I am thinking about repainting my front bumper due to little rock chips. there is absolutely no accidents, dents, or dings. but if i do that, the car is now officially "repainted". is that going to be bad for resale?? thanks.

 

if done right, it will not be noticeable

 

Here's the key point: Not only will a good job be unnoticeable to the naked eye, the dealer can't pull out the paint meter since that part is plastic.... Otherwise, that could cost you $5K in trade in value....

 

BS....If a dealer tries to take $5k off of a car because it's been hit, they are not reputable. I did some checking and a repainted panel may get you a $200 deductable, but if the car is in great condition and it's not noticeable, then they will not deduct. I did LOTS of research because I was going to try and get the loss of trade in value in a settlement and I could not find ONE source to back up any claims that a car that has been hit and repaired properly has a reduced value at trade in.

 

A bumper with no chips is worth more.
If it's done right.

 

Totally agree, esp. considering that dealers sell a lot of new cars that have had some type of touching up cause cars often have something go wrong in transport

 

Here's a source: North Houston Infiniti. They did that personally with a Jaguar I was trading in. They said they had to check for paint work and deduct because as a "reputable" dealer they have to tell any prospective buyer that it has had body work done. In the end, I sold the car privately for a lot more.

So, how much do you deduct for one of those cars that's had the front and rear welded together to make one good car? Let's see, that is like 3 or 4 panels, so that would be $600-800 less?

 

my buddy tried to trade in a 1 yr old BMW 530. it was hit on the side but fixed by a good reputable shop. one dealer was going to deduct 7k, and the other said 3k. we then took it to another dealer that i know well. they looked at the repair carefullly and eventually did not deduct anything.

so maybe the dealer use this as a reason to take our money when they really don't have?? who knows...

 

Yup...they look for ANY excuse...if you go for it, then they win...but it actually does not reduce the value....Trust me I tried to find the info. Dealers just say, oh the value is less, and if its not a MAJOR repair, it has no effect. It was a Porsche dealer that told me that internally they look at it as MAYBE $200 if anything if its a repainted panel...Now structural damage is totally different...

 

I'll take that as a retraction for calling BS on me...

 

Well a side collision and repainting a bumper do to rock chips and such is completely different to me. W/ a side collision they have to to do some structural work, etc. But a repaint is safe IMO because you really aren't repairing anything, and if it was bad enough the dealer would most likely repaint it themselves.


edit: newport beat me to it

 

I had my bumper and hood painted due to chips. I couldn't live with the chips. I don't think it will effect value too much.

 

Not at all...You originally said a repainted panel, with no body damage could cost you 5K in trade in value. I said, that it was BS for a dealer to try and deduct 5K....If there is major structural damage to a vehicl then yes there may be a reduced value, but thats not what we are talking about. Besides I wasnt calling BS on you, but the practice of reducing 5K on a repainted bumper was BS, but so are most "common" dealer practices. As I said, if a dealer tries that, kindly tell them, I'll take my business elsewhere.....I traded in my Boxster with a 996 bumper and no questions why....no deduction of value, actually got more for it than I owed. I also traded in a Lexus with a huge scrape down the side and a dent, no deduction for body damage. Also there was a repainted hood due to chipping of the factory paint....no one pulled out a meter to check the paint....Like I said, if someone tries that on me, I walk....Maybe we consumers should do the same and ask for a $5k deduction when we notice repainted panels....

 

repaint, then put some clear bra on there. don't worry about it. the future owner will thank you for the clear bra

 

Long winded and round-about apology accepted. Because we all know when you quote someone's message and the first word in your reply is "BS" you better know what you're talking about!