the owner of a Honda CR-V has a friend who owns a body shop, and that person never logs in the data, that the vehicle [the CR-V] was in an accident ???

I imagine that the more minor the accident the easier it is to hide it, if someone chooses to, like when the police do not show up at a more minor accident . . . in fact, now I'm even wondering about the accuracy of odometer reports, or flooded vehicles . . .

I remember Hurricane Katrin flooded thousands of vehicles. And I was told that the insurance companies were not going to eat the costs. And, so they moved those vehicles into various outlets in the more Norhern states. I never did hear anything after that, no follow up, no reports where those flooded vehicles went.

in the end, is the only trustworthy vehicle one from a source you personally know, like your neighbor or a relative ? . . . Seriously, I'm wondering how all you Honda experts here handle this potential problem.

 

I agree a carfax report is unlikely to contain every event in a vehicle's life. But it IS helpful to validate, for example, that a used car is come off of a lease.

8 years ago, I helped a close relative buy a certified pre-owned 2015 Accord that continues to serve the family well; the carfax report was helpful in effecively documenting the CPO offer from the honda dealer. Two years later, I did the same thing in buying a used 2004 Accord LX for myself. In that case, the carfax report was accurate, but I failed to notice some things about the car that ultimately led me to sell it sooner than I planned; the disappointment was on me, not carfax.

When I'm trying to fix something in a car, whether it's mine or a friend's, I study as much as I can find on forums like this one, youtube etc, and over time learn to pay attention to the contributors that are credible. I treat carfax reports the same way: a set of data points that may or may not be fully accurate. $50 to learn what I can about a multi-thousand dollar purchase isn't a problem imho.