Car from Dealer

cheechm · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:17

So I bought a car from a VW main dealer a few weeks back. Just had a slow puncture repaired and asked the guy at the garage what some marks on the edge of a panel were. Turns out that the bumper (front right side) has been resprayed. I explicitly asked the dealer whether "the car had been crashed or scraped or in an accident" etc... He said "no look at the HPI check - completely clear". The car hasn't done 30 days/1000 miles so I am well within my rights to return it to the dealer for a full refund? (I know the VW website states no quibbles exchange for one of the same price).

Cheers

[TW]Fox · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:25

So what? It's had a bumper resprayed - along with perhaps 40% of other cars on the road. It's hardly a big deal and means you now get shiney new paintwork on the front. How is the dealer supposed to know its had a bumper respray - HPI only shows if it's been written off which it doesnt sound like it has.

I don't really understand why you care?

cheechm · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:27

[TW]Fox;23312783 said:
So what? It's had a bumper resprayed - along with perhaps 40% of other cars on the road. It's hardly a big deal and means you now get shiney new paintwork on the front. How is the dealer supposed to know its had a bumper respray - HPI only shows if it's been written off which it doesnt sound like it has.

I don't really understand why you care?

Because my pride and joy (1st car) has had a shoddy respray.

Adam · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:28

[TW]Fox;23312783 said:
So what? It's had a bumper resprayed - along with perhaps 40% of other cars on the road. It's hardly a big deal and means you now get shiney new paintwork on the front. How is the dealer supposed to know its had a bumper respray - HPI only shows if it's been written off which it doesnt sound like it has.

I don't really understand why you care?

I agree, it's absolutely a non issue. If the respray was bad then you should have picked up on it when you bought the car.

Many cars have resprays for a variety of reasons, it's nothing to worry about. The salesman would have had no idea a respray had taken place unless it was substandard.

[TW]Fox · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:28

A respray so shoddy you didn't notice it yourself and had to have somebody else point it out for you?

You might think I'm being harsh but the reality of the situation is that there is not much you can do so its important you realise it's a non-issue

cheechm · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:33

Well the scratch wasn't on the edge of the panel originally so I don't know if they managed to temporarily buffer over it or something - I don't know these things. However, this scratch (which couldn't have come round any other way) is the tell tale sign that actually made me get eye to eye with the bumper.

I'll just talk to the dealer. See what they say.

Adam · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:36

cheechm said:
Well the scratch wasn't on the edge of the panel originally so I don't know if they managed to temporarily buffer over it or something - I don't know these things. However, this scratch (which couldn't have come round any other way) is the tell tale sign that actually made me get eye to eye with the bumper.

I'll just talk to the dealer. See what they say.

So why didn't you do this before you bought the car? Buying from a dealer doesn't guarantee you an absolutely perfect car, all cars suffer wear and tear to the components and the paintwork is no different. Dealers cannot stop stone chips/scrapes and it's uneconomical for them to repair every imperfection.

Let me just repeat one thing for you, the car having a respray on a panel is not necessarily a bad thing unless it's been done to a poor standard. Chances are this will have been done before it reached the dealer so they could have been unaware themselves.

Enjoy your car and if it's really an issue then have it resprayed yourself to a higher standard, this is nothing to worry about.

cheechm · 6 Dec 2012 at 17:38

I guess. Just wonder if it it's the underlying reason for a knocking that can be heard around the B-pillar.

Hades · 6 Dec 2012 at 19:13

Bought from a vw dealer so it should be Approved Used. So just ask them to investigate the knocking.

The paintwork is a non issue.

Matt82 · 6 Dec 2012 at 19:19

The answer is a really simple no.

Hpi check won't tell you if the car has been painted

If st was that important you really ought to have looked at it before you bought it

iaind · 6 Dec 2012 at 19:45

cheechm said:
I guess. Just wonder if it it's the underlying reason for a knocking that can be heard around the B-pillar.

I very much doubt its anything to do with that it has been involved in any sort of crash. Someone probably just scuffed it on a wall or something. My new car has a little crack in the rear bumper and you can see where it's been scuffed and touched up. It's really not a big deal, all cars get knocked about a bit during thier life. The only way to guarantee one that hasn't is to buy brand new.

Unless you can find any structural damage (I highly doubt there will be any) then it has nothing to do with the dealer

Gribs · 6 Dec 2012 at 20:24

[TW]Fox;23312814 said:
A respray so shoddy you didn't notice it yourself and had to have somebody else point it out for you?

You might think I'm being harsh but the reality of the situation is that there is not much you can do so its important you realise it's a non-issue

You're only defending it due to the number of resprayed panels on yours

However to the op if you didn't notice it when checking the car originally it's really not that big a deal. With a small/medium hatch it's almost to be expected that it'll have had a few touch ups so having a panel sprayed properly is better than you should expect.