JamesD89

Bought the car from a used car lot in Orange County, but I had it sent to a Honda dealership first for an inspection. Great compression on all 4 cylinders (220 if I recall correctly) and a clean bill of health other than lots of rusty bolts (car is from Jersey). Carfax is clean, the car drives straight, and it has been aligned a couple of times since purchase without issue.

I am paranoid though because I searched the VIN and found a condition report done by Manheim (vehicle auction/wholesale buyer) which shows there was some structural damage:
-L Apron
-R Apron
-Core support

I am unable to get more detail (extent of repairs, etc) beyond that. I also just ran an AutoCheck report showing the car was auctioned August '14 with structural damage.

I'm kind of stuck with the car at this point, but I'm not really sure what to do. Since buying it in March I've done multiple CA coast trips in it and 20+ autox runs and have had zero problems over 10k+ miles until today when I tried to install a Puffo intake and noticed things weren't fitting together like they seem to in pictures. This could just be the Puffo but I would still like to do my due diligence and see if any serious work is actually needed.

Here's what made me a little suspicious of subpar repairs:
Grey splotch on frame rail right below coolant tank:


What definitely looks like non-OEM wiring work on the right side near the A/C line (?) and headlight:


Every report I run shows the car having a clean title and the mileage is still fairly low (48k) as of today but I can't help but feel a little heartbreak right now

slogu

Looks like a front end hit. Was probably in the center and that damaged aprons where rad support attaches. DO NOT BELIEVE CARFAX/AUTOCHECK when they show it as clean. I looked at an S last week before i bought mine. VIN checks came back clean. I have a buddy who is an insider with an ins co who ran the vin thru some type of insurance database. Sure enough, his company had written an estimate on that car. I had photos and an estimate of the damage I was looking at but the reports were clean. Showed no type of damage or accident at all. Didnt buy it because of how bad the body work was actually. Just goes to show, those reports are nothing but smoke and mirrors.

haroot

L R Apron and Radiator Mount aka Core mount is minimal damage and not the VITAL PARTS aka the Actual X Frame. Radiator mount usually bends from impacts like that and the hood own't close.

miloking

dude...did you not notice the car was originally silverstone? you should always question resprayed car. I dont mean buying one is bad (i also have silverstone s2000 that is now blue).
I would take the plastic shield off bellow the radiator and check the condition of the rad support and frame rails from there.... if it looks original its probably just minor accident

maiku

Most likely the radiator support got damaged and replaced. This requires rewelding to the aprons which constitutes frame damage per NAAA even though the core support itself is not a structural component. It's the aftermarket welds on the apron that classify it as frame damage. In my professional opinion it is very minor. Look down at the front of your rails and look for damage or excessive putty. If those were damaged and repaired I'd be more concerned.