Cracking up

[Nikki W]

I Hi to all reading this 🙂

i have been the proud owner of a 62 plate A3 for 10 months and love her to bits.

a few days ago I noticed that the paint has cracked around the rear passenger side arch and also on the lower section as the arch moves onto the bumper.

this car was immaculate and I haven’t had a dink or a scrape and it hasn’t been from a vindictive attack - the paint has purely cracked!! 

Does ANYONE know what this might be caused by?? 

[Magnet]

Hello Nicola,

Thanks for being in touch.

This looks like poorly repaired accident damage where the filler and/or paint used has shrunk over time. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Nikki W]

I have this car on finance and don’t know if it has ever been in an accident or damaged/ repaired - is there anyway I can find out? 

[Magnet]

Thanks Nicola, 

It must be appreciated that a high percentage of used vehicles will have suffered damage to some extent through their lifetime. It’s the severity and extent of this damage, and the way in which it has been repaired, which are the all important factors. 

From the photos you give us, it seems (obvious?) that your car has suffered some damage, and it would appear that this damage - the extent of which we don’t know- probably hasn’t been well repaired. You must appreciate Nicola, that no one on this forum has the opportunity to actual examine the car - as you do - and we can only take a stab at assessing the true situation from some photos you have supplied. 

So it’s been damaged, no big deal? Extent? Everyone cringes at the thought of buying a ‘write off’, but vehicles are declared to be ‘beyond economic repair’ dependent on their retail value at the time, so a dent in the wing and cracked bumper on an older car could render it beyond economical repair. Insurance companies now categorise damage to give an indication of severity and this should be recorded against the car’s searchable record. Having said that, if you scrape the side of your car, and decide not to claim on your insurance, and get Fred down the road to apply some filler and a lick of paint, then that obviously it won’t be recorded. 

Your particular situation:- If you bought it from a car retailer then they should have ‘HPI’ checked the car before sale and notified you if it had been declared beyond economical repair. If you now want to check the car’s history, you will have to pay for that search ( a number of on-line companies do this). If it turns out it is a Category x damaged car, then I would guess you have some redress. If it isn’t, then the onus was on you at the point of purchase to check the bodywork. If you weren’t equipped experience- wise to do that, then it would have been wise to have employed someone who was. Unfortunately that is the fact of it when examining the cosmetics of any secondhand item. 

Where from here? If it were mine, I would be seeking advice/estimates from a trusted local bodyshop. 

Perhaps you could update us on how you get on, and whether the forum advice has been of any help. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

 

[cliffcoggin]

Nicola.

I agree the problem is a poor repair, though it may have been to cover rust rather than crash damage. Either way the only solution is to hack it off, treat the metal, and fill again. Don't be tempted to paint over the top of the existing filler as the cracks will re-appear rapidly.

I suggest you test unmarked areas of the body with a small weak magnet for the presence of filler elsewhere, though crafty body shops have been known to add iron filings to the filler in order to defeat the test. Wrap the magnet in a piece of thin rag to avoid damaging the paint.