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I'm looking at picking up an '07 german sedan as my daily driver. I've found one at a decent price. The Carfax does list a an accident a few years ago where the car ran into a barrier. The damage was to the front right of the car. It was professionally fixed and you can't really tell that there was ever any damage. There was no damage to the frame.
Does anyone have any opinion as to what this would do to the value of the car? It's not a salvage title. The car has been working fine ever since.
Any clues on what impact on the price of the car this should have? Any opinions would be great. Thanks.
Keep in mind that the primary value you are purchasing in a used vehicle is the remaining service life of the car.
If that car has been in a minor cosmetic accident and properly repaired, then it's unlikely to affect the functionality of the car.
However, many "minor" accidents on recent vehicles create problems with wiring/electronics, or other systems in the vehicle. As well, minor accidents can damage/affect suspension, frame, or driveline components to a degree where it's not readily apparent that there's an issue unless the car is on a frame table where it can be measured. Many auto body shops don't go to that level of investigation after an accident if it appears to their "eye" that "it's OK".
As a result, most accidents yield a devaluation of a vehicle in the aftermarket. Unless you have certain knowledge that the structure and components of the car are in typical condition due to wear from mileage, the vehicle will be worth less than an original condition car.
How much less? a very good question, which cannot be answered without a thorough inspection of the car under consideration and a meeting of the minds of the seller and you, the prospective buyer.
FWIW, if you haven't had an opportunity to inspect the car under flourescent (or high pressure sodium) lighting, do so. Get it out of the sun/natural lighting or incandescent lights ... and look then closely at the paintwork. The light temp spectrum from these other sources will reveal a lot of detail about the surface prep and paint quality which you haven't seen under natural lighting. If you can see sanding scratches or a difference in the color of the repaint work from the rest of the car, you'll have different paint fade/durability issues ahead. Not saying that this is the grounds to reject the car, but you need to know what it is you are buying so that you can make an informed buy decision because cosmetics are a huge factor in sale value.
Thoroughly inspect the car as the previous poster said.
Then keep in mind that once you are convinced it's repaired properly you will have to convince any potential buyers if you sell it.
I have met people who will not buy a repaired vehicle no matter how minor the damage because they worry out was worse and not repaired properly. This decreasing the resale value.
I would not buy one unless it was massively discounted. The severity of accidents if often underreported. The problems that can arise later from even a minor accident, or the resulting repair work are frequent and often substantial. There are plenty of accident free cars out there for sale. Why invite problems?
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