If you were buying a new car...would you let the door get painted to fix some chips?

[Nicky Pass]

I went to the dealership today to go over some final details about the car...and I noticed 5 chips on the door. Right away, the sales manager and the owner of the dealership checked it out, and they said the would have it spot blended and I would never be able to tell it was ever touched. According to a friend of mine that works at a Lexus, Kia and Acura dealer....the fix new cars in the same manner all of the time. So technically...any new car could have been touched up and no one would ever know. My question is....should I still buy the car. I`m getting a new 03 Cobra convert for $3000 under invoice. And...if I get it....I planned on Zainoing it this weekend....if it gets fixed, could I still Zaino it....or do I have to wait?

[imported_Yosemite Dan]

How did a brand new Cobra get 5 chips on the door between the time buying it and taking possession. Just wondering.

[Scottwax]

I honestly don`t know that I would take the car. I`d at least want the whole door repainted with the caveat that if the paint doesn`t match perfectly, the deal is off.

[General Lee]

I don`t think I could take it. I`m extremely picky when it comes to a new vehicle. I`m really not sure if you would be able to Zaino the car, usually after a car is painted its 4-6 weeks before waxing, but zaino is a sealant so not sure. If I had to guess I would say wait before applying anything other than just a wash.

[zzyyzx]

Leave yourself an out... and also see if you can get them to throw in some freebie (floor mats, car cover, service, something) for the "trauma" you`ll have to endure of buying a damaged new car. Tell them the value just went down because it`s had repair work on it now. Run the gammit and get what you can.

[imported_kgb]

Yes BUT tell them you want to take it to YOUR choice of body shops and they are goign to pay for it or knock that much off the price. I would not let a dealer paint shop touch my car with a 10 foot microfiber let alone a d/a sander and a spray gun.

[SpoiledMan]

I have seen this type of repair work done on a BLACK car and it was not noticeable. I think that you should let them do the repair with the stipulation that is HAS to be to YOUR satisfaction. I think you will be pleased if it is done right and also unable to tell the difference.

[Accumulator]

I wouldn`t take it. No, it`s not *that* common for new cars to have redone panels.



Every time I took a car with that sort of repair I ended up regretting it. Now I just refuse such "story cars". I`ve refused delivery over smaller issues than that...just my $0.02.



If you *do* take it, as Scottwax said, have the whole door reshot..you might also need to blend into the surrounding panels. Definitely DO NOT take it if the repair is discernable!

[Bill D]

Sorry, no excuse for any new car to have such defects as those, I know its unreasonable but I would demand even more off the MSRP just to emphasize the point :down

[andriver]

I don`t know but I would consider buying it because of the $3k under invoice. Tell them you will take it with the condition that you have to approve the work after it is done or you will not take delivery. Good luck.

[Nicky Pass]

If they do it to new cars...which I`m sure they do...I can only imagine how many cars have been touched. Its in thier shop now...and I`ll have to see what happens. Thier shop is great....they did work on my 93 Cobra and my 95 T-Bird. They also do alot of BMWs and Mercedes. The work they did on my Uncle`s Explorer shocked my He hit a tree...I looked it over and I was amazed! So the shop it MORE than qualified to do the work.

[Nicky Pass]

These aren`t big chips....the are little rock chips...they offered to fix them.

[TLL]

From personal experience I`d say no thanks. Whats more once you know where the work was done it will always be in the back of your mind.

[ben54]

Originally posted by Nicky Pass

These aren`t big chips....the are little rock chips...they offered to fix them.



Negotiate down the price more rather than have the rock chips fixed. Before I joined this board, and became an Autpoian nut, I agreed to have the dealer remove some dings out of my new car. The dealer had a body shop remove the dings, and while I can`t tell where the dings were, I regret having the dings fixed. Because the car is black, the body shop shot clear over the entire back quarter panel and the hood (don`t know how the hood got dinged). The clear doesn`t match the factory clear as it glistens in the sun from some sort of metalic flakes in the clear coat, and the passenger door jambs have a build-up of clear along the edges where the new and old clear coats meet. The car also came back with tons of buffer marks as the body shop tried to move the overspray with a rotary. No masking was done, so some of the weatherstripping got damaged.

Thinking back, I should have either not bought the car, I should have negotiated the price down further or I should have paid more and ordered the car instead of taking what was on the lot. Don`t get me wrong, the repairs wouldn`t bother most people, but if you are picky, you will always notice it.

[HellrotCi]

I`ve bought 2 cars in the past that needed similar touch-ups before I took delivery. After 5 years I never could tell where the dealer fixed the dings on my Camaro. On my 4Runner they touch-uped areas of the fender flairs that are metallic silver and after a year it still looks perfect.



If it was me and I really wanted the `Stang, I`d take it. If you`re going to drive it much anyway, it`s pretty hard to avoid rock chips.