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I am thinking about buying a car that's been repaired.
Rear quarter panel and drive shaft damage.
I am attaching a photo and wanted to get your guys opinion on the damage and things to check when going to look at the car.
All constructive comments (emphasis on the constructive) are appreciated haha
Well there must be a good reason for you to consider this wreck. Perhaps in your ancestor's DNA are links in that they had British/Fiat motorcars occupying a spot on the driveways for years waiting to get repaired to the point where one could actually drive it for more than a half tank of gas.
Do know that these cars will never drive as well after damage to the suspension/frame. It is very difficult to return to the factory perfect condition.
It depends on how anal you are about suspension geometry being perfect and how many parts they replaced.
Often with stuff like this more parts (or even the chassis) are bent than you can (easily) measure, for example subframe mounting points being very slightly tweaked. It is very likely something will not be exactly correctly like how it was before the accident.
If you care about that and need a perfectly straight car, don't buy it, because it will not be perfect.
If you don't care about that, and if the car feels fine to you after test driving it (hard), buy it.
I am just looking for a relatively stock car to drive every few days to work.
My drive in windy (highway 17 though the mountains) so I just would want to know the repair was done properly.
I am not a track nerd that wants my suspension perfect.
The previous owner who did the repair said that he replaced with used OEM parts which I need to verify was probably something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12464358158...yABEgLIhfD_BwE
(But obliviously the correct side)
Did you take the picture of the repair or did they send you that? Because it looks odd. The seam in the quarter does not line up at the fender lip. And it is blurry in that area and looks like it was photoshopped. Maybe it is just the pixelization that is causing that but it looks odd to me.
In terms of the damage, it is hard to say. A lot could have been damaged looking at that first photo. The OEM quarters are prone to rust even in original form, so would want to know they properly repaired and added any corrosion protection in between the skins of that panel for sure. And would be good to see a report from the alignment shop to at least know they were able to properly align it afterwards. The hard part is if they repaired it themselves, they most likely did not get it to a bodyshop that could measure how far out the frame/subframe was. Also, if that impact damaged the axle/driveshaft then I also would worry about the control arms, subframe and even the hub.
The issue for me is that if they did the repair themselves, there is simply no way to know how far they looked for other damage, if the repair was done properly, etc.
You're just gonna drive and enjoy it and you already know it's been wrecked.
So what? I'd go for it if the price were right.
Make sure it drives well as it sits. It won't be perfect. But for the cost delta, I'm sure you can make it pretty close to perfect if you know/learn how to work on cars.
The thing you WILL run into if you drive in road salt is rust. It will almost surely rust faster than a factory installed panel because of the coating that gets damaged during welding.
Did you take the picture of the repair or did they send you that? Because it looks odd. The seam in the quarter does not line up at the fender lip. And it is blurry in that area and looks like it was photoshopped. Maybe it is just the pixelization that is causing that but it looks odd to me.
In terms of the damage, it is hard to say. A lot could have been damaged looking at that first photo. The OEM quarters are prone to rust even in original form, so would want to know they properly repaired and added any corrosion protection in between the skins of that panel for sure. And would be good to see a report from the alignment shop to at least know they were able to properly align it afterwards. The hard part is if they repaired it themselves, they most likely did not get it to a bodyshop that could measure how far out the frame/subframe was. Also, if that impact damaged the axle/driveshaft then I also would worry about the control arms, subframe and even the hub.
The issue for me is that if they did the repair themselves, there is simply no way to know how far they looked for other damage, if the repair was done properly, etc.
That's an old photo the owner sent me.
What do you mean by this? Could you just elaborate a little.
They replaced the entire hub ect Also, if that impact damaged the axle/driveshaft then I also would worry about the control arms, subframe and even the hub.
Last edited by Startrek; Mar 30, 2021 at 11:14 AM.
My concern was just that the damage likely affected those components. If they replaced the entire hub, I assume they likely did the knuckle. Main thing is that you know the car can be properly aligned at least. That will not tell you 100% if it is perfect, but at least able to be aligned into factory specs. Having the alignment checked would tell you that much. Again, it may be maxed out to get it just into spec (so, for example you may be at the edge of the adjustment range) but if you just want something to daily drive a bit and the price is right, just knowing the alignment can be properly set is good.
Help: Repair Photos
