How to check if car crash repaired?

[sidewaymambo]

Hi, All

I 'm looking for next family ride, now it's only a matter of toss between inport myself or buy local.

However I need your advice in term of " how to identify crash repaired " and the "Odometer (spell) reading".

I have been to a few yard in Sydney and check up different imports, some of them have lower kilometers, which is like a 98 model with 35000km on it, or a 97 model with 52000km on it. does this sounds right to you? Most auction sheet I have saw so far all like 60K +, yes, I do see some lower one in auction with grade 4.5 /4 and sold for outside our budget, but what happen to those already here, i.e. a 98' with 35000km chamonix ask for 26000 on a QLD dealer's website? Could it be possible? how do you know the odometer is original reading? can ppl trick it?

and how / where to check if this delica has been crash repaired?

[Links]

Personally been wondering this as well.. Be interested to find out if you can tell..

[Sambo33]

The way i usually tell if a vehicle has been crash repaired is pretty much go over the whole car with a fine tooth comb (thoroughly). Check all seam seals (cracks, inconsistancy, different on one side to the other), check all edges for fuzzy paint edges, check all window seals for oversparay (especially on 1/4 panel - roof area, check this area for paint fade-outs too), check panels for inconsistant peel, dullness, defects, shrinkback ect. check for colour differences from panel to panel. make sure the car is in a well lit area and look on an angle down the sides, check for rippley/wavey panels. make sure all gaps are consistant. make sure doors, bonnet, boot all open/close without problems. Always good if you can check underneath the car too, chassis rails, under guards ect. It takes awhile to check all these things, but well worth it in the end, hope that helps.

sam

[sidewaymambo]

Thanks Sam.

Is there any trick to check paint, when it's a lighter color? like white or silver.

[Sambo33]

Whites can have a few variations, darker-lighter, dirty-clean, red-green and yellow-blue

Silvers most obvious are light-dark, fine-coarse, there are also varied colour undertones to look for, most comon is a silver is yellow-blue.

The best way to pick a colour variation is to check the flip, to do this, make sure the car is in the sunlight (also helps if the car is clean) and look on an angle towards the two panels.

im a spray painter btw, so i gotta do this stuff everyday

[r34_skyline]

check for tar covering weldings. coz this could indicate an accident repaired vehicle.

[BigMicky]

Dont bother looking at the odo to tell the k's, they can be wound back easily, and just as easily swapped for another one. Look at the steering wheel and pedals for wear, aswell as the drivers seat condition etc. A car with 50k's on it and a worn out steering wheel has something that doesn't add up.

At the end of the day the k's dont matter, its the condition thats important.

[siksII]

The way i usually tell if a vehicle has been crash repaired is pretty much go over the whole car with a fine tooth comb (thoroughly). Check all seam seals (cracks, inconsistancy, different on one side to the other), check all edges for fuzzy paint edges, check all window seals for oversparay (especially on 1/4 panel - roof area, check this area for paint fade-outs too), check panels for inconsistant peel, dullness, defects, shrinkback ect. check for colour differences from panel to panel. make sure the car is in a well lit area and look on an angle down the sides, check for rippley/wavey panels. make sure all gaps are consistant. make sure doors, bonnet, boot all open/close without problems. Always good if you can check underneath the car too, chassis rails, under guards ect. It takes awhile to check all these things, but well worth it in the end, hope that helps.

sam

thats a good explanation of what to do, its what i was going to say!

look for plastic welding around the front of the car as sign of minor front end accidents..

most imports have been resprayed, or at least a large part of the car has been painted.. probably more important than minor accident damage is rust, check for sgins of corrosion around the engine bay on the alloy parts, there is a lot of rusty imports around, they usually paint the whole car so its not obvious but u can tell especially by looking in the engine bay, boot and under the car (either rusty or covered in fresh tar)