5 Effective Tips on How to Define That the Car Has Been in an Accident

Secondly, not every painted and even broken car is a reason to refuse a purchase. If the accident didn’t lead to damage to vital structures (for example, the power frame of the body), and the repair was done with high quality, there is nothing particularly terrible in a broken car. Another thing is that for concealing information, you can ask the owner for a discount.

1. No defects at all

The body of any used car keeps traces of its operation: chips, micro-scratches, or abrasions. The older the car, the more of them, and there is nothing wrong with minor damage. But an unexpectedly fresh body element should raise questions. For example, on the left door of the car, traces of hits by the doors of neighboring cars and small scratches are visible, and the right one is shiny, as if it had just been conveyed - a sure sign that it has recently been updated.

If the whole car is shiny, and the seller tells that “that car was used by a girl who only drove on weekends” - most likely, you are dealing with an outbid who repaired the car before selling it, creating the impression of an ideal body.

In general, wear and tear should be proportional to the age and mileage of the car: a six-year-old with a mileage of 100,000 simply can’t have a body without minor defects. Their complete absence is most likely a sign of either repainting or careful polishing. Such an “ideal” body should not be considered a big plus: with a high probability, some minus is hidden behind it.

2. Multicolor body

If you have a trained eye, you can determine the areas of the painting by the mismatch of shades. In general, when painting body elements, getting exactly the color is a difficult task. In serious companies, colorists and special equipment are used for this, but even then minor color differences occur.

Indeed, cars are not painted element by element, but with a transition, capturing parts of the body so that there is no color border. Therefore, only an experienced colorist can identify a well-painted body by a mismatch in shade. But non-professional repairs are another matter. Here, the color match may not be so accurate, and the elements can be painted separately, which will make the car quite “variegated”.

3. Fasteners

The condition of fixing small things: bolts, nuts, and caps can tell a lot about the car. They are often painted along with the body at the factory. If during the repair the craftsmen have to remove the element, this can be seen from the condition of the bolts or nuts. Let's say, on the one hand, the door bolts are painted over along with the body, and on the other, they shine too much. So the element was removed. True, it happens that the doors are screwed after painting, so in case of doubt, look at a car of the same model.

Very often, the assembly of a body element during repair is inferior to the factory one - clips, decorative inserts, etc. are lost. Therefore, carefully inspect the body not only from the outside but also from the inside: door trim, sound insulation on the hood, fender mounts, etc. Sometimes the negligence of the craftsmen is enough obvious.

Additionally, it is worth looking at the gas tank hatch. If there are signs of its removal (unpainted or damaged fasteners), it was removed. And the gas tank hatch is removed precisely for color matching during body repairs.

4. Uneven gaps or seams

A gap that is uneven in length or differs in width from a gap that is symmetrical to it is a common sign of poor-quality repairs. In factories, car bodies are welded by robots or workers, clamping the parts into special fixtures that minimize the influence of the human factor. Therefore, the factory seams are even, without “knots”, sagging, and strong curvatures.

The presence of a “humpbacked” seam or coarse spot welding is also a sign of repairs. By the way, often parts welded at the factory are spot welded during repairs. The factory sealant used to seal the joints is carefully applied at the factory and painted over so that it is often not visible. Therefore, abundant "stains" and sagging under the paint can give out a repair.

Don’t forget that the car must be symmetrical, so comparing the same elements on the left and right may help. Along with uneven gaps, repairs often lead to poor performance of elements like poorly closing doors (especially if it is one particular door) or a skewed trunk lid are also reasons to look more carefully.

5. Suspicious tires

One of the problems that a severe accident can cause is the crooked geometry of the body. Its consequence may be the inability to set the correct camber and toe angles on the car, which will lead to increased tire wear. Therefore, pay attention to the wheels: if the tread is worn on one side or different tires are worn differently, this is a reason to drive the car onto the stand and try to set the wheel alignment angles.

New tires on a used car should also be suspicious: they usually don’t buy new wheels before selling them. A set of winter tires, which is often left to the new owner, can tell something about the condition of the car.

The bottom line

And yet, after the initial inspection and elimination of the most hopeless options, we recommend giving the car to specialists. For example, an electronic thickness gauge will accurately determine the places where the car has been repainted or there is a generous layer of putty. If the car is still broken, but you really want to buy it, it is useful to carry out an instrumental measurement of the body geometry.

In principle, you can buy a car in any condition, because the question is not to overpay for a broken car, as for an ideal one. Additionally, you can always bring your car to the certified collision repair shop to get high-quality repairs.

Finally, keep in mind: about 10% of cars are damaged even before they are transferred to the first owners. Sometimes a person may quite sincerely not know that for many years he or she drove a car that fell off a car transporter or fell under a warehouse loader while still at the factory.