Would you have this fixed? Wait??

[ronkh57]

Just make sure there is a clean car fax somehow after te repair.American cars have the muscle,but lack fit and finish.You can take 2016 vette brandnew and a ear later is worth half of what you paid for it ,along with a dirty car fax and its value drops lower.Had a 13 charger loaded to the gills once it reaches near 50 k it value will make you vomit.Good luck with the outcome.

That actually had me worried, as well as evidence of repair that has people think it was hit.

[GSKR]

My friend has a 14 s63 merc, been trying to sell for months .He had the rear bumper painted from a garage accident so minor but a big impact because of the car fax.The car as 10000 miles on it and it's a premo of a car and priced to sell quickly.Its been stored and marketed for 5 months already and no hits on it.

[Dmb5450]

Just make sure there is a clean car fax somehow after te repair.American cars have the muscle,but lack fit and finish.You can take 2016 vette brandnew and a ear later is worth half of what you paid for it ,along with a dirty car fax and its value drops lower.Had a 13 charger loaded to the gills once it reaches near 50 k it value will make you vomit.Good luck with the outcome.

I'm not sure exactly how carfax works, but this was my experience...

My previous car, a 2013 Mazda 3, got rear ended on a bridge while waiting at a traffic light. The other driver's insurance adjuster came out and I told him the car now veered off to the right side slightly. I took the car to the dealer to get repaired and aligned. Prior to them fixing the car I was told they had some great deals on the end of year Mazda 3 to make room for new inventory. Long story short, I got a sweet deal and I traded in the car damaged and used the insurance money to add to my down payment.

Since I got less that I should have during my trade in for the car due to the damage ( even if it was repaired I was told I would get less than market value due to a carfax accident) As a result, I request that the other driver's insurance pay the inherent diminished value to make up for my loss. The dealer told me that they valued it 1000 dollars less because it would have an accident on the record after the repairs. I took that documented form from the dealer and submitted it to the other insurance company. Shorty after a lawyer for the other drivers insurance called me and said they would give me 300 dollars because the accident never showed on the carfax after the dealer repaired the damage. I asked how this was possible as I had the link to the dealer website with my repaired car on the lot for sale. The lawyer said she petitioned for the damage to never show on carfax as no one is legally obligated to post things on a carfax report, it's simply a guide.

I tried to call carfax to have the damage listed on the car, but since I was no longer the owner of the car they didn't want to listen to me. I apologize for my lengthy story, but bottom line, I do not trust carfax one bit after my experience. For your issue, maybe you can look into how to "petition" carfax to leave the repairs off of your record?

[GSKR]

I don't trust it either and there was some controversy about 4 years ago about car fax .My neighbor was involved in a total loss on her ls 430.She loved that car so much and no other car sided with her liking.She purchased a ls 430 with less equiptment and wanted me to detail it for several months back when she purchased it.Finallly this past Saturday I had a cancellation on a ram truck and decided to get this Lexus done.Took it to my house and was in disbelief as this car was blasted and every panel was painted with missing grommets under the hood.I just kept my mouth shut and got paid.

[ronkh57]

Really worries me. And the quality of repair as well.

[oneheadlite]

I think all you can do is be up front about your expectations. I'd even ask to see some of the work in person done by whatever body shop will be in charge of fixing it. Make it clear that it's important that you don't just want the cracked paint fixed, you want the fender to look NEW again.

Maybe find out if there's a shop in town that does show cars? A while back my friend had his M3 repaired by the BMW bodyshop - first time I saw it I could see (from a casual distance) where it had been repaired. Later he had another spot done by a shop that was well known for doing VW show cars in the area (stop laughing! ), and they did a top shelf job.

Sorry to hear you have to deal with this!

John

[ronkh57]

So tell the guy i'm a PIA...

[GearHead_1]

Ron, that's exactly what I told the guy at the body shop I've used now for 3 repairs. I told him I was a PIA and he had NO customers that were any more picky than myself. I then asked him if knowing this he wanted to do business with me. He said, he'd take that as a challenge and of course he'd satisfy me as a customer. Well... I've now been back to him 2 additonal times and I have no complaints on repairs that are going on 4 years old at this point. These weren't even my cars but I took them in (daughters and father). I've also recommended 3 other customers (friends and brother in law) that to my knowledge have been satisfied with their work and he knows I'm the reason they were there. He calls me by name even though we don't see each other unless there's a car that needs reapair and completely understands what I expect. It's the only way you can do business when you're as critical with your car as most members here would be.

[oneheadlite]

So tell the guy i'm a PIA...

Yep. I'm in Gearhead's camp where I feel like they just need to know up front that you're particular in efforts to avoid having to revisit anything. I HATE having people work on my cars (I'm a tech by trade), so I struggle with having to have bodywork done. As much as the amazing condition you keep your car in should speak for itself, they should know that you're not the average customer who's just excited to get their car back clean.

Also, I've heard of bodyshops who have 2 groups of techs - Customer pay, and dealer jobs. I don't know who has what standards, but that principle in itself makes me a bit nervous.

Meant to mention on the Carfax topic - Again from a technician perspective (having worked both at a dealer and independant), I've seen a LOT of cars that have "clean" Carfax reports, and very very few are actually what I would call Clean Cars. The sad part is their marketing has done such a good job people think a clean Carfax means they got a good car.

John
A6 avant, Clean Carfax. Rear bumper repaired, paintwork noticeable on LR 1/4, exhaust slightly tweaked, etc.
Q5. Clean Carfax, yeah... it's had work done (but well)

[ronkh57]

Hope it works for me GH