Aftermarket rear parking sensors unsymmetrical

[p1tse]

Seen a car advertised with Aftermarket rear parking sensors unsymmetrical
The middle sensor to the right appears slightly higher than middle left

Would that bother you or just my touch of OCD coming out

Will try and get a pic up today to show

I guess I would have to remove, fix hole, refit, but what would that cost?

[r11co]

I'm not as obsessive as some in here but that would definitely annoy me. It's a fundamental part of the job to get the sensors in a straight line and evenly spaced, or better still in the same position as OEM, neither of which is particularly hard. Most bumpers these days already have the template marks for the sensors moulded on the inside, so if the person who fitted them couldn't be arsed to get the bit you can see right then what is the rest of the install that you can't see going to be like?

Won't be a cheap fix as the bumper will need filling and painting, which might also make refitting of the sensors impossible. Either that or you are going to have to find an unmolested second hand bumper, or if you are lucky one that has the OEM holes cut already.

[Mr2Mike]

That would irritate me, but how would you "fix" the hole? I suppose if it's a painted, non-textured bumper you might be able to use fiberglass and filler or even get it plastic welded and then resprayed but it would be a lot of work.

[73mark]

p1tse said:

Seen a car advertised with Aftermarket rear parking sensors unsymmetrical
The middle sensor to the right appears slightly higher than middle left

Would that bother you or just my touch of OCD coming out

Will try and get a pic up today to show

I guess I would have to remove, fix hole, refit, but what would that cost?

Move on to the next one and fit your own sensors properly

[kambites]

I don't think it would annoy me - the wife's Octavia only has one parking sensor left, the rest are just holes (bloody monkeys) and I don't even notice that. You can't see the rear bumper from the drivers' seat anyway.

As for how to fix it, unless it's miles off I think it'd be tricky to do perfectly because your new hole would presumably have to overlap with the (structurally dubious) repair of the old one. I'm sure it's perfectly possible but it might be cheaper to pick up a second-hand bumper and start again (or just not bother with the sensors at all).

Edited by kambites on Monday 24th February 09:59

[p1tse]

Vehicle in question

[The Moose]

That would piss me off!

[blearyeyedboy]

As above, it's not the lack of symmetry... it's the lack of caring. What else wasn't cared about during the install? I would have the same worry about other work or servicing done to the car.

To quote an old meme, Ahm Oot.

[TLandCruiser]

It would annoy me, and every time I walked to the rear of the car it would stand out a mile once your aware of it

[kambites]

Is it just me, or is the one on the far left also higher than the one on the far right - they've zig-zagged them.

[r11co]

That is a shonky job - that verges on vandalism IMO. If the previous owner did it themselves they deserve to take a hit on the resale value (cost of S/H bumper). If they paid someone to do that and went away happy then they are a moron.

I've retrofitted parking sensors to three cars. In one instance there were markings on the inside of the bumper to show were the sensors go, so easy job. On the other two occasions I got some kind person in an owner's forum who had OEM ones fitted take a photo square on the rear bumper and then scaled up the measurements from the photo. This really isn't rocket science.

Edited by r11co on Monday 24th February 11:32

[FD3Si]

blearyeyedboy said:

As above, it's not the lack of symmetry... it's the lack of caring. What else wasn't cared about during the install? I would have the same worry about other work or servicing done to the car.

To quote an old meme, Ahm Oot.

Seriously? Wow.
Because someone's a bit crap at lining things up, they can't look after a car?

[Spare tyre]

if i saw you with that car, I'd assume you did it.

Either find another or find replacement bumper

i couldn't live with that, would drive me mad


i see the self adhesive ones seem to be dieing a death now, love seeing them skillfully stuck to the bumper then have the cables hanging out the boot

[Daston]

Am I right in thinking the rear bumper on these is the same as a normal A4 and its just the exhaust surround at the bottom thats different?

If so shouldnt be too hard to sorce a second hand bumper in the same colour and do it that way.

[r11co]

FD3Si said:

Seriously? Wow.
Because someone's a bit crap at lining things up, they can't look after a car?

Yup. Either previous owner is prepared to take on jobs s/he's not 100% capable of (did s/he change the brake pads at some point as well maybe....!) or s/he's happy to accept other people doing shonky work to his/her car. There's a nice big visual reminder of that on the back.

[p1tse]

Daston said:

Am I right in thinking the rear bumper on these is the same as a normal A4 and its just the exhaust surround at the bottom thats different?

If so shouldnt be too hard to sorce a second hand bumper in the same colour and do it that way.

is that so?

[FD3Si]

r11co said:

FD3Si said:

Seriously? Wow.
Because someone's a bit crap at lining things up, they can't look after a car?

Yup. Either previous owner is prepared to take on jobs s/he's not 100% capable of (did s/he change the brake pads at some point as well maybe....!) or s/he's happy to accept other people doing shonky work to his/her car. There's a nice big visual reminder of that on the back.

That really is an impressive extrapolation. My attempt would look way worse than that, I guarantee, yet I've never killed a person changing brake pads. You realise that bodywork and mechanics are two very different disciplines, right?
By all means judge the rest of the bodywork on the quality of that, but the mechanicals? Yes it looks st, but it wouldn't put me off buying an otherwise good car. Baffling.

Some of you guys must have an absolute nightmare finding second hand cars (if you ever drop your standards to that level)

Edited by FD3Si on Monday 24th February 13:08

[turboteeth]

I would want to see how they fitted the sounder internally...and also, why on earth do you need parking sensors on a car like this??? Oh, it must be because they can't line things up very well...

[Hoofy]

FFS. When I read the OP I imagined a DIY job on a £500 shed not a decent car. I'd be irritated by it.

[blearyeyedboy]

FD3Si said:

blearyeyedboy said:

As above, it's not the lack of symmetry... it's the lack of caring. What else wasn't cared about during the install? I would have the same worry about other work or servicing done to the car.

To quote an old meme, Ahm Oot.

Seriously? Wow.
Because someone's a bit crap at lining things up, they can't look after a car?

It's not a hard and fast rule but it's a strong indicator that someone either doesn't pay attention to detail when they work on their own car or they've paid someone else to do a shoddy job. I'm not OCD over a scuff or a scrape on a second hand car but this is different- someone couldn't be bothered. If it's a £500 snotter then fair enough, but on an S4? Yes, seriously, I'd walk. It could be fine but there's a higher-than-background-probability chance it's not. If he's craply DIYing sensors he could easily be skimping on other more critical bits of maintenance too. On an S4, that'd cost you dearly.

Maybe he's a DIY whizz with ABS systems and engine overhauls but let's be blunt, it doesn't really bode well if he can't use a ruler or even a straight stick, does it?

I'm comfortable with second hand cars that are a little worn, but well looked after.

r11co said:

Yup. Either previous owner is prepared to take on jobs s/he's not 100% capable of (did s/he change the brake pads at some point as well maybe....!) or s/he's happy to accept other people doing shonky work to his/her car. There's a nice big visual reminder of that on the back.

Exactly my point.

Edited by blearyeyedboy on Monday 24th February 13:17