Hey Guys,

Can a car have a CPO if it's been in an accident and had parts replaced and painted? Parts that were replaced were the headlights and the hood. Hood was obviously painted which I thought was a strike against the CPO? The dealer has also not disclosed the accident on the website and the used sales manager said (only when asked) "No accident we changed the hood and lights someone backed up into him while he was parked in a parking lot."

Thoughts?

 

well, a Dealer is supposed to follow PCNA's guideline when CPOing a car. Minor stuff like bumpers should be ok. Having said that i've seen some dealers taking liberities.
In this case I would definately get a PPI from a 3rd party.

 

This was the aluminum hood and not the plastic bumpers. So painted panels is still okay with a CPO?

FYI, a different dealership looked into the car and found 10k worth of damage. To me that is more than the hood and headlights?

 

I think a CPO process allows upto 2 painted panels not including the bumpers

That's why, regardless of where you buy the car, paint meter is a must

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

I've seen CPO cars with an accident history on the PCNA website as well.

 

Was it declared that it was in an accident?

 

That's what I've heard as well. I thought I recall reading that from the Porsche website describing CPO, but I'm not certain. If a panel was painted, but it wasn't in an accident, it isn't going to have much effect on the car.

 

Johnny, I had a friend trade in his 911TT to a dealership with a disclosed accident (carfax had it). It had been damaged on one side from a real accident (left turn into him at intersection). The dealer kept the car on the lot. A mutual friend happened to check it out, unknowingly. In a random conversation, he said he had checked out a nice TT. When I told him I knew the car and that it had been in accident, he laughed and said the dealer said "it had minor damage from someone running into it while parked". Not saying your guy is lying (perhaps its the truth or he believes it to be true), but if you do buy it - have a body shop check it out with the paint meter and to check for signs of frame damage, etc. Also, make sure you price the accident in upfront! Be cautious and good luck.

 

+1000

 

That is funny as we have a very similar story. My friend had actually put a deposit on this car last year. A few days ago, I sent him some pictures and the link to the add as I was about to put a deposit on the car. I was very excited until he told me that it was the same car he had put a deposit on last year but never purchased. At the time, he was shopping around at a few dealerships and when he test drove a Turbo at a different dealership, he happened to mention to the salesman that he was checking out another car that had “slight” damage. The salesman pulled up the records (via VIN?) and discovered that it actually had 10K worth of damage as opposed to the 3.5K disclosed. It’s funny how all accidents are minor parking lot incidents.

Do Porsche dealerships have paint meters? I’m not sure who I should look to for frame damage and paint thickness.

<O</OWhat would be the cost of a headlight and hood (frunk lid)?<O</O

 

Yes, though there are limits.

My 03 996 Turbo retained its CPO warranty after suffering over $25K damage from a mule deer collision. I insisted when I spoke to the dealer I bought the car from when I asked it to in partnership with a body shop it would recommend to repair the car that the car must be repaired to its pre-collision condition as close as humanly possible and it must be repaired according the rules/guidelines set forth in the Porsche Approved Collision Center certification documentation.

The front bumper cover, front trunk lid, passenger side headlight, both front tires (the left one received some minor side wall damage and the other side replaced to keep the tires the same size), the passenger side wheel (which was ruined when the wheel refinisher tried to refinish the wheel to deal with some minor scuffing), passenger fender, lots of damage to the vapor recovery system hardware under the fender, and some assorted hardware (under the bumper cover and behind the head light), and paint for all 3 body panels, and a fully alignment after.

All factory parts were used and I had not one but two dealers and another body shop check the car out after and certify the car was repaired correctly.

The car has been fine with no side effects from the collision or the repairs.

Also, I had to rely upon the CPO to cover a snapped radiator fan motor shaft, which took out the radiator, a broken shifter, a leaking 6-speed transmission (replaced with one sourced from the factory), a noisy idler roller bearing, a failed clutch accumulator and a leaking slave cylinder.

I have watched dealer techs inspect trade ins and auction cars and they can spot shoddy paint work very quickly. If the paint work suggests a large amount of damage I believe the car is rejected. I've been told some cars, in fact have seen with my own eyes some cars from the auction rejected (heck even my non professional eyes spotted sufficient cause to reject the car) when they were clearly not up to spec. Now unfortunately not all dealers are as picky.

While there are more serious collisions often cars do get banged up a bit in a parking lot. Even new cars on the dealer's lot can get minor paint/body damage from a careless customer -- more than once I've seen a salesman dash out to prevent a customer from improperly closing the front trunk of a car -- or from careless dealer employees moving the cars about on the lot or on the sales floor.

Not sure but a car employee probably wouldn't get more than one chance not to do this again before he'd be gone.

(And when I'm on a car lot, in a dealer's showroom I give any cars a wide berth just to be extras safe.)