My wife and I have over the past two weeks test-driven three vehicles that have been in accidents of varying degrees of severity.

All of the vehicles looked and handled great.

On two of the vehicles we learned of the accidents only after buying CarProof reports and on the other we were told by the owner about it up-front, after arriving to see the vehicle, but before test-driving it.

Two of the vehicles had had front-end damage which I could not detect, and the other had almost $9,000 in damage to the passenger-side rear corner which I could also not detect by casual inspection.

The question I have is simple. And let's make it even more simple by assuming for the moment that just after the dealer hands the keys to the owner of a brand spanking new Outlander, the new owner gets into his new car and starts driving away. But as he enters the roadway from the dealership, he looks left, turns right, and runs right into the back a stationary small pickup truck.

Also assume that the bumper, passenger-side front fender, headlight and hood have to be replaced. (This is the damage that happened to one of the vehicles that we looked at that we really liked.)

I've never bought a vehicle that's been involved in an accident and I know vertually zero about collision repair and its effectiveness in bringing a vehicle back to specification, or even if that is possible.

So, can that new vehicle be brought back to "as new" condition?

Would you buy it and, if so, how much less, if any, would you pay for it than one which had had no accident?

Can a potential candidate that has had an accident be examined by a body shop/collision repair place to determine with a fair degree of certainty that it is no longer suffering from any negative effect of the accidents?

 

I would NEVER buy a car that doesn't have factory metal. Paint repairs are acceptable, but a smash I don't go near. I don't like knowing it's there, and I didn't do the work so you can never get an idea for the quality of repair.

Not for me.

 

for me, it depends on the accident.

the one with the side impact in the rear, I wouldn't. since this vehicle does not have a frame, impacts like that can jar things out of alignment.

For the front impact...maybe...depending on what was replaced. if we are talking about headlights, bumpers, and hood...sure. it would be a good idea to have the vehicle taken to an independent shop and have an alignment done; talk to the tech and review the report afterwards.

I drove an Eclipse for years after I was hit in the back and pushed into the vehicle in front of me. Bumper/skin/hood type damage only, ran great...but then again, I knew exactly what was damaged and never sold it off.

 

have an independent body shop check it out. make sure that door,hood and bumper gaps are all equal and that body lines line up.

have the shop give ita thourough inspection underneath.

a repaired car can be just as reliable as one that has never been hit, just make sure everything has been done properly.

if possible, contact the shop that repaired it.

 

Obviously if the panel gaps line up flawlessly, and you can't see ANY creased hammered metal, the work was probably done to a high standard. Unfortunately these days insurance companies are even bigger cheap asses and they low ball the hell out of the body shop, so they cut corners to make a few extra bucks at your expense.

There are only a few body guys in this country that I would let touch my car.

 

Thanks for the great advice, guys!