenance history.

Now back to the Tahoe, does your husband have a Tech-2 or bi-directional scan tool? A cheap little code reader is not up to the task of properly diagnosing these problems. Do y'all live near Stockton? There's a guy on here with one.