Buying a used car is not only a pleasure but also a duty. What should you remember when deciding on a “stimulant”? How to know that the car has no accidental history? In today’s post, we dispel these doubts.

It is most important to know whether or not your first pre-owned luxury car is accident-free

If you want to check out the pre-owned luxury used cars, you should have a magnet with you. This is helpful if you don’t want to have an accident car turned on. However, damage can also be discovered without aids.

Some used cars look like new; you can see others that they have been in use for years. Anyone who buys a car from a previous owner and has to watch out for money often accepts such signs of use because even a car that has survived an accident can still drive well but is worthless.

The seller must inform the potential buyer about accident damage without being asked. However, not all of them adhere to it. And since second-hand luxury cars often have several previous owners, the person selling the car may not be aware of any accident damage themselves. 

To ensure that your pre-owned luxury vehicle has not had an accident, here are the steps and checkpoints

A used car buyer should at least theoretically expect that he could have an accident vehicle in front of him – and take a particularly close look at these five things:

Uneven paint:

Even as a layperson, you can check whether the paint makes the same impression everywhere, whether unevenly worn and color different. Unsightly repainting shows up in slight paint residues, for example, on windows or rubbers.

Using a magnet:

A magnet can be used while going to buy a second-hand luxury car and to tell whether an area has been filled and repainted – the magnet only sticks to sheet metal, not to the filler.

The steering wheel does not stay straight when driving straight ahead:

The steering wheel or the steering behavior can provide information about possible accident damage. If you drive straight ahead, the steering wheel must also be straight. If it is turned slightly to one side when driving straight ahead or if the car is pulling to the right or left, it can be a sign that something has warped in an accident or when driving over a curb.

Tires are worn unevenly:

Here you should pay attention to the used car wear patterns, e.g. if you are going for a used Porsche. Usually, the tread should wear evenly across the width of the tire. Unevenly worn tires can indicate that something is wrong with the chassis geometry. A diagnosis must be made here in a motor vehicle workshop.

Gaps are not uniform:

The more expensive a car is, the more precisely the joints between the body parts are usually. Different gap dimensions can be an indication that accident damage has been repaired. Even if the doors do not close particularly well, this can be an indication of a crash. 

How do you find dealers who have been hiding in the event of an accident of pre-owned luxury cars?

The second-hand premium car market is one of the most prone to scams. In part because it concerns goods that are also quite expensive, the bureaucratic and administrative procedures take quite a long time. During which the most skilled scammers have the opportunity to implement well-studied scams. You can spot various checkpoints.

Sellers behavior:

The first clue to guess that a used car has had a serious accident is to be found in its seller’s behavior and the price: an excessively low price. Especially accompanied by the “performance” of a seller who hurries to get rid of his vehicle could be an indication of the presence of some flaw concerning the medium in which one is interested.

Pay attention to engine noise:

Not all car engines make the same noise; e.g., a Porsche second hand has a different sound. Some are noisier, and there are those where little noise is heard due to the vehicle’s seal.

However, one thing is certain that the engine that is in good condition makes constant noise. Thus, interruptions and choking noises are a bad sign.

Remember that the engine is the most important part of the car and therefore one of the most expensive when it comes to repairs. So buying a car that shows bad engine signals is not a good deal. 

Condition of the paint:

The first impression is important. And that’s why you should always look at a pre-owned luxury car in daylight, and the car should be washed. This makes it easy to spot paint damage, rust, or dents.

Checking through the device:

One can use equipment like a Coating thickness gauge or gloss meter to tell whether an area has been filled and repainted – also, a magnet can tell that it only sticks to sheet metal, not to the filler.

With all of the mentioned points, you can tell whether a car has had an accident and can easily capture the fraud dealer and save yourself from getting scammed.

What preventative measures to take if you know, and consider buying, the pre-owned luxury vehicle has an accident?

If there it is damaged, you want to know where it occurred and what the costs are. Now it is very easy to find out if a used car has been in an accident. You do that with a damage history license plate check.

Damage history of a car:

You do not always see from the outside of a car whether there has been damage in the past. Not at all if the damage to a car has been repaired skillfully. You can walk around the car, but that doesn’t make you any wiser.

If you are looking for second-hand Mercedes, you can ask the owner if damage has been done in the past. Then you just have to trust that the owner is honest in this. Also, the car owner may not even know whether damage has been caused when he is the umpteenth owner. That is why it is advisable to perform a simple license plate check. It gives you insight into the damage history of the car.

Carrying out Licence plate check:

If there has been registered damage, information is known to the RDW. All information linked to the registration number of a car is registered with this body.

If you carry out a license plate check of your picked Mercedez Benz second hand, you will also find out what damage the car’s seller has caused in the past. Also, you will be given access to the damage that has arisen in the preceding years. This information is precious as it helps you decide whether or not to buy.

Should you buy it?

It is not when you got to know that the vehicle you are about to buy has an accidental history. The safety factor should never be an issue, primarily for cars used a lot, as they are more likely to have an accident.

Thus, these second-hand luxury cars must have a high level of safety preparedness so that the lives of those in the passenger compartment are not so endangered. The material damage can be less in the event of an accident. Significant safety factors include state-of-the-art equipment and excellent results from the crash test.

How can I see your luxury car being repainted on measure body parts as a result of an accident?

Most of the used luxury cars for sale that were involved in an accident were naturally uniquely restored. At first glance, some of them look almost like new. But this in no way means that the cars are in perfect condition.

It is known that the car after an accident most often has hidden damage, so it is better to immediately refuse to buy a car that has been in an accident and the one that has been repainted.

But here, the following essential problem appears.

Poor surface finishing:

Many auto maintenance specialists try to paint the car as quickly as possible while putting the pre-owned luxury car for sale. Thus, they are usually in a hurry, which often results in poor surface preparation.

The putty job:

Check each arch by carefully inspecting the edges of the body parts (ends). Your task is to find traces of unpolished putty. Also, check the ends of the doors, hood, trunk, and fenders of the car, where traces of repainting of the car could also remain.

Paint on the fastening bolts:

Check first the bolts under the hood of your chosen pre-owned range rover that holds the front fenders. They must be painted in the same color as the body itself. The factory uses special equipment to fix (attach) the wings to the car body without damaging the bolts.

Inconsistency in paint:

If one or more parts were repainted on the car (not all of the body), then in love, these freshly painted body parts will noticeably differ in color or gloss of varnish from the factory layer of paint and varnish.

Should you consider the pre-owned luxury car which has undergone repainting jobs and how to recognize the paint jobs are original or duplicate?

Buying a used luxury car is going to put a lot of weight on your wallet, so it is good to make a wise decision at the time of the deal. Don’t buy in the influence of anyone or make any deal under pressure. Ask the second-hand luxury car dealer about the reason for repainting. As long as you don’t know whether the original paint does the repainting job, you should not go for it as with the fake paint; you will soon face the following issues :

Paint Flaking (Flaking):

The defect can occur on large or small surfaces consisting of the paint’s detachment from the sheet or the substrate. At the flaking, the edges of the color can be lifted and peel off.

Orange peel:

An orange peel occurs at the surface if done with duplicate paints. Today it would be unacceptable for any car. In production, the “orange peel” paint is very rare, while we can sometimes find it at the level of reparative repainting.

The duplicate may look the same as the original just after the paint job, but you should keep in mind that it will fade away in some time. Original paint shines for many years if maintained with care, and a duplicate color can’t match the quality of the original automotive factory paint.

If you find that your pre-owned luxury car is being repainted, does this mean that it’s an accidental car?

No, it does not always mean that the car had an accident if it is repainted. The fact that a car is completely repainted happens far more often today than assumed. More and more often, a car is completely painted for other reasons like for better protection of the steel.

Repainting the bodywork is a time-consuming and costly procedure, but on the other hand, a new paint job also offers new possibilities for the protection and appearance of the vehicle. That is why pre-owned luxury cars are no longer completely repainted after an accident or as part of a restoration.

Under what conditions should you go for your luxury cars to repaint and why?

There are many such circumstances for a car other than being involved in an accident that makes repainting mandatory. To give your car that new look, repainting can be done, and it also protects against other damages like rusting.

Let’s start by saying that the painting of our car, in addition to giving it a beautiful color, is the first level of protection for the steel of the underlying bodywork. If exposed directly to atmospheric agents, steel rusts in a short time. It is, therefore, essential to repaint cars and remove any scratches to avoid having to repair much larger sections of the bodywork from rust.

Rust is, in fact, to the metal as woodworms are to wood. If ignored, it will surely spread to healthy parts of the bodywork resulting in costly damage. Modern cars, whether it be second-hand Mercedes, are built with steel sheets that are much more resistant to rust than they used to be. However, rust remains a problem of the present, and a good painting is always the best prevention.