Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

Well im about to buy a 2006 BB. Im practically sold, but something bothering me is that in the pics, theres a gap between the hood and the bumper (possibly from an accident). Now i got a "free" car fax from the dealers site and it said it had no accidents. But the pictures are making me have second thoughts. SO how can i find out whether this car has been in any accidents or not and if its been fixed up, etc etc etc ?? From the looks of it, it seems that the bumper is properly alligned and its the hood thats lifted up a bit on the left side (possibly one of the rubber things screwed in too much). Let me know what you think heres a pic






Btw this is going to be imported from the us to canada if that makes a difference.

thanksss

Bigbacon

iTrader: (4)

my 06 is like that in the rear and the car was in no accidents (or at least reported that would show up on carfax)

there are things you can look for inside the car to see if there was any frame damamge like messed up paint, missing paint, or repaints. Might want to pop open the hood and really dig in there a bit.

shazy

Get the Vin number and use CARFAX and it will tell you all the records of the car.

STL05

I'd try carchex for a second refrence. Reported accidents are on both carfax and carchex but if the previous owner kept records it might be in there. I keep any body work orders in mine. But I don't know of anywhere else to check on that but good luck bro.

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

The Carfax I got from the dealership said it had no accidents on it. But i dont know if this is a legit carfax cause it was free. Also, I was thinking, even if it does have an accident ... that doesnt necessarily mean the owner has reported it on there. i Guess the only true way to find out would be checking it out (which im doing next week) and look for signs of new body work, correct ?

STL05

Yeah I'd do that. I took the one I just bought to my body/paint guy to check it out and he cleared it so I pulled the trigger. Maybe the previous owner just removed the bumper for something and didn't put it back on right. Who knows haha. But it looks fixible.

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

yeee exactly !! By the looks of it, its the hood thats fucked up. Maybe when it went in for service the mechanic didnt messed up the rubber thingys. I work at mazda as a detaile and i showed my mechanics the pics and he told me some tips to know whether its d body work done to it. Paint not matching, difference in light reflection, overspray of paint in other areas.... any other things to look for ???

STL05

Well I got hit about two weeks ago a lady backed into my door. My guy here in ks pulled the fender and used that to color match perfectly and it looks brand new and blends perfect. Mine is a vr and it's a three step paint process. But I'd say your on the right track look for non matching paint etc. But if it's the rubber things those are no biggie but the bumper looks a little off... I'm not quite sure it's the hood.

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

I was told its VERY easy to tell if bod ywork has been done on a black cause even if facotry paint is used etc... its hard to match it perfectly. Well see how it goes. Thanks for the help everyone... hopefully shes in good condition and i bring her home !!!

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, I have another question but it doesnt regard the topic. I didnt wana start another thread. So this car is from a dealer ship and usually i know its good to ask the previous ower questions.. especially for a rotary ..what kind of oil they used, how often they redlinem, oil changes.. etc.... But being sold at a dealership not being able to contact the previous owner... would the car fax be enough of a nut shell on how well the car was maintained ??

Lane03

People, stop relying 100% on carfax! If a carfax report says the car was in an accident, you can bet it was in an accident. If the carfax says no accidents - that just means none that carfax is aware of. Example, a few years ago I was rear-ended while stopped at a red light. The whole back end of my car was gone. A police report was filed and insurance notified. It was about $500 short of being totaled. Instead of repairing the car, I took the insurance money and sold the car as it was. Last year I was car shopping and got unlimited carfax checks for the month. Out of curiosity I ran the VIN on my car that had been wrecked a few years before. Guess what? That's right, the carfax reported NO ACCIDENTS.

A useful tool (besides a keen eye) to check for accidents when buying a used car is to use a ETG.

http://www.promotorcarproducts.com/etgmini.htm

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

Ye you are 100% correct about relying on Carfax. This is exactly why i started this thread... the carax said no accidents but the pictures got me thinking that maybe thats not the case. Like i said... the only way to find out i guess would be looking at the body work. Thanks for the link !! do you how much it approximately costs ???? And are there any types that are more accurate than others or ae they all the same ?

Lane03

They aren't cheap. Probably cost around $500 or so for a decent one. I honestly don't know which brands are good or bad, as I would borrow one from a friend who works at a Mercedes dealer when I needed it. If you are buying the car from a dealer, they probably have one and you could ask to use it. If you have a good eye you can usually tell things (like you noticed with the hood) to tip you off of possible body work (panels don't line up correctly, color of paint looks uneven or different in bright sun, reflection of objects against panels, etc).

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

Will doo ... thanks brotha !! Cant wait to go check her out

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys.. I'm back with more questions. Well something I didn't mention was that I also noticed that It said ”auto” for transmission on autotrader. However, I didn't really make it a big deal cause I thought it was just a typo cause clearly from the pics its a 6 speed manual. Now, after disecting the free carfax that I got I found that on the third or fourth thing it said... Automatic transmission replaced. Now questions:



1) Do u think the person replaced his tranny from auto to manual ? Or do you think the carfax I got is full of **** ?

2) What are signs I should look for that could tell me if the tranny has been replaced?

3) Do u think getting an autocheck might help as well or should I just go based on what I see when I go check it out ??

Any thoughts suggestions ?? I really want this car but the more I research on it the more I'm finding flaws !!

Thanks

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

anyone ??

monk1989

Alright, lets get some of the basics covered here. What makes you think that this car is NOT automatic?.... From the pictures posted above it could very well be an AT. (mine looks just like that) As for the possible swap, its very unlikely. there is a heck of a chance that the PO simply installed a shift boot, and an MT **** (Also like mine). Next, its at the dealership right? why not call them and ask for the vin? - or confirm if it is a 6spd.

IMHO, I have 145,000 miles on my 4port 2004 AT, and I beat the crap out of that tranny. Why was this trans replaced?---- neutral drops?---- now possible rear end diff damage?

the Auto trans are the most reliable part of this car lol, maybe besides airbags hahaah

Hope this helps, Will

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

I do have other pictures i havent posted... and its got a clutch , the shifter is a manual, and the gauges dont have the Park Neutral Drive and all that. And as for me calling and asking them if its a 6sp. I kinda wanted to use that to lower the price . I wanted to go pretending its an auto and say "oh its a manual ? it fully says on autotrader that it is an auto."






So if you think the tranny wasnt replaced to a manual then do you think the carfax is fake ?? It said "automatic transmission replaced" It also said no accidents too but look at the hood.

What do you guys think i should do. Even if it WAS converted to manual would you still buy it ??

Doctor7474

Hey all just joined the site, in the process of buying a RX8.

I'm an insurance auto appraiser, ASE Master tech, and I-car Platinum certified body and paint tech as well.

First thing CarFax isn't fool proof. The only things that get reported to it are by insurance companies and body shops that are signed up with them report stuff to them. So if repairs were performed by a shop or insurance company that does not report to them it will not be on there. Also if someone did the repairs themselves or a small shop did the repairs it's not going to be on there.

We use something called ISO that all insurance companies are required to report to to determine vehicle history when we have claims. This is the best, then again if someone did the repairs themselves or a small shop did the repairs it's not going to be on there.

Best thing to do is look for overspray on interior sheet metal parts. Most structural components are not clear coated and shops do what is called "spot refinishing" to these areas and are not particular in how it looks as long as they have paint on them to protect from corrosion so these are the best areas to look at.

Unfortunately you are incorrect. Black is the absolute easiest to match. If it's non-tinted and non-metallic black it's black.... Only one color of black. Some car's such as Honda have blue or green tints in there blacks but most blacks are just plain blacks if not metallic as some newer colors are.

The darker the color, especially non-metallic the easier it is to match. In fact base black we do not pay for blending adjacent panels because black is black.

The hardest color to match is pearl white, it's got mica in it plus there are a thousand shades of white, they either lean to blue or yellow tints. Base white is even hard to match because of all the different tints. Then gold/champagne, Silvers are the next hardest to match because of the different tints and heavy metal flake usually used in them.

Another thing to remember is if you have two adjacent panels that are two different substrates like the hood and bumper cover in this case, the hood is metal while the cover is plastic you can use the exact same paint on both pieces and the paint will not match because the plastic absorbs the paint differently then the metal, thus causing it to tint differently. We will not pay for blending between two different substrates when repairing cars because of this due to the fact 90% of the time they didn't match from the factory, the exception to this is some very high end cars they will tint the paint from the factory to match (using two different tints on the different substrates). Next time you are going down the road look for silver/gold/grey cars you can usually see the different tints between bumper covers and fenders/quarters/hoods from the factory.

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

THanks for the useful info !! I was thinking of getting a second source of history on the car, Carchex. But, like you said if the car did occur in an accident, it might not be on there either, correct ? I was thinking of calling the dealer and asking them for the previous owners contact info and asking him myself what went on with the tranny and whether or not it was in an accident. Do you think a dealer would give me this info ??

Doctor7474

Correct no source is perfect.

Take someone like me for example, I can and have done everything to an automobile that is conceivably imaginable. From building Outlaw 10.5 chassis and cars, building twin turbo 800+ inch big blocks, to painting and fabricating. If I had an accident, and either didn't want it to go on my insurance record, or it wasn't more then my deductible, or I didn't have insurance I could repair the car 100% myself and no one would ever know.

I wouldn't worry about the transmission deal. The transmission may have been replaced but I doubt someone swapped an auto for a manual. This is way more intense then most people think about. You would have to find pedals, clutch lines and slave cylinders/master cylinders, ECM's and wiring harness's on top of the actual transmission. I would assume it's a typo.

Also a good bit of the time now a days a manual transmission is worth more then an automatic, and in some cases the manual transmission is actually the more costly option on new cars as the main stream want auto's so the enthusiasts that want a manual have to pay for it.

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

^ Yes i thought it was a typo on autotrader as well. But on the dealers site its listed as an auto as well. Also, on the free carfax i got, it said "automatic transmission replaced" So could it be that the carfax is full of **** and that the dealer put typos both on autotrader AND on their own site ?

Rotary-RX8

iTrader: (1)

Where would i be able to get a hold of the previous owners contact info? I want to contact him or her and find out for myself if the car has been into an accident and if the tranny was replaced ??

Lane03

Have you seen the car in person? Perhaps the photos are from a different RX-8 or they put the wrong VIN on the listing?

NErx8

Keep in mind the bumper could have been removed at one point and not lined up 100% when being placed back on. Possibly removed for an aftermarket bodykit and stock replaced again?