Resprayed Quarter Panel - Diminished Value

[BaatLuk]

I picked up my Series.Yellow back in September. On the day I picked it up, I discovered a scratch on the passenger side rear quarter panel near the wheel arch (a couple inches long). Unfortunately, I already signed my paper work. The dealer eventually repaired it at their own body shop at no charge. However, I came to realization about a couple issues:

If you use a paint thickness meter to check the spot where the repair was done, it reads 220 vs 130 around rest of the car with factory paint. I know the thicker paint reading is normal for a respray but how much will this impact my resale value? e.g. if I were to trade the car in today, how much would this "repair" decrease my car's value?

The body shop probably did some color blending all the way to the passenger side door. However, the paint thickness meter reads 123 on the passenger side door vs. 184 on the driver side door (supposed to have factory paint). Now this makes me wonder if any paint work has been done on the driver side door?

I am just so disappointed that I have to deal with all this even when buying a brand new car. Any advice or help would be appreciated!


Update: Upon a closer look this morning, the repair actually does not look good at all. Found a lot of imperfections in the quarter panel where the repair was done - uneven spots in the clear coat (bubbles?), dust particles trapped in the clear coat/paint, over spray in window trims, masking tape marks on the door, and orange peel. At this point, I don't know if I can trust the dealer to rework the repair even if they are perfectly willing to. Not to mention all this was due to a defect that they tried to pass onto me in the first place. What would you do?

- Demand some kind of compensation?
- Ask for a new car?
- Take the car to another body shop and ask them to reimburse?

I can't get over the fact that I paid for a new car but yet it came with a defect, which required extensive body work done to a new car and it was done so poorly.

[Last Lemming Alive]

I’m just guessing, your an obsessive compulsive kinda a guy. I get it.
Unless the paint job quality is bad (runs, orange peel, color differences, hazing, cracking - you get the point) I would not lose any sleep on this. For one, it wasn’t in a wreck so it won’t show up anywhere when you sell it, and they should warranty their work, but mainly I wouldn’t worry about it because these cars will depreciate due to mileage and age waaay more than your respray will affect it. These cars will never be worth much years from now - unless your willing to wait 25+ years before you sell it, then maybe it will be worth half if your lucky - but hey, that goes for all of us here.

[BaatLuk]

Originally Posted by Last Lemming Alive

I’m just guessing, your an obsessive compulsive kinda a guy. I get it.
Unless the paint job quality is bad (runs, orange peel, color differences, hazing, cracking - you get the point) I would not lose any sleep on this. For one, it wasn’t in a wreck so it won’t show up anywhere when you sell it, and they should warranty their work, but mainly I wouldn’t worry about it because these cars will depreciate due to mileage and age waaay more than your respray will affect it. These cars will never be worth much years from now - unless your willing to wait 25+ years before you sell it, then maybe it will be worth half if your lucky - but hey, that goes for all of us here.

I am OCD

I guess my main concern is that if I trade in my car in 2-3 years, any dealer (including this very dealer that did my repair) or Carmax will use a meter to see if any paint work has been done and use that to deduct from my resale value. I just don't know what that amount might be. Anyone here with appraisal experience could chime in with an estimate/range, that would be helpful.

[Summerwolf]

I have never seen a dealer check paint thickness on a car when getting a trade in. Maybe on some exotic...but you have a brz, not worth the time / effort.

They look around, maybe nitpick, and they check the carfax.

[Last Lemming Alive]

We’ll I’m certainly no expert, but I have traded in 15 or so cars and I’ve never had a paint thickness check to my knowledge. But I would guess it won’t significantly affect your price one way or the other. Most times the dealer you trade in read the vin, check the mileage, and give it a quick once over. Then they will call around to different car auction dealers and sell it to the highest dealer. I really wouldn’t worry yourself over it. Nothing you can do about it anyways.

[BaatLuk]

Thanks for making me feel better guys! Maybe it's regional but when I brought my 2007 Legacy to a local Carmax here in SoCal for an appraisal, I thought they used a meter to check the paint. A door and a quarter panel on the Legacy were resprayed because it was keyed. It wasn't in an accident but Carmax was able to pick it up.

As for what I can do about my BRZ, I plan to ask the dealer for a written warranty on the repair and a statement of work showing it was just a scratch repair. I just don't know if I should/can ask for some kind of compensation for diminished value.

[Tcoat]

Oh lord. Worried about a dealer using a thickness gauge on paint.

The dealer did the repair. They know it was done. They won't care. Brand new cars get scratched and fixed by the dealers all the time it is just not common for the customer to know.
Dude, don't invent problems that just don't exist in this world.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by BaatLuk

Thanks for making me feel better guys! Maybe it's regional but when I brought my 2007 Legacy to a local Carmax here in SoCal for an appraisal, I thought they used a meter to check the paint. A door and a quarter panel on the Legacy were resprayed because it was keyed. It wasn't in an accident but Carmax was able to pick it up.

As for what I can do about my BRZ, I plan to ask the dealer for a written warranty on the repair and a statement of work showing it was just a scratch repair. I just don't know if I should/can ask for some kind of compensation for diminished value.

There is no diminished value. People with thousands of dollars in damage can get a couple of hundred bucks in diminished value. You will not get squat for a two in scratch that was repainted. At this I am actually sort of dubious as to how bad the scratch was in the first place.

And obsessing over this is NOT OCD. OCD would be if there was no scratch and you kept going back to look for it anyway.

[BaatLuk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

There is no diminished value. People with thousands of dollars in damage can get a couple of hundred bucks in diminished value. You will not get squat for a two in scratch that was repainted. At this I am actually sort of dubious as to how bad the scratch was in the first place.

And obsessing over this is NOT OCD. OCD would be if there was no scratch and you kept going back to look for it anyway.

Scratch was couple inches long and deep enough to be felt when I ran my hand over it. That scratch itself wasn't that bad. Hence I left the dealer that night without making a big deal out of it. However, the repair was bigger than I expected. There is masking tape at the door jamb near the passenger side mirror. My worry is that another dealer, Carmax, or a private buyer (who knows his stuff) will think that the damage was more extensive or there was an accident.

Maybe not OCD in this case, more like paranoid.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by BaatLuk

Scratch was couple inches long and deep enough to be felt when I ran my hand over it. That scratch itself wasn't that bad. Hence I left the dealer that night without making a big deal out of it. However, the repair was bigger than I expected. There is masking tape at the door jamb near the passenger side mirror. My worry is that another dealer, Carmax, or a private buyer (who knows his stuff) will think that the damage was more extensive or there was an accident.

Maybe not OCD in this case, more like paranoid.

Don't sweat it. There is no claim against it so they can think whatever they wish. Even if the value was impacted it would only be minor and totally meaningless after about 3 years or so when the depreciation peaks.

[Veloist]

Originally Posted by BaatLuk

Scratch was couple inches long and deep enough to be felt when I ran my hand over it. That scratch itself wasn't that bad. Hence I left the dealer that night without making a big deal out of it. However, the repair was bigger than I expected. There is masking tape at the door jamb near the passenger side mirror. My worry is that another dealer, Carmax, or a private buyer (who knows his stuff) will think that the damage was more extensive or there was an accident.

Maybe not OCD in this case, more like paranoid.

There are many things that diminish a car’s value but only 5 really matter. Number 1 is obviously mechanical performance & maintenance history , Number 2 is condition of the consumable parts (brakes, tires, suspension, Windows). Number 3 is amount of reconditioning needed to resell. Number 4 is Warranty status. And Number 5 is history of reported accidents, repaired frame damage, and title status.

If the car looks good visually when traded in, meaning it appears to need NO reconditioning, then it’s good. The car has never been reported to have been fixed so that’s a good thing.

Private buyers know they are buying a used car so they will be more concerned about maintenance/Service history.

Trust me, if you are selling your car privately and you show the buyer a fat binder with all your oil changes and other service history and receipts (tire receipts, brake pad receipts) then the buyer won’t even care the car was repaired, if they even ask (they most likely won’t.)

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Veloist

There are many things that diminish a car’s value but only 5 really matter. Number 1 is obviously mechanical performance & maintenance history , Number 2 is condition of the consumable parts (brakes, tires, suspension, Windows). Number 3 is amount of reconditioning needed to resell. Number 4 is Warranty status. And Number 5 is history of reported accidents, repaired frame damage, and title status.

If the car looks good visually when traded in, meaning it appears to need NO reconditioning, then it’s good. The car has never been reported to have been fixed so that’s a good thing.

Private buyers know they are buying a used car so they will be more concerned about maintenance/Service history.

Trust me, if you are selling your car privately and you show the buyer a fat binder with all your oil changes and other service history and receipts (tire receipts, brake pad receipts) then the buyer won’t even care the car was repaired, if they even ask (they most likely won’t.)

I would add a sixth that can sort of encompass some of the others and even negate them if they were good points.
That sixth would be mileage.
High mileage cars rarely are pristine and even if you can show perfect maintenance records the value is going to be less than one with lower miles.
It is very entertaining when you reach the trade in value part of the negotiation on your 4 year old car, they say "how many miles?", you reply "a little under 250,000" and total silence ensues. At that point they know the car is going off to auction and they risk losing money on whatever trade in value they give you.

So, in summery, the only way to get top dollar for a used car is to not ever drive it, keep it in perfect condition and perform above average maintenance on it. Doesn't sound like there is much fun in owning such a vehicle.

[Mr.ac]

If it doesn't show up on a car fax report, then your goood.

[dhuang]

Document it on VINwiki and at least there will be some record of this (in this case, it just so happens to be curated by you).