Can I tell if my Z has been repainted?

[STL WRX]

I am the 2nd owner of my Pikes Peak White 05 350Z. When I bought it I thought to myself "Wow the paint looks great for a Z with 88,000 miles and nearly 5 years old!". I was applying detail spray under the lights in the garage last night and started noticing high and low places in the clear all over the car, random places where it looks like sanding dust under the clear and I even found a place where there are very light sanding marks on the edge of a body line. Another thing I have noticed is that there is no orange peel at all any where and we all know most factory paint has a lot of it but my Z`s paint is butter smooth. Also for a 6 year old car the swirls are extremely minimal which is also odd.



Does it sound like the car has been repainted? Is there any way to know 100%? I do know that the front bumper has many rock chips but the hood doesn`t at all.



:hm:

[Street5927]

It could have been repainted, or it could have been wetsanded out by a detailer who did not properly level the paint. If you have a paint thickness guage, check for areas that are much thicker than others. Also check for lines in the door jambs, under the hood, behind tail light assemblies, etc. If it was a so-so job, they may have just taped off the areas instead of removing the parts, etc. just some thoughts.

[David Fermani]

CARFAX - Vehicle History Reports and VIN number check and a paint meter are your 2 best friends.



Keep in mind that trim like bumpers are hand painted and can have some defects because of it.



Question: Is the frt bumper and or the rear bumper an off color (variance) from the metal body of the car? It should.

[Brad B]

Look for evidence of masking ridges and overspray under rubber trim, seals, edges and bottoms of panels, etc.

[Dan]

CARFAX - Vehicle History Reports and VIN number check[/url] and a paint meter are your 2 best friends.

CarFax is only good for POSITIVE confirmation of previous accident damage. If a CarFax report contains an accident damage entry, you can be reasonably sure that a car has had panels painted. A clean CarFax doesn`t mean ANYTHING. CarFax uses misleading advertising to confuse people into thinking that they are getting a clean car.



The insurance industry has access to additional claims information, but neither CarFax nor Autocheck show this. Its a total bummer because its a goldmine of information.



Now on to the PTG. A PTG is a great tool to evaluate paintwork. In most cases it will show you that there is additional paint on the panel, however there are true craftsmen in the auto body industry that can level paint with surrounding panels make repairs virtually undetectable unless you literally tear apart the car.



So really, the answer is you can never be really sure, however if you see dirt and sanding dust under the clear, you have some paintwork.

[gt08vapor]

Some great information guys

[C. Charles Hahn]

however there are true craftsmen in the auto body industry that can level paint with surrounding panels make repairs virtually undetectable unless you literally tear apart the car.

I think we can all agree that those guys are extremely few and far between. It takes a lot of dedication and attention to detail to achieve that level of perfection when refinishing and most painters are nowhere near that level of artistry.

[Dan]

I think we can all agree that those guys are extremely few and far between. It takes a lot of dedication and attention to detail to achieve that level of perfection when refinishing and most painters are nowhere near that level of artistry.

Absolutely, and these guys don`t work at insurance industry rates, which are pathetic. Around here, insurance rates for paintwork are ~$45/hour. You can`t even get yard work done for that.

[David Fermani]

CarFax is only good for POSITIVE confirmation of previous accident damage. If a CarFax report contains an accident damage entry, you can be reasonably sure that a car has had panels painted. A clean CarFax doesn`t mean ANYTHING. CarFax uses misleading advertising to confuse people into thinking that they are getting a clean car.

Any confirmation is better than none so it’s obviously a valueable tool when results can be obtained.

The insurance industry has access to additional claims information, but neither CarFax nor Autocheck show this. Its a total bummer because its a goldmine of information.

I agree. Their databases could provide a great deal of benefit to the consumer market.

Now on to the PTG. A PTG is a great tool to evaluate paintwork. In most cases it will show you that there is additional paint on the panel, however there are true craftsmen in the auto body industry that can level paint with surrounding panels make repairs virtually undetectable unless you literally tear apart the car.

Sure, but you can’t level paint in a surrounding blend panels to match factory specs. Therefore the painter needs to be able to panel paint perfectly which *can be done* with the right amount of color tinting and spray out panels in some applications.

So really, the answer is you can never be really sure, however if you see dirt and sanding dust under the clear, you have some paintwork.

These defects could even be in factory finishes too. Remember, bumper covers are usually manually painted by suppliers. That means there could be the same defects as a local body shop.

[sacdetailing]

by your story am positive that it has been repainted but maybe not all the areas.