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08-05-2009, 06:20 AM | #1 |
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Dealer might have lied?
I just purchased a 08 m3 with very low miles for what I think is a good price. I asked the dealer more than once if the car has had any body work or been in an accident of any sort and they said no. The car looked fine, all body pieces seem to line up well however I just noticed a little bit of paint overspray on the top half of one of the exhaust tips and a little bit on the tip next to it while washing my car, none on the other 2 tips though. I also purchased IND painted reflectors because board members say the paint matches well but I found it to be a little bit darker. Can a body shop tell if a car has been in an accident or if any body part has been repainted? And if so, was the dealer legally responsible to tell me about this?
Last edited by MTurhee; 08-05-2009 at 07:03 AM.. |
08-05-2009, 06:32 AM | #3 |
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I don't care that much if a small area has been repainted due to minor damage, I'm just worried the car had more serious body damage that I'm unaware of. I wish insurance would report these things to carfax.
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08-05-2009, 06:40 AM | #4 | |
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I asked my dealer if my car incurred any damge in treansit and my dealer told me that if my car had any damage they had to disclose that by law. All in the state of Maryland...
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08-05-2009, 06:59 AM | #5 |
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OK, here's another Maryland data-point. I bought a year-old, 7K mi. car (RS4) from Carmax in Laurel, MD, since they were hard to find at the time, and it was a reasonable deal. I obviously asked for the Carfax, and for a disclosure of any previous damage, both of which indicated no previous damage, and one previous owner.
When I got the car under good shop lights, there was also light over-spray, around areas where the bumper had been re-shot. It was minor, and I elected to keep it because it was a good paint job, and it was easily corrected with a light wet-sand. It depends upon where the damage occurred and how well it was repaired. Used cars are different than new with regard to disclosure requirements, but it does depend upon the laws of a particular state.
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08-05-2009, 10:07 AM | #6 |
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08-05-2009, 10:18 AM | #8 |
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Have you taken your car to a bmw dealer for them to read the key? I took mine in and he said there was a touch up done from factory on the front of my car.
Just look under the car and see if anything doesn't line up or if you can see bends in the sub frame. Might have just touched up the rear from scrapes from golf bags or something. |
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08-05-2009, 10:26 AM | #9 |
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yes. they can measure the thickness of the paint and clear coat to tell whether it differs from the coat that came at the factory.
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08-05-2009, 12:53 PM | #11 |
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08-05-2009, 01:17 PM | #12 |
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imho, no matter who you buy a used car from or what the car looks like or what the PO tells you, you should always do a complete ppi and paint meter check.
CarFax is relatively meaningless. Caveat emptor on anything you buy. Dealer or no dealer. CPO or no CPO. Cars or whatever. |
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08-05-2009, 01:35 PM | #13 |
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There is a paint meter, a hand-held device that will read the 'thickness' of the paint on the car. Dealers usually have this themselves, when they check a car in for trade evaluation. When using the paint meter, you want to make sure the reading is consistent on all body panels of the car; if a car was re-painted, the level will be higher on that re-painted panel then the original painted panels. Unfortunately it does not work on rubber/poly panels like what most cars have for bumpers these days.
To answer your other question, a paint body shop will know immediately if something is re-painted on the car. They are good at just looking at the panels.
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08-05-2009, 02:48 PM | #15 |
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In Maryland the dealer must tell you.
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08-05-2009, 03:30 PM | #16 |
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After some close inspection, there are some panels where it looks like pieces of dust or something simliar sized was painted over or there were some small chunks in the paint. Additionally I found that the door is rubbing against the fender on both the passenger and driver sides. Is this normal? I've attached 2 photos of this.
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08-05-2009, 03:47 PM | #18 | |
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Those pictures along with your description appear to indicate the car has definitley been painted, and most likely damaged. |
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08-05-2009, 03:50 PM | #19 | |
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08-05-2009, 03:51 PM | #20 | |
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08-05-2009, 08:46 PM | #21 | |
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The car was originally purchased at the same dealer that it was sold back to. Wouldn't the dealer at least take out a paint meter to check if a car has been repainted prior to taking the trade in or buying back the car? My local bmw dealer did that when I wanted to trade in my old car a few years ago. |
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08-05-2009, 08:53 PM | #22 |
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