How to visually detect prior accident - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 06-28-2002, 10:56 PM

I want to buy a used C-class and need to know how to inspect visually if there is prior accident. Carfax is useless. I tried it with my friend's car which has had an accident resulting in a $3000 repair but carfax did not show any records of accidents. thanks

#2 06-28-2002, 11:11 PM

Anyone know any professional shop that can inspect car for accidents in Capitol Heights, MD. Can the dealer do theis kind of inspection and will they? How much should I pay for this kinds of inspection. thanks

Mr. BILL · #3 06-29-2002, 12:03 AM

You can run your finger along the edge of the hood, trunk and door jams. If you notice any roughness, it's probably been painted. Some dealers/body shops have a little gizmo that can measure the thickness of the paint to indicate if it's had any paint work done.

Most will agree, a light to moderate hit in the rear isn't as bad as a ht in the front. It's best to take it to a shop to have it checked out.

rickg · #4 06-29-2002, 10:29 AM

My 300SD has been in a rear-ender sometime in it's past. The left rear taillight has the wrecking yard numbers still on it when you look at it from inside the trunk. Also can see evidence of wrinkled sheet metal inside the trunk if you pull away the inside panels. The left rear door has a funny bow to it. The rear bumper is a bit crooked. There's other indicators, but I'm still happy with it. It goes down the road straight, and the PO did a lot of mechanical repairs to it, and it's really in good shape, especially for a car with over 300k on it. So a past accident I don't feel is an immediate reason to not buy a car. Depends on how well it was fixed, and whether you want a decent looking, dependable daily driver, or a show car that's totally flawless that you are going to be afraid to drive on the road.
My opinion

jjrodger · #5 06-29-2002, 11:35 AM

There is a lot you can do. Once you know what to look for, you can spot even well repaired accident damage quite easily.

Under the bonnet

Look at the tops of the headlights. They bear little yellow stickers. Is one sticker newer than the other?

Look at the top of the suspension turrets (on the W202 C-Class, look underneath the windscreen washer fluid reservoir). Can you see where a new frontal section has been welded in place?

Look for joins in the chassis members.

Look for overspray on the sides of the engine and the various pipes which would be a pig to remove or mask if you were repairing frontal damage.

Look at some of the plastic parts in the front of the engine bay. Do the date stamps correspond with ther age of the car?

Look at the leading edge of the bonnet. Can you see any paint runs where the bonnet and grille meet (this part of the car is very difficult to paint well)?

The side of the car

Look in the petrol flap. Is there evidence that a new side panel has been fitted? (Lots of slop)

On the W202 C-Class, open the boot and look at weld at the top front of the apperture, where the rear window meets the boot opening. Does the join look perfect? Or has it been remade?

Open the doors and look in the door jambs for signs of joins or paint. Bear in mind that these parts are never very well finished even from the factory. On the W202, look at the little triangles which mark where a roof rack should be installed (you will find them on the uppermost edge of the door jamb. Compare paint depth in the triangles in each of the four doors.

Take the car to a petrol station with sodium or neon lighting. Differences in paint colour or texture will be very visible.

Rear

Open the boot and look in the spare wheel well. Can you see new metal welded in place? Obviously even a new car has joins here, but they are relatively neat.

There is lots of plastic in the boot of the C-Class. Look at the date stamps on various pieces, especially the rear light clusters.

Interior

Lift the rear seat and look at the metal of the floor pan. Repairs will be obvious.

Generally

Any rust on a W202 and it has had paint. It is that simple.

Check the numbers and markings on the glass all match.

Take care to look at the edges of body panels. This is where you'll find paint drips and runs.

Borrow a micrometer. This measures paint depth. Try various parts of the car. The paint should be no thicker than 150 microns (I think that's what the unit of measure is).

Alternatively, ask a Porsche-approved body shop to look at the car. They will charge you (I doubt more than $150), but they will know for certain, even with the very best repairs. The charge is worth the piece of mind.

Good luck!

placo1 · #6 06-29-2002, 01:09 PM

Everything has pretty much been covered in the past few posts. I've picked up a few tricks as well.

1. Always Always check the car under direct sunlight when its totally clean and dry.

2. Do a secondary check under Florescent light.

These two different lights will allow you to see any sanding marks underneathe the paint. Beware though that even factory painted cars are not perfect and I've seen light scratch marks underneathe brand new cars.

3. Look at another car that has the same exterior color. This will give you an idea of what the exterior should look like. I once looked at a 500E and the dealer told me it had been painted on the front fender and one door. I looked at the car and because I'd seen other cars I knew the whole car had been painted. The color didn't look the same.

4. Probably the best way to determine if the car has had any major work is to look for all of the serial number stickers. These can not be reapplied by a body shop and if there are there then it's most likely original. You'll find them under the front/rear bumpers. Inside the door panels, under the hood, under the trunk decklid. If they arent there then it clues you into areas you need to look.

Hope this helps and good luck!

omegabenz · #7 06-29-2002, 02:26 PM

You can buy a magnetic bondo detector, or you can just nock on the car, and the rocker pannels and see if they are good. Usually you can see paint discolored.

My friends keep getting in accidents and their cars always have a lot of orange peel. I highly doubt that in accident repair that they would put back a clear coat, so take a white towel, and wax a part where you doubt it and see if any paint of that color of the car gets on the cloth.

As said earlier, see if the brands of glass all are the same, then look at all the seams. Most of the time, places will replace one tail light or one headlight, so you can see if its new or not.

I usually always take the light fixtures out and look at the bulbs. They sould evenly be discolored on the bulbs from life.

Austin

Ken300D · #8 06-29-2002, 04:41 PM

Paint overspray is the quickest and easiest way to detect the average repair. This is because the average repair does not take the time to remove all the trim or gaskets. This means paint overspray will show on the rubber or plastic trim piece, gasket, seal, etc.

You can also look for an unnatural paint line inside door frames, under the hood and trunk, etc. where an area was masked off for painting. Paint on the rubber hood support blocks is easy to spot.

A total car repaint almost always shows on the windshield and back glass seals, because almost no one is going to the trouble of removing the glass to repaint.

The factory paint job will show no spray in these areas because the far is painted before the glass and trim get installed.

Please note that "hidden repairs" are an issue on both new and used vehicles. Many, many, MANY new vehicles are damaged in transit somehow from the factory - get repaired - and go on the lot as a "new" vehicle. They usually show the same overspray indicators, because the dealer's shop will be doing the repairs at the lowest possible cost - meaning least possible labor - and they won't remove things like trim/glass/seals before painting.

Ken300D