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Re: Carfax shows accident on potential purchase Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Thu, 6 Sep 2007 05:22:05
In Reply to: Carfax shows accident on potential purchase, Denise, Wed, 5 Sep 2007 12:18:13 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I wouldn't rule it out, as Mike says, it doesn't take much to hit $1K in damage. The newer the car when the 'event' happened, the more it'll cost - or more realistically, the more insurance will pay. A bad shopping cart scrape on a 6 month old car could generate a respray of a quarter of the car to match well, and that will easily cost over a grand going through the dealer.
Since a car can have an accident and it NOT show up on Carfax, any car I see I expect the worst, and need the car to prove itself to me. So I look for signs of overspray on rubber trim; slight mismatch in paint texture from one side or one end of the car to the other. That doors open and close well. Open both doors on a side, and inspect the B pillar which is normally covered when the doors are closed. In a hard accident, that area will buckle - look for buckling or signs of a repair there (uneven welds, etc.)
As Mike says, a good repair is hard to find. And that's a good thing. Because if a car is repaired well, it's still a good car. The worry with a car that has been in an accident is that the repairer could have done a slap-dash job, made the car look 'good enough', and compromised the integrity of the structure. You'll get rust at unsealed seams, and the car won't be safe in an accident due to bad welds.
But if a car is repaired well, it is likely safe. It's really hard to take a basket case car and repair it well, so economically it doesn't happen. It's the easy-to-fix accident repaired well that is no problem. And if a repair has been done so as to be very hard to find, that implies a certain level of care and completeness. Remember, the slap-dash guy isn't going to put time into making it look good to the acute observer, because he knows he can sell it on a shiny paint job at 5 feet. And the work involved in making the seams right, painting it right, etc., is all part of making it right.
If you can't detect the repairs, I wouldn't worry. If you're not comfortable, find a mechanic that knows about body work.
Frankly, you're going to want a mechanic anyway, unless you're up to speed on the care and feeding of cars. My worry wouldn't be the body, assuming it looks good. How was it maintained? Oil changes, coolant changes, brake fluid flush, etc. Once the car goes through the Auction house, that information (if any) vanishes. Carfax doesn't tell you about sludged engines, missed oil changes, and Factory original filters (i.e. - original to the car when Sven spun them on at the factory).
posted by 192.249....
, Thu, 6 Sep 2007 06:50:59, Thu, 6 Sep 2007 05:22:05 <-- Viewing This Message
, Wed, 5 Sep 2007 12:47:26
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