Does this matter to you? How much?

In My Humble Opinion
1

You are looking to buy a new small SUV. It’s the 2009 Inigo. Fair market value is $26,000 and the car has 1,300 miles (take this value as a given).

You find 2 cars, identical in all ways except one: One of them had $4,500 in body repairs. The rear door and rear bumper were replaced. The car has been measured on a frame machine by a reputable company and there is absolutely no frame damage. The only damage was the door and the bumper. They have been replaced by a professional shop with new Original Equipment Manufacture parts (a genuine Inigo door and bumper) and the paint has been perfectly matched. The repair has a lifetime guaranty.

  1. Pay the same price for either car?
    If not, then:
  2. How much less, and for which car?
2

Given the nature of the work, and the situation as described, I’d be willing to pay the same for either car.

3

With the prevalance of carfax reports these days, I would advise you to buy the car that has not been previously damaged. The first thing I do as a dealer when evaluating a customers trade is check the carfax history. This damage would likely show as moderate or severe on the report and would be a substantial deduct on the trade value. However if you are confident in the repair, I would offer to pay $2-3000 less since it has been damaged and will affect you, at least monetarily, in the future.

4

I’d pay at least 2-3 thousand less for the car which had previously been damaged–maybe more like 5 or 6 thousand less.

I might choose differently if the cars were a few years old with more significant milage on them.

But for a brand new car-damage requiring repair even though purely cosmetic is unacceptable. It lowers my purely emotional enjoyment of my “New Car”.

5

I’d expect to pay 3-5k less for the repaired car. Mostly because there would always be a doubt about if the damage was really limited to the bumper and door that were replaced. Is the door going to get sticky at some point. Is the wiring going to go. Maybe the lock stops working or a seal starts letting water in.

Yes, there is a warrenty, but getting something fixed, even with a warrenty, is a PITA.

6

Repainted parts will never hold up to a factory paint job. Take off enough for repainting it again (down the road) and a serious inner body corrosion job make sure all drain holes are free of sealant). Personally, I’d take 5k off but I’m pulling that number out of my ass. I would need to know the market value of the car new. By market value I mean the dealer cost plus say $350. I would want to make sure the car is fully depreciated as a used vehicle driven off the lot.

Your thought process should be:
dealer cost + profit

  • off the lot depreciation
  • cost of inner panel corrosion package
  • cost of future exterior panel rust repair

Other thoughts to consider. I’d want to know if there are metal parts that were wrinkled as part of a crush zone and then pulled straight. It’s nice that the frame is straight but stressed sheet metal that isn’t replaced will probably be the first thing to start rusting. Think in terms of road salt on something that has tiny cracks in the paint.

It doesn’t sound from your description that much was actually damaged. If the door was replaced with a new FACTORY door then your concern is with the paint applied. Same for the back bumper. Sounds like it was side-swiped and the bumper was pealed back. That would mean the quarter panel was mangled and there would be your major rust concern. I would want it coated inside the panel and also on the exterior wheel well.

7

I would not believe that the frame wasn’t damaged if there was damage to both the rear door and the rear bumper. I would not buy the repaired car.

8

I have no idea, but I’d buy a 2009 Inigo just for the cool name. :smiley: And then I’d try to get MONTOYA as my license plate.