Vantage Panel Fit
Discussion
Been looking at a few early V8 Vantages recently and almost all of them have had one or another issues with panel fit either around the bonnet or the boot lid. Just wondering if this just my bad luck with what's around at the moment or if poor panel fit is a fairly common issue on the older cars?
I'm tempted to view a car that I've just found but in the picture below, but the boot lid looks to be quite a way out of alignment on the O/S which makes me nervous in regard to possible previous body damage. Can't quite work out if it's just the boot lid that's off as the gap between the top of the rear light cluster and the rear wing is also quite different between left and right. Am I worrying too much and panels like this can be fairly easily re-aligned at a dealer or should I be wary? If it's an easy fix, have to wonder why the seller hasn't rectified prior to advertising as the rest of the car looks fine.
I'm tempted to view a car that I've just found but in the picture below, but the boot lid looks to be quite a way out of alignment on the O/S which makes me nervous in regard to possible previous body damage. Can't quite work out if it's just the boot lid that's off as the gap between the top of the rear light cluster and the rear wing is also quite different between left and right. Am I worrying too much and panels like this can be fairly easily re-aligned at a dealer or should I be wary? If it's an easy fix, have to wonder why the seller hasn't rectified prior to advertising as the rest of the car looks fine.
Thanks everyone for your input - it was most helpful to have some opinions before I went to look at the car last night.
According the seller, after he'd bought the car (privately, 3 months ago) he wanted to rectify various stone chips and scratches. And to ensure there was no paint mis-match between panels, had the whole car re-sprayed. To be honest at that point I switched off, as even though the car looked straight and the re-spray seemed to be a decent quality, the logic behind it and the quick sale/resale turnaround just didn't add up. Service history was also not great and although it drove perfectly well and looked the part, it's certainly not something I was going to take a chance on.
I pointed out the tailgate alignment and he didn't really have any explanation or recollection whether it was the same prior to the re-spray. To be fair, it looks somewhat worse on the pictures than in real life, not helped by the fact the light cluster on that side is fitted tight to the bumper which makes the top gap look even worse than it needs to be. Had everything else been up to expectaions then I might have taken a punt, but added to all the other issues it was a no-brainer really.
The search continues...
According the seller, after he'd bought the car (privately, 3 months ago) he wanted to rectify various stone chips and scratches. And to ensure there was no paint mis-match between panels, had the whole car re-sprayed. To be honest at that point I switched off, as even though the car looked straight and the re-spray seemed to be a decent quality, the logic behind it and the quick sale/resale turnaround just didn't add up. Service history was also not great and although it drove perfectly well and looked the part, it's certainly not something I was going to take a chance on.
I pointed out the tailgate alignment and he didn't really have any explanation or recollection whether it was the same prior to the re-spray. To be fair, it looks somewhat worse on the pictures than in real life, not helped by the fact the light cluster on that side is fitted tight to the bumper which makes the top gap look even worse than it needs to be. Had everything else been up to expectaions then I might have taken a punt, but added to all the other issues it was a no-brainer really.
The search continues...
So another one looked at yesterday. 350 mile round trip to view a supposedly 'immaculate' car. Hadn't been washed so was filthy dirty though I suspect this was deliberate to try and hide poor respray on both sides and the roof. Panel fit was ok for a change but overspray all over the place on the inner door seals and the rubber strips all along the top of the upper window chrome trims. Dull paint on both doors and bonnet, dent in one door, sill covers and bumper dimpled due to overtightening of fixings, both wing mirror arms corroded, rear diffuser mesh rusty, wheels flaking etc.
Don't know what's going on with the cars I'm looking at - our 60k mileage Peugeot people carrier has better paintwork and interior condition than any of the Vantages I've seen to date with almost half the miles... On the up-side I did get passed by a Midnight Blue and a Meteorite Silver car on my way home which I thought both looked nicer than I remembered, so now widening my search across a couple more colours.
Don't know what's going on with the cars I'm looking at - our 60k mileage Peugeot people carrier has better paintwork and interior condition than any of the Vantages I've seen to date with almost half the miles... On the up-side I did get passed by a Midnight Blue and a Meteorite Silver car on my way home which I thought both looked nicer than I remembered, so now widening my search across a couple more colours.
All the cars I've seen so far have been private sellers - I can't afford the main dealer premiums and nothing around in the independent dealers that has looked worth viewing. I'm re-looking at the one in the first picture again today as, despite the full re-spray, it's still the best I've seen so far. Already made some calls about having it inspected at the local Stratstone next week if I think it's worth it after today. Since I pointed out the boot lid alignment last time, the seller has had the light re-fitted and adjusted the bump stops and it's apparently all straight again.
Just to update - I went for second viewing and spotted a few more bodywork issues that didn't sit right with me, so didn't think it was worth bothering with the inspection.
So, still on the hunt for my perfect car. Now thinking that Meteorite may be a more forgiving colour to opt for as all the Tungsten cars I've looked at so far have had some paint mis-match problems.
So, still on the hunt for my perfect car. Now thinking that Meteorite may be a more forgiving colour to opt for as all the Tungsten cars I've looked at so far have had some paint mis-match problems.
I'm sure I'll get there in the end... A bit annoyed with myself as when I started looking I resolved to only look at Tungsten cars and so overlooked a couple of nice Meteorite cars over the past couple of months that have since sold. On the up-side, I expect prices will start to drop again towards the end of the year so that might get me more car for my money.
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