How can I find out if a car was involve in an accident and had body works on it? CARFAX shows clean record. And how much should I subtract out of the asking price ($50K range) if there is any accident/body repair or should I walk away?
Thanks!

 

have a pre purchase inspection done, that will tell you

 

PPI will tell you **** about the accident/repair history

Have the dealer send you the paint meter reading on all the panels to make sure they are consistant thus no resprayed panels.

On a side note, a dealer will pull out a paint meter in less than a second when you go trading you car but would not have heard of a paint meter when you ask them to meter a car for you

No paint meter, no car, period.

 

AS far as I know, PPI's don't look for body work.

 

Mine did, and he's a Porsche dealer, the guy was amazing, he went over every panel (I'm sure he is exception though, typical ppi would not include this)

Get a ppi and ask them to check the panels with a paint meter, if they won't then take it to a body shop and ask them to do it

 

One of the things most of us used car buyers rely upon the PPI is for his ability to spot body/paint work that is not obvious -- even though some of us have some experience looking for this on our own -- and if the PPI doesn't bother to check for this...

If a PPI doesn't look for body/paint work he's just playing at PPI'ing.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

there is no definitive list of what is or should be inspected in a PPI beyond what is usually listed on porsche's own CPO checklist, and it's not science.

one of the largest porsche dealerships in the western U.S. sold me a car that had undisclosed body panel work/paint, without disclosure during/after the CPO process. all legal ( as if they didn't "know" ) because it was limited to one quarter panel. was not on the carfax either. big surprise.

eventually, i got even.

 

Thank you all for great advices!

 

The paint meter will show you if the car's been repainted in a certain area. That doesn't necessarily mean the car was in a wreck; it just could be that there was damage to the paint, or it needed a dent pulled out. That alone shouldn't constitute rejecting an otherwise desirable car. Of course the repair has to have been flawless, and only picked up with the meter.