How to inspect a car body when buying a used car - illustrated guide
Accident check • Flood check • If the car is repainted • Buying a car after accident
Please note, this article is designed to give you basic knowledge about how to inspect a used car and can possibly help you to avoid used cars with potential problems. However, this information cannot substitute for detailed mechanical inspection performed by a professional. To protect yourself, take a car to a mechanic of your choice for detailed mechanical inspection prior purchase.
It's not recommended to buy a car after an accident, especially after frontal collision. Why?
- Because sometimes the collision repair shops use cheap substitutes instead of original parts.
- The A/C condenser - the part of the air conditioning system often gets damaged in a frontal collision. If not properly repaired, the air conditioner may stop working later.
- Strong frontal collision can damage the integrity of the vehicle body making it less stronger.
- There is a possibility that as a result of an accident the vehicle will develop some mechanical problems later such as wheel alignment problems, noisy wheel bearings, etc.
- The secondary paint job not always looks and holds as good as original, the color may not match and later the paint may start peeling off at the edges.
So, how you can protect yourself from buying a car after an accident provided that there are so many of them on the market and usually no one will inform you about previous accident the vehicle had been involved in.
Here is the real example: why the body shop keeps the half piece of the car like this one in the picture? Because when they get the same model vehicle with rear end damage, they will weld a front undamaged part together with this piece and here you are: three-years old car with low mileage. They will sell it probably through some auction and then it may appear in some used car dealer's lot as an "Immaculate condition with low mileage car". The dealer him(her)self may not be informed about any accident the car might have in the past. Read few tips below how to inspect a car body for signs of previous accidents.
Check the car history.
Obviously, the best way to start before even looking at the car - check the vehicle history report which can already tell you if there is something wrong.
Get the VIN number of the car you're interesting in and check the history records. If the report doesn't show anything bad it doesn't yet mean the car is 100 percent perfect. Not all accidents are reported. Read below how to discover signs of previous accident.
At the beginning
Ask the owner or a salesperson if the car has had any accidents? The dealer, if he (she) is aware, must inform you. However, from my experience, it doesn't happen very often when a seller or a salesperson would inform you about previous accidents. Often a salesperson may not even be aware of this. So, rely only on what you see and can verify, not on what you have been told. In general, it is not a big deal if a car has been involved in minor "fender-bender" collision or if only one body panel (a fender or door) had been repainted; it could be a scratch or some other minor damage. But avoid cars that have been seriously damaged in a collision or have been flooded. Also avoid cars that had been badly corroded and then repaired. A rust tends to reappear again.
Look at the body lines
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Look alongside of the car. The lines of the car body should be perfectly straight. Look at the top image, this Mercedes-Benz hasn't been in an accident and you can see the body lines are perfectly straight. Look at the reflection: it is perfect, no ripples and paint quality of all panels looks the same. Try to check the entire car this way.! If the car is dirty, don't hurry. Ask to wash it first, or you may miss something.
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But look at this image. Check this Toyota's rear fender. You can notice that the reflection on the rear fender isn't perfect. Therefore, you can suspect that this rear fender has been damaged. Although as I said, it's not too big a problem if only one body panel has been damaged, but at least, you can ask for a lower price.
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Check all the gaps between the fenders, doors, hood and trunk
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Every gap should be even along its entire length. Similarly, the gaps on one side of the vehicle have to be of the same width as the gaps on the opposite side. Look at this image. This Pontiac was offered for sale at one of the large dealership. My friend wanted to buy it, so he invited me to look at it. Looking closely, we found that the gap between the front fender and the door is wide on the right side. |
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So I went around the car and this is how the same gap looks on the left side. After further inspection I found that this car has been hit in the front sideways, so its whole front end has shifted to one side. When we pointed this to a dealer, they took the car off sale. |
Try to find the border between original and new paint
Look at this image. This is the Toyota shown above. As you already know, its left rear fender has been repainted, but its roof hasn't, which means there should be a border between the different coats of paint. Try to check all such places; maybe you'll find one. A skilled painter can make such a border almost invisible, but often it's quite easy to see. So, take your time and look carefully.
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There is one more sign you may find - peeled off clear-coat. It usually happens because the area wasn't sanded properly before painting, as in case of "cheap-cheap" repair
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Look for paint over-spray
Look at window trim, door mouldings, rubber seals and other places that aren't supposed to be painted. In this photo you can see the spot of new paint on the rubber hose which means the car has had a paint job. Try to check carefully all such places.
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Check the hood and door holding bolts
As you see here, this hood has been realigned from its original position. It's another sign that this car has been involved in an accident. Try to lift up the driver's door when it's open - does it have a free play in the hinges? Excessive free play - excessive use.
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Check if the color and paint quality match
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It's very difficult to repaint a replaced or damaged panel (like a fender, door or hood) in exactly the same color as the original. This means, that if one of the panels has been repainted, there might be a slight difference in color. Try to find if the color and paint quality of different panels match. Usually, the difference in color is easier to notice from a distance. Also try to look from different angles. For example, in this photos you can see, that the difference in color is hard to notice on one view, but is more visible from a different angle: in the lower photo you can see that the front fender has been repainted.
Feel the painting with your hand; an original paint should be perfectly smooth. If you feel some unevenness under the paint, it's a sign that this area has been repainted. Look closely at the spot where you feel unevennes. You may notice some little things under the paint (a little piece of hair, dust, etc.).
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Check the rust.
Look at these image. This is one of the common places corrosion begins. If you find some spot of corrosion, continue your search more carefully. Check the floor under the carpet, door's bottom, trunk and wheel arches. Take a little magnet and try to make it cling to the bottom of the doors, fenders and other places where you suspect some defect.
If there is too much filler under the paint, the magnet won't cling. However one or two small spots of corrosion isn't a big deal.
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Check the vehicle's frame.
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Almost all pick-up trucks and many SUVs have a separate frame. The frame is a very important component, as it holds the the vehicle's body, as well as the engine, transmission, suspension and the steering. Check it visually, it shouldn't have any damage or major corrosion. Watch for signs of previous repairs. If you spot fresh undercoating, be alert, as I've seen many times the undercoating is used to cover evidences of body work or corrosion. Avoid a vehicle if a frame is badly corroded or shows some evidences of repairs.
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Look for signs of flood damage
If a car has been flooded in the past, even if it looks and runs good now, it will develop many expensive-to-fix problems later. This is because water gets inside many components where it shouldn't be and eventually, the corrosion will cause a component to fail later. Watch for mildew smell, water stains on the seats, roof liner and door covers. Inspect door covers and trunk covers for possible signs of water level. If it's possible, look for moisture under the carpet. Check lower edges of the door covers for water damage, look for corrosion and water debris in the spare tire well. look for badly corroded metal parts under seats. Check all door speakers - water could damage the speaker diaphragm. Coffee-with-milk color of the engine oil or transmission fluid may indicate presence of water. History report can also reveal flood. Be suspicious if the history report indicates that the car came from another state.
Have the car inspected by a mechanic
Before making your final decision, have the car inspected by a mechanic. There are many things that only an experienced mechanic will be able to reveal.
by Vlad Samarin, http://www.samarins.com/check/bodycond.html, (2012) March 27.
