bought a car thats been in an accident?

[gtabaz]

SO a few months back I purchased a 2011 370z and yesterday I had taken it to the shop to get the taillights tinted. Today when I went to pick it up the mechanic there asks me if I've ever been in an accident, I told him no why do you ask. He then proceeds to tell me that my rear quarter panel has previously been hit and if I didn't notice that the colors of the fenders and the rear bumper don't match up. I never noticed anything until he said something but now I'm feeling a certain way about this whole situation.. I'm paying top dollar for what I thought was a BRAND NEW car and I come to find out that I paid for something that's been in a previous accident! No! I just don't know what to do or where to even go to complain about this whole situation not to mention I've been driving the car for a few months now and I just hit 12k miles, and I'm at the point that even if I do go say something what can really be done? anybody have any similar issues or any suggestions on what I should do? any help would be very much appreciated.

[kenchan]

if you bought the car new, dealers are 'allowed' to repair the car and yet still sell as new.

this is why one must check the entire car in and out when buying even a brand new car.

[Pintsize725]

Sub'd for input. I'm kind of in the same situation except I think mine was hail damaged, got a full paint job and it wasn't cleaned up correctly. Good luck with whatever direction you get pointed in!

[homeryansta]

I bought mines used with 6k and my gas cap + rear bumper are a different shade of red. You don't notice until you are under a street light. I wonder if my car has been in an accident.

[kenchan]

ive fixed hail damaged brand new cars (audi's) for dealers in the past while training for PDR.

[new370]

Just because the bumpers dont match doesn't mean the car was fixed why is your mechanic saying the quarters where repaired

[gtabaz]

because apparently underneath the bumper theres a dent in the rear quarter panels or something by the wheels, idk if anything can change because of it but im kinda pissed because im paying for something i expected to be in pristine condition but come to find out its been hit before

[GaleForce]

It's common for bumpers to not match.

1. They are made from different material causing the paint to look different.

2. Many times these bumpers are painted off site then shipped to the manufacturing plant for installation. You'll never get a 100% match when parts are painted in different facilities.

FWIW, my 09 with 8000 miles has never been in an accident, has never had a repair, and all of the plastic parts (front/back bumper, and side sills) are slightly different in colour than the sheet metal on th car.

I would suggest you take your car to another bodyshop for inspection, If you are really concerned about it.

[kenchan]

Originally Posted by new370

Just because the bumpers dont match doesn't mean the car was fixed why is your mechanic saying the quarters where repaired

if i can tell when paint was redone, any competent bodyman will know when paint was redone.

[gtabaz]

idk i guess nothing can really be done anyway right?

[kenchan]

Originally Posted by gtabaz

idk i guess nothing can really be done anyway right?

nope.


if the car looks and feels okay to you, forget about it. no car is perfect anyway.

[reunited]

You might want to check out this thread:

I think my dealer covered up an accident.

[homeryansta]

Check out this thread.

white car has different shade on bumper vs body - MBWorld.org Forums

[gtabaz]

thanks just read the whole thing but i think that guy had a lot more damage to his Z then i do, i have a dent somewhere underneath the bumper and a different bumper then the original bumper that that car had, but after reading his whole thread on his Z things could be worse.. i still feel sideways about the fact that the dealer didnt report that the car had been hit but at this point what can be done anyway..

[vividracing]

Just because the colors don't match doesn't mean the car was hit. Plastic and metal react differently to paint. It's common for the plastic bumper to be a slightly different color.


EDIT: Looks like you got some replies that echo what I posted... I need to refresh the page after letting a tab sit open for a while, apparently lol