Hello. I have found what appears to be a very nice Vantage that meets most of my criteria. My one hesitation is that there is body damage identified in the Carfax. When I dug into this I found out that a rear fender was replaced by a certified Aston Martin facility. If I decide to move forward I will have a PPI done at a dealer. My question is this - should I stay away from this car because my ability to sell in the future will be negatively affected? Or, if the PPI comes back clean and there is no evidence of the repair should I proceed? In summary, how much of a negative in future value will this be even if it was professionally repaired, paint matches perfectly, etc? It will always be on the Carfax...

 

As you said yourself, it will always be a derogatory mark on this car's history. Whether or not there is a clean title, this will always count against resale value in future, so take into it account on your decision.

 

Assuming the PPI comes back clean, I'd focus on ensuring that your current price is appropriately discounted for the damage history. When I bought my C63 a while back I remember it being priced about $4k (approximately 8%) less than the going market price due to some minor body damage that showed up on the Carfax. In contrast, when I was looking to trade it in earlier this year, Carvana adjusted the value down by around $2.2k (approximately 9%) due to the same damage (Carvana specifically breaks out and reports price adjustments due to accident history when they give you your quote). In all honesty I wasn't thinking about it when I got the car, but in hindsight the loss on the trade in was offset by the lower purchase price, so it ended up working out. Good luck with the purchase.

 

IMHO it depends on what car and how much it is. If It's a 10k Toyota.. well what ever. I recently viewed an 09 manual DBS with a 10k accident on it. It was at a dealer I was at to view something else. They are having a tough time moving it because of the previous damage. Exotic car buyers are very picky. Unless you get the deal of the century keep looking.

 

The negative value is now. Your purchasing a car with repaired damage. Your pricing for the car should be reflected in what you are willing to pay today. That same negative valuation will carry on. If it's what you want and everything else checks out, great. Most all Aston's deprecate.... the one your looking at has depreciated+. You know that going in but you shouldn't enjoy it less. Good luck.

 

I agree with this. If the PPI checks out, price the devaluation in now. It's a Vantage and if it's an older one, they aren't selling for exorbitant prices, so if you really like the car, I'd save some money and move forward as you won't see huge drops in valuation as you would, say, a DBS like mentioned here earlier. Also make sure it's a PPI by a GOOD dealer as some just pass these over (see Bamford Rose videos about lemons mentioning poor PPIs).

FWIW, my DB9 is apparently untouched when it comes to bodywork and I am noticing little flaws in the bumpers that body experts think are just imperfections in the bumpers themselves. I'm learning to deal with them and it's possible a properly repaired vehicle could even look better than some of the new ones.

 

try to find out the cause of the damage. I recently purchased a Mercedes AMG GLE for my wife and had a carfax damage report. here in Florida, there's a database of accidents by vin search. For $10 got the official accident report with names, dates, locations, e.t.c...

called the PO. She was every nice. accident was 5mph bumper in parking lot. repair was flawless. she loved car, was leased turn in...

negotiated price was 30% under market...(COVID 19 helped!)

do the research and don't be afraid to reach out to previous owners if you can find them.

 

Let me ask this. My car was parked at a gas station and a lady back into it at less than 3 miles per hour. Front fender got crushed, 10K job. Does that warrant treating the car like it has the plague.As MRCW said, you may want to find out what happened to the car.

 

I would look at everything else on the car beyond just the repair. Lot more areas to be concerned with than the repair itself. You can ask the body shop that did the repair if they remember the car.

Plenty of "clean Carfax cars" out there with body work.

 

I've seen complaints from people that used manufacturers approved bodyshops for non exotic brands so I don't know how AM approved shops are but usually if I dealer likes them it's because of the cost not the quality of the work first.

 

There is an AM certified body shop 2 miles from my house. They do a heck of a job, albeit quite expensive. Aston has the highest bill rate for the marques the are certified to repair. All painting done in a clean room and whole bunch of other particular steps are required for the repair to be AM certified. They wanted about 11K to fix some stone chips (that I did not even mind or really notice) on the front of my Vantage...

 

Thanks for all the feedback on this. It is interesting how body damage creates a psychological barrier even if it was not structural and fixed perfectly. I am moving forward with PPI.

 

Good move. Hope it all checks out and your satisfied...... lets us know if your in the Aston family! Remember -- If this is not the right one for you, there are others out there. Good luck!

 

I have this thought for you. What do you plan to do with the car when it is time to get rid of it? Do you plan to get rid of in in a few years or keep it for a long time? If you plan to get rid of it soonEr than later you may want to pass. But if you plan to keep it for a while you may not let it bother you. AM deprecate a lot. So when it is time to get rid of the car it may not be a big deal.
I tend to keep my cars for a long time so depreciation is not anything I really worry about. There will members who are driving 2005 cars and have no plans to sell. But it is always what you can live with.

 

for me, car fax issues depends on the vehicle and my use for it... if it's a rare garage queen, like my Aston, a bad car fax for me is like leprosy... on the other hand, if it was a daily driver and I am putting 12k miles a year on it, then I would consider an Aston with car fax issue after checking it out...

it's good to get opinions from enthusiasts like those on the forum