Question for anyone who has worked at a body shop or car dealer

[Dorian]

Hi All,

Sorry this question isn't necessarily directly related to detailing but I thought that there would be a lot of people here who would have experience with this question. So I am looking at purchasing this WRX from a dealer. It is 100% stock 1 owner and a clean carfax. Well - I am still skeptical of it since it is through a dealer. the car looks really nice and isn't trashed by any means. I did notice a couple of odd things and maybe someone can tell me what people do this for. I found little sports of paint of the windshield and the headlight. Do you guys think this is a sign that these parts came from a junkyard or something (I have seen similar marking at places like that). Let me know.

[WAXOFF]

There's nothing wrong. I work at a dealer. The guys that go around to dealers and ck for door dings or paint chips, glass chips etc. put paint dots on the car in different spots to show they already checked that car. If it looks good and you want it buy it.

[SYMAWD]

It depends how honest your dealer is I guess. Where I work a damaged car usually just goes straight to an auction or wholesaler. There's probably a 99.9% chance you're good though.

[Vegas Transplant]

There's nothing wrong. I work at a dealer. The guys that go around to dealers and ck for door dings or paint chips, glass chips etc. put paint dots on the car in different spots to show they already checked that car. If it looks good and you want it buy it.

+1.

[Dorian]

Thanks guys! That was the exact kind of info I was looking for.

The car did go through auction. I took a look at the front bumper and it has definitely come off (or been replaced before) because the screws holding it on are mismatched. might be best to stay away from this one.

[greatwhitenorth]

There's nothing wrong. I work at a dealer. The guys that go around to dealers and ck for door dings or paint chips, glass chips etc. put paint dots on the car in different spots to show they already checked that car. If it looks good and you want it buy it.

+1 Its just so they don't waste their time checking the same vehicle every week

[top banana]

Hi All,

Sorry this question isn't necessarily directly related to detailing but I thought that there would be a lot of people here who would have experience with this question. So I am looking at purchasing this WRX from a dealer. It is 100% stock 1 owner and a clean carfax. Well - I am still skeptical of it since it is through a dealer. the car looks really nice and isn't trashed by any means. I did notice a couple of odd things and maybe someone can tell me what people do this for. I found little sports of paint of the windshield and the headlight. Do you guys think this is a sign that these parts came from a junkyard or something (I have seen similar marking at places like that). Let me know.

Just an FYI, DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT put any trust into what Carfax tells you. Let's just say I have experience working at dealerships and we get autos all the time that have clean Carfax that we KNOW were damaged. A lot of dealers and repair shops don't report to Carfax.Carfax would only work if it were a law that all damage and ownership had to be reported.This is not the case. Carfax is not worth a penny. Trust me.

[WAXOFF]

+1 on the Carfax. I deal with the same thing everyday. Don't trust what a Carfax says. It's like the internet. Not everthing you read is true.

[SYMAWD]

Yes, a better way to tell is to use a paint thickness gauge to see if any panels are inconsistent. Most likely the used car manager at the dealer has one. See if they do and see if they'll let you go around the vehicle with it.

[Reveddie25]

My uncle does auto body repair and when necessary buys most of his parts from different auto junk yards. I asked him about this in the past and he told me that all the used parts get marked when purchased in case you want to return or exchange the part, they wont take it back if the mark is not there.