Call me paranoid, (and I'll put my hands up to that) but I'm starting to suspect my car has had some rear-end crash damage prior to purchase.

All the panel gaps are perfect at the rear, but my spidey-sense is tingling.

Reasons for tingling.

The missing boot sticker detailing the various codes bugged me, but I shrugged it off.

The OEM air compressor was damaged when I checked the car before collection, and was replaced with a new one at purchase.

(The tyres are all OEM and apparently undamaged, and the car only had 7.6K miles at purchase, so I figured someone had cheekily swapped it out for their old one, and hoped I wouldn't notice. But thinking about it, it could have been damaged in a rear-end shunt.)

There was a mystery "non-warranty" repair on the car history too, when I checked with another dealer, but no details were available on the system.

Then there's this in the boot (see pic), which looks good, but doesn't look OEM to me. That said, I have no exact idea of what OEM should look like, so I might just be paranoid.

 

Does anyone have a reliable "Ah! You can always tell by this!" way of checking to see if a car has been repaired?

I was also hoping I could get a special light source to check for new paint blended in with old. I've tried red light and UV, but no joy. (The old sodium street-lamps used to be very handy for spotting paint jobs, but we're all LED these days.)

 

What do you reckon: Am I paranoid or am I onto something?

 

That looks similar to the seam sealer in my boot. I tend to look for subtle clues such as trim not fitting properly around the wheel arches or interior. Check around and under the bumper for any signs it's been removed. Missing grommets, screws, carpet not fitting under the trim etc.

10 minutes ago, durhamfisher said:

That looks similar to the seam sealer in my boot. I tend to look for subtle clues such as trim not fitting properly around the wheel arches or interior. Check around and under the bumper for any signs it's been removed. Missing grommets, screws, carpet not fitting under the trim etc.

That all looks fine, as far as I can tell. I'm probably just over-thinking it. I realise I do over-think car related things, once I get a bee in my bonnet.

I got paranoid about the silica bag in my coolant splitting. After I removed it, I started to worry about corrosion protection.

I am a natural worrywart.

I think however well a car is repaired after accident damage it is never as good as when it came out the factory. I scrapped the side of my Octavia a few months ago and was really annoyed with myself. 

 

Mostly paintwork damage, so got a local paint shop to sort it out, Nothing structural, but when it was resprayed, they didnt replace that stone protector at the bottom of the wheel arch by the rear door. Also a bit of overspray under the car.....😒

15 minutes ago, threadbear said:

I think however well a car is repaired after accident damage it is never as good as when it came out the factory. I scrapped the side of my Octavia a few months ago and was really annoyed with myself. 

 

Mostly paintwork damage, so got a local paint shop to sort it out, Nothing structural, but when it was resprayed, they didnt replace that stone protector at the bottom of the wheel arch by the rear door. Also a bit of overspray under the car.....😒

You're right, it never is. My Mondeo went rusty in one place, where it had been repaired on the rear N/S door.

Took about 6 years to start rusting, but rust it did. Rest of the car was perfect.

Hence my concern for this car being repaired. I'd drop it if it had been repaired and resprayed, because I'm planning to keep this one for at least a decade.

25 minutes ago, EnterName said:

You're right, it never is. My Mondeo went rusty in one place, where it had been repaired on the rear N/S door.

Took about 6 years to start rusting, but rust it did. Rest of the car was perfect.

Hence my concern for this car being repaired. I'd drop it if it had been repaired and resprayed, because I'm planning to keep this one for at least a decade.

Keeping your Octavia for a decade is impressive. Looking after your car to try and keep in tip top condition for long term ownership is paramount if it is going to last and be reliable. No intention of selling mine either. 

3 minutes ago, threadbear said:

Keeping your Octavia for a decade is impressive. Looking after your car to try and keep in tip top condition for long term ownership is paramount if it is going to last and be reliable. No intention of selling mine either. 

I'm doing my best. 😇

14 hours ago, EnterName said:

The missing boot sticker detailing the various codes bugged me, but I shrugged it off.

Skoda stopped fitting the PR code label in the boot several years ago.

3 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

Skoda stopped fitting the PR code label in the boot several years ago.

That's good to know. I always felt a bit left out when people were telling folk to "Check on the boot sticker." and I couldn't find mine.

 

Two points:-

1.Dealers are allowed to repair up to three panels that have been damaged on a car in transit from factory to dealership, without any obligation to inform the customer..

2. HPI checks are useless, pay for a Vcheck & you'll know everything from taxi, salvage, insurance, etc...

Vehicle History Check | Salvage History | Ex-Taxi Search (vcheck.uk)

Edited 30 August, 20214 yr by fabdavrav

18 hours ago, fabdavrav said:

Two points:-

1.Dealers are allowed to repair up to three panels that have been damaged on a car in transit from factory to dealership, without any obligation to inform the customer..

2. HPI checks are useless, pay for a Vcheck & you'll know everything from taxi, salvage, insurance, etc...

Vehicle History Check | Salvage History | Ex-Taxi Search (vcheck.uk)

Thank you, that's very helpful!

I do seem to remember the seam sealer looking as if it was painted over in other cars. 

 

Of course that may depend on where it was and it’s always less obvious on silver.
 

There’s a thread here with water in the box section that had some close up pictures.

 

 

 

 

Edited 31 August, 20214 yr by cheezemonkhai

5 minutes ago, cheezemonkhai said:

I do seem to remember the seam sealer looking as if it was painted over in other cars.

That's what I was thinking. I thought the sealant was normally painted over.

7 minutes ago, EnterName said:

That's what I was thinking. I thought the sealant was normally painted over.

The seam sealant is applied in the factory before the shell is painted.

Post boot sealant pics, please!

Yeah, tbf mine looks painted. Just looked at your pics again, just wondering what that yellow line is on the boot and on the grommet?

 

On the second pic the seam sealer overlaps the plastic trim, therefore thinking about order of assembly the seam sealer was possibly applied last?

Edited 31 August, 20214 yr by durhamfisher

30 minutes ago, durhamfisher said:

Yeah, tbf mine looks painted. Just looked at your pics again, just wondering what that yellow line is on the boot and on the grommet?

 

On the second pic the seam sealer overlaps the plastic trim, therefore thinking about order of assembly the seam sealer was possibly applied last?

Could be. I think the way forward is to see several similar-era Octavias and see how their boots look.

18 minutes ago, EnterName said:

Could be. I think the way forward is to see several similar-era Octavias and see how their boots look.

Actually, I think I'm talking rubbish. Hopefully the pics of mine show up.

6 minutes ago, durhamfisher said:

Actually, I think I'm talking rubbish. Hopefully the pics of mine show up.

Thanks for the pics!

That sealant looks very similar to my boot, so that's reassuring.

8 minutes ago, EnterName said:

Thanks for the pics!

That sealant looks very similar to my boot, so that's reassuring.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Even down to the sealer overlapping the plastic trim.

Seems they apply the sealant by finger 👆

6 minutes ago, Vahids said:

Seems they apply the sealant by finger 👆

 

Brush & then smooth over..this after the primer & before the top coat....

 

Look around 4:29 here on the factory film of the MK7 Golf being built.

 

HOW IT'S MADE: Volkswagen VW Golf 7 Car Factory Production Plant [GOMMEBLOG] - YouTube