Would known body repairs put you off buying?
Discussion
Am considering an otherwise nice Griff 5 at a midlands main dealer. The car has been damaged in a minor rear-ender (one tail light and some glass damage surrounding...broken into the body-shell around the light). Doesn't look like the chassis or anything else has suffered and I'm assured the repair will be a pukka job...no price reduction is in the offering (so far) and the damage was done between me first seeing the car and now (previous owner borrowed it for a sunny afternoon 
). My natural tendency is to walk away but the car is otherwise just what I'm after and is in good mechanical nick... are significant repairs to grp bodies necessarily bad news (after all, I'd be unlikely to have found out if I'd not been there when the car was brought back in a bashed state)?
). My natural tendency is to walk away but the car is otherwise just what I'm after and is in good mechanical nick... are significant repairs to grp bodies necessarily bad news (after all, I'd be unlikely to have found out if I'd not been there when the car was brought back in a bashed state)?pupp, the grp aint your issue the chassis is, get an inspection or at least someone in the know to check it out, ask for a discount. Sounds like it should be ok though, I only found out that mine had been in trouble after taking out the headlamp pods and discovering Team Central spare written on one of them, a grp repair is always going to be less dramatic than a steel one so don't worry too much
>> Edited by apache on Thursday 22 August 22:28
>> Edited by apache on Thursday 22 August 22:28
Definately depends on the quality of the job done. A good repair where all cracks are ground out, reglassed and finaly a skim of filler, will literally be as good as new. However, some shops (usually people who don't understand grp) will grind out the cracks and just fill 'em with bodyfiller. Looks ok for a couple of years and then the cracks return. Just make sure they do it right! Also, check the paint match in all types of light - daylight, headlamps, and streetlamps. What looks ok during the day can look awful under streetlamps. Red is particularly bad for this.
Good luck!
Good luck!
My TVR Chimaera had a spectacular front end crash when a blind
lady tried to get across a junction before me and sadly failed. Having only had the car for two weeks I was not too happy
especially as new bonnet and two front wings were required 
However as there was no chassis damage, the GRP repairs were excellent and you can't tell its been done 
So if it's just bodywork damage I'd go for it, good luck
Pupp, if they are pushing you to decide then why don't you agree to purchase "subject to a satisfactory inspection afetr repair"?
By the sound of it the damage is not really a big deal, & if you're happy with the rest of the car then why let it put you off? After all there may be other previous repairs to the car that you don't know about.
Should give you some financial leverage if nowt else.
If you have a bad feeling about the car you should just walk away tho'. After all, any doubts aren't gonna go away - they'll just get bigger over time.
By the sound of it the damage is not really a big deal, & if you're happy with the rest of the car then why let it put you off? After all there may be other previous repairs to the car that you don't know about.
Should give you some financial leverage if nowt else.
If you have a bad feeling about the car you should just walk away tho'. After all, any doubts aren't gonna go away - they'll just get bigger over time.
quote:
Am considering an otherwise nice Griff 5 at a midlands main dealer. The car has been damaged in a minor rear-ender (one tail light and some glass damage surrounding...broken into the body-shell around the light). Doesn't look like the chassis or anything else has suffered and I'm assured the repair will be a pukka job...
If the only damage was one tail light and the surrounding GRP then there will not be any chassis damage (the nearest part of the chassis is a couple of feet away from that area). GRP is a superb energy absorbing material and will not have transmitted the impact to the chassis. A repair done by a (GRP) experienced bodyshop will be invisible. The only issue would be the tail lamps used. If the car is in the middle of the period when TVR used the smoked Cavalier tail lights the dealer may not be able to get a new smoked lens (no longer made by Vauxhall) and would therefore have to replace both tail lights with the normal version. This would be a bit of a giveaway to an 'anorak' that the tail lights had been replaced. You could of course get them to fit Afterburners...
Myself I think you are worrying over nothing, if the rest of the car is clean then buy it, it wouldn't put me off and I can understand the dealer not discounting the price as the car will be as good as new.
quote:
quote:
Am considering an otherwise nice Griff 5 at a midlands main dealer. The car has been damaged in a minor rear-ender (one tail light and some glass damage surrounding...broken into the body-shell around the light). Doesn't look like the chassis or anything else has suffered and I'm assured the repair will be a pukka job...
If the only damage was one tail light and the surrounding GRP then there will not be any chassis damage (the nearest part of the chassis is a couple of feet away from that area). GRP is a superb energy absorbing material and will not have transmitted the impact to the chassis. A repair done by a (GRP) experienced bodyshop will be invisible. The only issue would be the tail lamps used. If the car is in the middle of the period when TVR used the smoked Cavalier tail lights the dealer may not be able to get a new smoked lens (no longer made by Vauxhall) and would therefore have to replace both tail lights with the normal version. This would be a bit of a giveaway to an 'anorak' that the tail lights had been replaced. You could of course get them to fit Afterburners...
Myself I think you are worrying over nothing, if the rest of the car is clean then buy it, it wouldn't put me off and I can understand the dealer not discounting the price as the car will be as good as new.
I thought the car was a Griff 500...didn't know you could fit afterburners to them.
As long as it is just fibre glass damage, then I wouldn't worry about it. As long as there is no chassis damage then it will be fine.
Lots of people have little bits and pieces done, as even the tiniest dent means a large chunk of the shell being replaced. As long as it is done properly (Ideally at the factory) then there ought to be no problems.
>> Edited by NICE EH on Friday 23 August 10:12
Lots of people have little bits and pieces done, as even the tiniest dent means a large chunk of the shell being replaced. As long as it is done properly (Ideally at the factory) then there ought to be no problems.
>> Edited by NICE EH on Friday 23 August 10:12
quote:
quote:
I thought the car was a Griff 500...didn't know you could fit afterburners to them.
We make a pod that fits into the tail light hole so that it is flush with the bodywork. The Afterburners fit in this.
Thanks for clearing that up Clive, P.S. I've now got my afterburners fitted to my chim....stunning me thinks.
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