bought a car thats been in an accident?
 

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

You might want to check out this thread:

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...-accident.html

Check out this thread.

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

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..

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

hahah thanks everyone for responding! really appreciate it. Im gna take the bumper off and take a better look at it and see if its anything to make a fuss over but chances are im just gna let it go. Thank you all!

Oh boy... Yeah, if you haven't looked at my thread (that someone else posted), read that. Mine was resolved. Fight for what you deserve. You'll get it. Good luck!

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...-accident.html

This is completely wrong. It depends on the state.

Doubt your car was in an accident, personally. Like others said, colors between plastic and metal will almost never match 100%

How many miles did your 2011 have when you drove it off the lot? Sometimes cars get damaged during transit on the ships, and are then repaired once they've docked. But that damage is never severe - items falling from above leaving a dent or ding, for example. Harsh and bumpy waters can cause straps that the cars are harnessed by to tear, and the cars flails around side-to-side possibly hitting something nearby. But it's perfectly acceptable and legal to fix that damage and resell the car as new - since the damage is never anything but cosmetic.

you're in the wrong state then. :gtfo2:

No, I won't "GTFO"... your statement was wrong. Don't mislead people.

taking your little logic, your statement is completely wrong here so do :gtfo2:

:rofl2:

No need for arrogance and attitude. But we are both right. As you said... yes, dealers ARE allowed to repair new cars and sell as new. BUT it depends on the repair, the repair amount and THE STATE.

But, if this car was repainted/body work... in most states that would have to be reported.

My point is... giving a flat answer "they are allowed to repair and sell as new" is not helpful to him, if that's not true in his case.

you get dumped by a girl today or something?

I'm not saying it wasn't repaired but asking why do u think so is there visible signs like overspray in the door or runs dirt nibs ect. Bumpers not matching isn't a valid reason now if you remove the bumper and seams are split or new seam sealer was applied or even unfixed damage is there it would make sense then.

:tup:

And something can be done as well I own a body shop in Philadelphia and I have fixed numerous cars that came with defaults by the dealer and they pay for it as long as the repair wasn't done right witch would include missing a dent in the rear body panel or not repairing the bottom of the quarter that they don't fix just because it gets covered up by the bumper

No.

according to my mechanic the damage is underneath the bumper on the right side hence why i never noticed it was damaged he then proceeded to inform me that the car must have been in an accident because the colors didn't match the fenders to the bumper. im not complaining about the color difference lol i understand that things dont always match up and im fine with that as long as my cars not black and has a neon red bumper. I have to see whether or not the damage is even worth bitching about, so i have to first figure out how to get my bumper off when it isnt raining.

From time to time dealerships repair "transport" damage, that is when the vehicle is traveling from assembly point "A" to your individual dealer. As stated before, this is common and 99% of the time it wont be noticed. In my course of work, I request reports on total loss vehicles(which are very detailed) and I would say about 5% of the time, the dealer that originally sold said vehicle, filed a claim with there fleet insurance carrier for "transport" damage. The shop your dealership used might not have correctly repaired your damages. In closing, I would ABSOLUTELY go back to the dealer and point out the damages and inquire if they ever had work done on the car.