Bought a Cat-D - problems.

[Neonblau]

Colvette said:

I'm reasonably mechanically aware - I think I know what to look for with regard to general serious damage (panel gaps, signs of trauma around suspension struts etc), but obviously this is just being fastidious with your eyes. I identified where the car had been repaired, no problem. Also paid attention to the way it drove (at low and high speed). It was solid, no scuttling, no vibration, steering was in alignment with no pulling etc. In addition, the twin exhausts are aligned, which (to me) suggests that the chassis itself is straight.

That being the case, it looked like a reasonable punt. Obviously what I don't know is if my checks haven't uncovered something which wouldn't be apparent to the more switched on punter.

I guess it's more of an engineering question, really. Given all the information above, which suggests that the car is straight, is there any danger that there could be more serious damage that wouldn't be revealed by a decent visual once-over?

I think you've summed it up in the bits in bold. I once had a similar situation on an old Impala. Everything looked straight, no obvious damage to the floor or suspension mounts, no rattle or vibration when driving. It went into the bodyshop to check the diagonals etc and some were almost 1/2" out. The advice I got was that it would get worse over time - doors not shutting, tyre wear and so on. I sold the 427 for more than the car cost me and a few bits of trim and scrapped the rest.

Best advice is as above get it into the bodyshop, then you'll know what you're dealing with. Until then it's all guesswork.

Nice car, hope it works out for you.

[Colvette]

Du1point8 said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Well done! You found a car that's not only more money than I had to spend, but which also doesn't fit what I wanted.

I'll get on and see if I can sell this one!

[Colvette]

Neonblau said:

I think you've summed it up in the bits in bold. I once had a similar situation on an old Impala. Everything looked straight, no obvious damage to the floor or suspension mounts, no rattle or vibration when driving. It went into the bodyshop to check the diagonals etc and some were almost 1/2" out. The advice I got was that it would get worse over time - doors not shutting, tyre wear and so on. I sold the 427 for more than the car cost me and a few bits of trim and scrapped the rest.

Best advice is as above get it into the bodyshop, then you'll know what you're dealing with. Until then it's all guesswork.

Nice car, hope it works out for you.

Thanks

I'm hoping that as this is a more modern car than the Impala (so not strictly 'chassis' based) that won't be the case here. You're right, though - won't know (unfortunately) until I get it to the bodyshop.

[Colvette]

As the body shop is closed today due to the yearly festival of chocolate, I decided to take the car to the local tyre place and have the alignment looked at to see if it was out.

Remember that when I looked at the car, it was quite obvious (with inspection) where the damage had occurred when the car was stolen - it was at the back on the Driver's side.

I asked them for a laser alignment, to see if anything was off.

The results that came back were good (I think), but also a little unexpected.

Apparently, the back end of the car is perfectly aligned - absolutely no changes needed (to a point they didn't even charge me for rear alignment). It was the front that was out - and not by a massive amount, by all accounts:

Before Alignment
Front Left
-0°29' Camber, --- Caster, 0°14' Toe

Front Right
-0°54' Camber, --- Caster, 0°20' Toe

Combined
0°34' Total Toe, -0°03' Steer Ahead

---

Rear Left
-0°23' Camber, 0°05' Toe

Rear Right
-0°45' Camber, 0°04' Toe

Combined
0°08' Total Toe, 0°00' Thrust Angle

After Alignment
Front Left
-0°27' Camber, --- Caster, 0°06' Toe

Front Right
-0°54' Camber, --- Caster, 0°06' Toe

Combined
0°12' Total Toe, -0°00' Steer Ahead

---

Rear Left
-0°23' Camber, 0°05' Toe

Rear Right
-0°45' Camber, 0°04' Toe

Combined
0°08' Total Toe, 0°00' Thrust Angle

I asked the guy who did the measurements and alignment if he the results suggested that the car had been in an accident. He said 'no, it just looks like wear and tear to me'.

I don't know too much about this aspect (other than the function of handling caused by wheel alignment), but given those measurements and the fact that the back (where the car was damaged) was spot on, does this go some way to confirming a lack of chassis damage to the car?

[rallycross]

if it was bent it would usually be out of alignment as measured front to rear so that sounds ok.
the body should not be able to flex enough to crack the filler in normal use, maybe the repair was just shoddy and it cracking is not related to any flex?

[Kev T360]

Colvette said:

, does this go some way to confirming a lack of chassis damage to the car?

I think it does, but I'm not an expert in anything like this. Good luck

[Terminator X]

"Seller to sort it" brilliant

TX.

[Durzel]

Presumably you got a pretty hefty chunk of money off the car as it was recorded (as opposed to numerous other vehicles that have probably been in similar accidents but have been fixed off the books or whatever), so I don't exactly know why you think you ought to have any comeback with the seller at all?

Private seller = caveat emptor at the best of times, and especially when both parties know what they're getting themselves into - a previously written off car. In those situations to be honest these things are part of the risk you take.

[Colvette]

Jesus. People just can't focus on the actual topic, can they. Incredible, really.

The seller is being fine about all this, as he's a decent bloke. The fact I was aware of it doesn't mean it would be morally right to rip someone off, and he appreciates that. But, again, that wasn't what this thread was about in the first place. I don't want to spank him for cash. I don't want to give him the car back - I absolutely want to keep the car, and if this had happened 6 months down the line, I would have been very much in agreement that this was 'my fault for buying crash damaged'. This was 4 days in, so it's not as if I wasn't going to mention it, really.

Now, please. If you don't have anything to say which would help me work out if the car is cool (as I intend to keep it *for good*), please do me a favour and shut the fk up?

[Terminator X]

Colvette said:

Jesus. People just can't focus on the actual topic, can they. Incredible, really.

The seller is being fine about all this, as he's a decent bloke. The fact I was aware of it doesn't mean it would be morally right to rip someone off, and he appreciates that. But, again, that wasn't what this thread was about in the first place. I don't want to spank him for cash. I don't want to give him the car back - I absolutely want to keep the car, and if this had happened 6 months down the line, I would have been very much in agreement that this was 'my fault for buying crash damaged'. This was 4 days in, so it's not as if I wasn't going to mention it, really.

Now, please. If you don't have anything to say which would help me work out if the car is cool (as I intend to keep it *for good*), please do me a favour and shut the fk up?

You seem to be missing the point, bold bit above applies as soon as you drive off in the car + this is the internet, people will post whether you like it or not.

TX.

[piers1]

Another classic popcorm moment

[Colvette]

Terminator X said:

You seem to be missing the point, bold bit above applies as soon as you drive off in the car + this is the internet, people will post whether you like it or not.

TX.

I haven't missed any point. Especially the point where comments like yours are essentially just being an internet trolling dick.

Just saying.

[anonymous-user]

sub low speed on a 2 tonne car even below 10 mph is some force. i imagine any repair would be put under some stress and this has been shown. i would suggest the initial repair was adequate..

[dfen5]

Problem is, most damaged cars get a little bit of a tug and the obvious damage got shot of before the punter buys it to repair. Seen it done with my own eyes..

If it creaked/bent on a 10mph kerb impact, what's it going to do if you have a proper shunt?

[Colvette]

The Spruce goose said:

sub low speed on a 2 tonne car even below 10 mph is some force. i imagine any repair would be put under some stress and this has been shown. i would suggest the initial repair was adequate..

I didn't 'hit' anything - literally pulled onto a kerb. Did you mean inadequate? This is my 55th car, and I've never seen anything like this before...?

[northandy]

I'd be amazed if driving up a kerb could twist a big lump of a car enough to crack paint. However has it been filled where there would normally be a panel gap?.

I think pictures would help in making a stab at the reason.

[Colvette]

dfen5 said:

Problem is, most damaged cars get a little bit of a tug and the obvious damage got shot of before the punter buys it to repair. Seen it done with my own eyes..

If it creaked/bent on a 10mph kerb impact, what's it going to do if you have a proper shunt?

I'll find out tomorrow, obviously, but I'm hoping that given the car is straight on the suspension (or at least appears to be), it was simply a case that the low profile tyres, the bump up the kerb and a less than brilliant repair job on that panel caused the paint to crack.

There's no sign of damage anywhere else. Everything lines up OK.

[Colvette]

northandy said:

I'd be amazed if driving up a kerb could twist a big lump of a car enough to crack paint. However has it been filled where there would normally be a panel gap?.

I think pictures would help in making a stab at the reason.

Pics:


The area where the rear of the roof connects to the rear side panel near the boot.


About 3/4 of the way down the rear drivers panel.


The protruding wheel arch trim.

[TheBALDpuma]

Colvette said:

Jesus. People just can't focus on the actual topic, can they. Incredible, really.

The seller is being fine about all this, as he's a decent bloke. The fact I was aware of it doesn't mean it would be morally right to rip someone off, and he appreciates that. But, again, that wasn't what this thread was about in the first place. I don't want to spank him for cash. I don't want to give him the car back - I absolutely want to keep the car, and if this had happened 6 months down the line, I would have been very much in agreement that this was 'my fault for buying crash damaged'. This was 4 days in, so it's not as if I wasn't going to mention it, really.

Now, please. If you don't have anything to say which would help me work out if the car is cool (as I intend to keep it *for good*), please do me a favour and shut the fk up?

I'm totally with you on this, internet people can be a self-righteuos PITA!

I totally agree with you, if it had happened to me I'd be speaking to the seller. If I was the seller I'd also be happy to help out with the cost of getting it sorted. I wouldn't pay for it entirely, but we'd come to an arrangement, simply because I'm a decent guy that believes in doing the right thing morally, not someone who will just wash my hands of it because the law says I can. Therfore it is always worth asking the seller politely and doing so should result in a bunch of internet numpties berating you about it!

[SMcP114]

Colvette said:

Jesus. People just can't focus on the actual topic, can they. Incredible, really.

The seller is being fine about all this, as he's a decent bloke. The fact I was aware of it doesn't mean it would be morally right to rip someone off, and he appreciates that. But, again, that wasn't what this thread was about in the first place. I don't want to spank him for cash. I don't want to give him the car back - I absolutely want to keep the car, and if this had happened 6 months down the line, I would have been very much in agreement that this was 'my fault for buying crash damaged'. This was 4 days in, so it's not as if I wasn't going to mention it, really.

Now, please. If you don't have anything to say which would help me work out if the car is cool (as I intend to keep it *for good*), please do me a favour and shut the fk up?

I don't even know why I'm bothered to post this, as you're not gonna listen, but no matter.

You come on here telling how you have put the seller 'under pressure', and how you have made it clear you will be going back to them if there are any issues in the future. This automatically annoys people as we've all had 'that' type of buyer and it's clear to everyone but you that you're one of them, despite all attempts to backtrack. It's your car, you bought it and you own it. No one forced you.

If you can't understand why you're getting the type of replies you're getting then I don't know what to suggest.

As for the car, no one can diagnose it on the internet, only a bodyshop can do that. Take it to one of those when they're open again. It may have been quite significantly damaged, or it may be light, depending on a few factors. The fact that the alignment is fine suggests that the chassis isn't twisted, at least not anymore.