Car accident damaged ? Here is how to tell..

brasiliangringo

brasiliangringo

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I bought this little gizzmo the other day - superb little paint depth gauge for £50 and should add, am in no way connected to the retailers.

Factory machine paint finishes are around 120 microns and thinner than aftermarket paint work which is normally thicker around 200+ but you get an idea from measuring other panels on the car.

Inside the doors are always thinner from the factory so anything as thick or thicker than outer panels points towards major damage.

You get the idea..

Every car is different, some panel towards the front will have more paint than the rear etc, so best to cross cross check ie n/s wing thickness to o/s etc.

Works a treat, just tested it on two cars with known accident damage! IMG 9818 1 dragged
 
the point is ?
 
brasiliangringo said:
Lol, perhaps if you are considering buying a car and want to check if its straight - keep up !! ;)
Click to expand...

To be honest with you, even though I have nothing to hide, I'd be ****** off a if someone viewing my car got this out to measure the paint thickness around the car, I'd just tell them it's not for sale. No offence, but I'd allow a VCDS scan, and maybe a testdrive, but this would just **** me off!!

Why you may ask? I had a guy who did a full RAC check on a car I had only covered 24k miles on from new, the paintwork was immaculate, and the tester used one of these on every panel leaving a mark on each panel! No problem, as I knew the guy was going to buy it, the car was 100% original, and he'd paid a deposit. Didn't stop the buyer from asking me for a few more hundred off the agreed price for a supposed oil leak on my gearbox, to which I replied, I'll happily keep the car and return your deposit.... but that's another story....
 
You had a bad experience which is fair enough, but its hard to deny such a tool has its uses ;)
 
My dad, back in 1997, bought a brand new Passat. Over time, it became apparent that the passenger wing and door weren't quite 'right' (mainly due to a small water leak from the door that was eventually fixed), and after much pestering, the dealer or VW UK paid to have it inspected, including the paintwork with one of these devices. The report concluded that the wing and door had been resprayed, despite it being brand new to my father. Conclusion was it had been hit either on/off the boat or on/off the car transporter. VW refused anything in terms of goodwill and my dad gave up chasing them. So even 'new' cars aren't necessarily 'new'.
I'd certainly use one if I was forking out a lot of money for a car even from a dealer.
 
audi upgrades
Hmmm. I wouldn't bother using such a thing.... A lot of cars get subjected to little car park dings and stone chips and people get them repaired... I have in the past. Providing its got a decent finish and the shut line is ok that should be enough for most. A little bit of bodywork repair is unfair to class a car as 'not straight'. I think it's a bit extreme to do this tbh.
 
I hate these devices as Audi used it to disqualify me from a paint warranty, funny thing is when asked what it should be, he took me to brand new car and did the roof and it was under 120 microns... then did the wing and that was over 280... when i asked how come? he said it must have had damage from the manufacturers.... and quickly stopped been mr fcn gadget and put it away....
So a poor guy/woman is going to buy a brand new Audi with the paint warranty already useless!!

I like Jo would be pretty ****** if a buyer came with one of those...esp if it was mint and he was trying to knock a few hundred quid off..

An 80k Aston martin and you might have a point to use it....IMO
 
I think it's all been said. Nice Indra in principle but kinda pointless unless spending serious cash. None of us want to part with any money for for a bad car, but then we can all do things to ensure we buy well.

Dealer ships / garages have more after sales and comeback
check the car thoroughly, shut lines and chassis rails etc etc
if you suspect repair ask and get honest answers. If you don't believe them. Walk away
 
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