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would you buy a damage repaired car ??

we are looking for a touran and have possibly found the ideal car however......
when i went to look at it the car was covered in signs of recently being in a bodyshop, lots of dust and polish marks down the one side.
upon looking a bit clocer the panel gap between the drivers door and the front wing is a bit "off" compared to the other side.
there was also a piece of laccuer the size of a 50p missing by the door handle.
so its obviuosly had a bit of a repair done.
thye have said that they will sort out the panel gap and the missing bit of laccuer for me and have also dropped the price from 9300 to 9000
I test drove the car and it drove lovely.
the hpi is clear so it cant have had a big bump anyway.
would you be put off by the fact its had some repair done??
to compare the same car from a vw dealer is well above 10k.
thoughts please

Comments

  • Strider590
    Strider590 Posts: 11,874 Forumite
    HPI isn't much use these days, with such high insurance premiums, a lot of people get repairs done for themselves.
    “I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”

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  • fivetide
    fivetide Posts: 3,811 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yep the fact it has had a bump that needed new panels but hasn't been recorded would put me right off.

    how do you know what the damage was and if it has been repaired properly (which it sounds like it hasn't)

    no idea if it is cheap but if not walk away. Alternatively ask if they'll spring for an independent inspection which they can get back off you if it comes back with a clean bill of health. That way they have to put their money where their mouth is and all that.

    5t.
    What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?
  • s_b
    s_b Posts: 4,464 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 23 January 2012 at 3:54PM
    removed
    cant be bothered
  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    Why should it be a problem? - If its fixed its fixed.

    We've had 3 or 4 cars that have been damaged by past owners and they've never been a problem. These days people are too scared of having something thats been 'fixed', instead they want it to be in super-like-new condition. That seems to be why many new cars never make it to a mechanic for servicing - incase a spark plug gets replaced and doesn't match the others - shock and horror! Instead they sell it on to someone else who assumes because its never been touched by a mechanic its naturally better than a car that has.

    Bottom line is reliability and a valid MOT. If it has passed an MOT then I wouldn't worry too much about it but at the end of the day its like this: If you have the slightest doubt, walk away because otherwise it will always be nagging you at the back of your mind.
  • s_b
    s_b Posts: 4,464 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 23 January 2012 at 3:54PM
    removed
    cant be bothered
  • fivetide
    fivetide Posts: 3,811 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Why should it be a problem? - If its fixed its fixed....Bottom line is reliability and a valid MOT. If it has passed an MOT then I wouldn't worry too much about it but at the end of the day its like this: If you have the slightest doubt, walk away because otherwise it will always be nagging you at the back of your mind.

    Got to disagree with the first bit. This is a 7 seat family car. It's been repaired (badly it seems) and is up for about a grand less than a VW main dealer.

    I'm not takign the risjk of putting my family in a badly repaired motor.

    It might have had a crash the day after it got it's valid MOT and only just been repaired. It may very well fail the next one.

    That's why I do agree with the last line, you might well doubt the car every time you get in it.

    5t.
    What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?
  • fivetide wrote: »
    Got to disagree with the first bit. This is a 7 seat family car. It's been repaired (badly it seems) and is up for about a grand less than a VW main dealer.

    I'm not takign the risjk of putting my family in a badly repaired motor.

    It might have had a crash the day after it got it's valid MOT and only just been repaired. It may very well fail the next one.

    That's why I do agree with the last line, you might well doubt the car every time you get in it.

    5t.

    what also seemed strange to me is that they refused to put a full mot on the car, it had 5 months and they said this was fine??

    almost as though they were hiding something.

    what got me is that i could see straight away it had been repaired recently, the salesman flat out denied it had been, when i pointed out to him all the excess polish on the inside of the door he said the car had been polished and prepped by them for sale at which point i asked how come theother side isnt the same then???

    he couldnt answer?
  • fivetide
    fivetide Posts: 3,811 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    what also seemed strange to me is that they refused to put a full mot on the car, it had 5 months and they said this was fine??

    almost as though they were hiding something.

    what got me is that i could see straight away it had been repaired recently, the salesman flat out denied it had been, when i pointed out to him all the excess polish on the inside of the door he said the car had been polished and prepped by them for sale at which point i asked how come theother side isnt the same then???

    he couldnt answer?


    Locate exit... run, don't walk through it!

    5t.
    What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?
  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    fivetide wrote: »
    Got to disagree with the first bit. This is a 7 seat family car. It's been repaired (badly it seems) and is up for about a grand less than a VW main dealer.

    I'm not takign the risjk of putting my family in a badly repaired motor.

    It might have had a crash the day after it got it's valid MOT and only just been repaired. It may very well fail the next one.

    That's why I do agree with the last line, you might well doubt the car every time you get in it.

    5t.

    Thats fair comment. If it had a new MOT then I'd stand by my comments but I didn't realise/didn't read properly that it was on an existing MOT.

    That being the case, if you have the slightest concern, don't touch it. Leave it for someone else to buy who might know a bit more about it.
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