Carfax

San Jose, CA: (May-11-07) In a class action lawsuit filed against Carfax, class members claimed that Carfax, which sold vehicle histories to consumers worried about buying used cars, and deceived customers by concealing the limits on the information it collected about crash damage. Carfax was guilty of leading customers into believing that they were getting a thorough check of a vehicle's history, while in fact, it did not have access to police accident reports from Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. In a settlement reached, consumers who bought a report from Carfax before Oct. 27, 2006, would receive a coupon that provides them with two free Carfax vehicle history reports in the first year after final approval of the settlement or one free report within two years. The settlement would translate into a $20 payout to each Carfax customer and $566,000 as legal fees. [MERCURY NEWS: CARFAX SETTLEMENT]