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And why do that at all
You have decided to buy a used car.
Roman Kharitonov
motorist
There is a risk of running into a painted under the guise of unpainted or battered under the guise of unbroken. In order not to be deceived, when buying, you need to check the thickness of the paint layer. This requires a thickness gauge.
This is an article on how to use it.
Why check paint thickness at all
By thickness paintwork (LPC) determines whether the car body has been repainted or repaired after an accident. This means that you can determine whether there were any accidents at all.
The car is painted in two cases:
- For cosmetic purposes - due to a scratch or minor accident.
- After a serious accident.
Not only used can be tinted, but also new car... If you are not an expert, it is difficult to determine by eye whether the car is painted: with a careful repair, the coating cannot be distinguished. Therefore, you need to measure it with a thickness gauge.
You can still buy a car after a cosmetic painting, for example, with a repainted wing, even if the thickness gauge shows deviations from the norm. But deviations are a bargaining chip.
If the car was in a severe accident, in which the body structure was damaged, then this is not a car, but rubbish on wheels. Being in such a car is life-threatening: you never know exactly what damage is left in the body, what can come off or jam, and in the event of an accident, there is generally a huge risk. You can buy such a car only for parts.
It is important to understand the reason for the painting and to exclude a severe accident. Ask to dictate the VIN of the car - an identification number - and check the history of the car on the traffic police website. If the car is from Moscow, additionally check it with the Autocode service. So you will find out if the car was in an accident and in what circumstances. It's free.
If the seller refuses to name the wines, don't buy the car. Most likely, they are trying to cruelly deceive you.
What is a thickness gauge
The thickness gauge is a device for measuring the thickness of a paintwork. It looks like a small box.
Some thickness gauges work at temperatures below freezing, others do not. Some models measure aluminum parts, others only work on steel surfaces.
But if you change your car every three years or less and often do not plan to use a thickness gauge, then it makes no sense to buy it. You can just rent. It costs from 300 to 500 rubles per day.
What the thickness gauge will show
Using the thickness gauge is simple: take a calibrated device and apply it to the car body at a right angle. It will immediately display the thickness of the coating in micrometers. One micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter.
The higher the value shown by the thickness gauge, the greater the layer of paint and the higher the likelihood that this car was repaired after an accident. Typically, the factory paint layer on steel auto parts is no more than 200 microns.
Readings above 200 μm talk about re-painting.
Readings up to 300 μm it happens if a cosmetic defect is painted over on the car, for example, a scratch from a key. This does not affect the safety of passengers, but you can still bargain.
Readings closer to 1000 microns they say there is also putty under the paint. The body element with such readings definitely received a strong deformation in an accident and was putty during repairs. If the work is done poorly, the paint on the putty can crack and fall off over time.
More than 1000 microns - This is a sign of serious body repair, and therefore, participation in a serious accident. It is better not to buy a car with a coating layer of more than 1000 microns.
2000 μm is the maximum value that the thickness gauge can display. If the layer is thicker, the device will not show numbers. This means that there is a lot of putty at this point.
Check in advance what the factory thickness of the paintwork should be on the model of the car you are going to buy. This information can usually be easily googled on a request like "Mazda 3 paintwork thickness". Let's admit a small scatter of readings, but not more than 60 microns.
How to calibrate the thickness gauge
The thickness gauge must be calibrated to provide accurate results. Calibration gets lost due to temperature changes or if the battery runs out.
To calibrate the thickness gauge, use the metal plates that are sold with it. If you rent a device, ask the owner to calibrate it in front of you and lend you calibration plates just in case.
The calibration plates look like this:
My thickness gauge has two calibration plates because it works with both steel and aluminum parts. The instrument must be calibrated separately for steel and aluminum. If the thickness gauge only works on one metal, there will be one plate.
The kit usually includes a special calibration film, which is used for adjustment.
The calibration process is simple - we put the thickness gauge on the plate and reset the readings:
We apply the calibration film to the plate and place the device on top:
The thickness gauge should show the numbers printed on the film. If this does not happen, we repeat the procedure.
What to check at the car
Check at least five points on one body element. One body element is, for example, the roof of a car, or the hood, or each fender, or door. We check each element with five applications of the thickness gauge: along the edges and in the center. Be sure to check the body pillars - these are the bodywork from the bottom line of the glazing to the roof.
The thickness gauge must be applied perpendicularly. If applied from a different angle, the reading will be overestimated.
It happens that not the entire body element is repaired or painted, but only part. The transition point is usually a stamp or the area where the body has a relief. If you are checking a body element with a relief with a thickness gauge, check the elements above and below the relief. Otherwise, you can get the device into the part of the wing that was not damaged in an accident, and below the same wing there may be a greasy layer of putty.
It is not enough to check with a thickness gauge only the outer elements of the body. To exclude repairs after a serious accident, it is imperative to check the body and inside - to measure the paintwork of the frame.
Open the door and get access to the racks. Open the hood and get access to the wing shelf, cups. The readings of the thickness gauge there should not exceed 100 microns.
Aluminum parts
Before inspecting your car, it is helpful to know if the car model you are interested in has aluminum parts. For example, many models of Audi, BMW, Range Rovers have aluminum hoods, front fenders, doors. To measure the coating on such parts, you need a thickness gauge capable of working on aluminum, for example, Etari ET 555.
No special adjustment is required - switching between ferrous and non-ferrous metals is usually automatic. The type of metal is indicated on the screen of the device: aluminum or steel. Factory values \u200b\u200bfor aluminum parts differ from the values \u200b\u200bfor steel ones by 1.5-2 times downward.
If there should be an aluminum part on the machine, but the thickness gauge recognizes it as steel, then the part has been replaced with a non-original one. This is also a sign of an accident in the history of the car.
The thickness gauge is set to measure aluminum parts
Plastic parts
The thickness gauge does not work on plastic parts. In modern cars, bumpers, door handles, exterior mirror housings, and sometimes other parts are made of plastic. For example, the Peugeot 408 has plastic front fenders.
Thickness gauge on a dirty car can cheat or break
Use a thickness gauge on dirty car wrong. First, the readings may be incorrect. Secondly, the work of the thickness gauge on a dirty body spoils both the device and the paint of the car.
Wash your vehicle before checking. It is necessary to examine clean car... This is useful not only for the thickness gauge, but also for finding defects. On the clean it is better.
Thickness gauge is not a guarantor
After an accident of moderate severity, attached used parts from other vehicles may be installed on the car. If, during the repair, the masters find spare parts of the desired color in the original color, the thickness gauge will show standard values \u200b\u200bon the outer elements.
Therefore, the performance of the thickness gauge alone is not enough. When examining, you need to pay attention to the gaps between body panels, the condition of the bolts, the year of manufacture of the glasses and a lot of other parameters.
If you do not want to understand all this, contact the selection experts.
Crib
- Get a professional calibrated thickness gauge.
- Study in advance what paintwork indicators should be in the car model you need.
- Measure each body element at a minimum of five different points. Internal details the body also needs to be checked. Do not forget to measure the thickness of the paint on the roof, doorways, and body pillars.
- Do not buy a machine if the thickness of the paintwork on the hinged elements is more than 1000 microns, and on the frame is more than 300 microns.
A healthy desire for everyone who has decided to make their dream come true is to choose and buy the best option from those offered. Especially when buying a car that has been in the wrong hands and with considerable mileage on European or domestic roads. Quite often there are those who are 5-7 years old, who make demands on it, as when buying a new car in a car dealership, forgetting that years of operation leave their mark on all parts and assemblies, even if the care and maintenance were perfect.
The body is considered to be the main element of any car.... We present to your attention several useful tipshow to check the body when buying a car for a confident choice from a variety of options.
It is important for the buyer to understand that, apart from the body, all parts and assemblies of the car can be replaced by spending a certain amount of money on such procedures. Therefore, it is necessary to pay maximum attention to the state of the body, because it will stay with you for a long time, until the moment when the time comes, or delivery to the landfill.
The main "diseases" of the body
Corrosion effect - rust
If older cars did not have, and such a defect was noticeable very often on used cars, then the body modern car undergoes factory processing, and the manufacturer guarantees at least 5 years of operation without defects. In our time, anti-icing agents are widely used, especially in large cities. Also influenced by: place and operating conditions, type of road surface. Rust, as a result of such exposure, can be seen by looking under the car, and seeing at the same time rusty attachments such as a resonator, protection of the gas tank and engine against the background of a normal bottom.
If there are no special problems with hinged parts, because they need to be changed during operation vehicle, be sure to pay attention to problem areas of the body, such as sills, wheel arches, inner and outer ends of the doors. These elements contain internal cavities, moisture accumulates in them and produces an effect from the inside. The consequence of this effect is the swelling of the paintwork. If there are even small bubbles on the surface, the rust has already eaten the metal and came out, and the process of peeling of the paintwork has begun. Do not believe the seller's assurances that this is a minor and inexpensive repair and buy such a car. In such a repair, rusty parts should be replaced and then either painted with a "stain". Both procedures are quite expensive and you don't need it, because the main task is to choose, buy and drive, and not buy and repair.
The reason for the appearance of rust on the body can be the participation of the car in a traffic accident, after which it was subjected to straightening and painting works. After the bodywork, a layer of putty was applied to them and painted, which will probably differ from the factory one. In addition, the painting will be done only on one side, respectively, and the protection against rust will be incomplete, and corrosion will take its toll.
Violation of the geometry of the body - deformation as a result of mechanical stress.
Such a disease can occur both for reasons depending on the owner of the car, for example, when a collision or collision with a motionless and solid obstacle, and for independent reasons, for example, when an emergency situation arises in the event of an accident. Very often the deformation is caused by rolling over onto the roof, when the driver loses control and the car flew off the track while driving on a slippery road surface. Highly important point - determine the type of deformation, because this significantly affects the cost of the car.
On the video - checking if the car is broken:
First, just do a body geometry check... Check the car doors for opening and closing. The effort and sound should be the same. If everything is fine, inspect all the cracks and gaps with the doors closed: they should be the same width, while the doors should be sunk into their openings. If any door protrudes outward or is recessed deeper, then the body is skewed on the side of this door due to an external impact. Next, inspect the gaps and slots between the hood and trunk lids and fenders, check the level of the headlights and taillights. If the difference in the slots is clear, or the bonnet or trunk lid does not close uniformly, we can talk about both a side impact and a front and rear impact, depending on which side the difference in the slots is visible from. Additionally, you can draw a conclusion about the condition of the side members.
Side members that are not severely damaged may not be fully straightened or left in a skewed form, and the car simply cannot go straight, at its best. At worst, straightened and welded side members are a damaged body structure that can burst at the place of repair when driving in a loaded car or when emergency. You should watch how the seller reacts to your manipulations, and how he bargains... If he is ready to significantly move in price due to the flaws you have indicated, you can safely leave such a car unattended, avoiding the catch. If the deformation of the body arose in a natural operational way and did not greatly affect driving performance and safety, then you have a chance to save a decent amount on the purchase, of course, by visiting the service station for a more detailed check of the body.
Poor car paint quality.
To inspect the state of the painting, you should choose daytime or good artificial lighting and, of course, a thoroughly washed car, both outside and inside. A layer of dirt can hide rust stains or uneven color and quality without issue. If at the same time the seller offers to throw off a couple of hundred more from the attractive price - a hidden defect is guaranteed, and you will not avoid extra cash costs from a "successful" purchase. Offer to see dirty car in the evening, in the light of a street lamp or in a dark garage, feel free to ignore it, even if the seller points out that it is very busy during the day and an attractive price.
Carefully inspect the car for the presence of any non-factory color, because it can be used to determine whether the car has been in an accident or not, whether rust has appeared on it and in what places.
After examining all the outer surfaces of the car body, you should see the same paint shade. If any element is different in shade, make a note for yourself that it was colored.
Inspect the vehicle from the driver's and passenger's sides along the entire length of the body at the lower level of the door glass for dents, scratches or any imperfections. Check the marked places with a souvenir magnet for adhesion. The magnet should adhere equally to all places. If the adhesion is worse in the places you have marked, in front of you is a place with a large layer of putty, a trace of repair. If the magnet does not stick, it means that there is a hole in the marked place, made by rust, and sealed with putty, painted on top. This is a bad renovation, the so-called pre-sale preparation, a place that after the autumn-winter season will turn into a new old hole.
In addition to rust, non-factory painting could be done after the car was involved in an accident... Even if the parts damaged in an accident are replaced with new ones, it is very difficult to achieve factory-quality painting, and corrosion resistance will be much worse.
If there are no special remarks, and only small chips from stones and small scratches are visible, then this problem can be solved easily and inexpensively. When polishing a car body at a service station, the body will be relieved of numerous scratches and abrasions. Small chips can be primed and painted, and having done everything right, you can forget about rust.
Used car and body - correct and reliable
So, we concluded in favor of purchasing a used car, saved some money and were going to choose a car. We read the ads, visited the market, rummaged on the Internet, picked up several options - it's time to start the inspection and choose the most the best way... Armed with a notebook, a pen, a souvenir magnet, we proceed to a detailed inspection, and start with the body. Be careful and remember the following:
- a freshly painted car can almost always be identified by the painted over areas on the sealing rubber around the glass and optics, the remains of tape or paper under the bumper or in the lower part of the body. If staining has been done on individual elements, this can be seen at an angle to the surface in daylight;
- the presence of a layer of putty both on the metal and in the case of a sealed rust hole can be determined using a souvenir magnet;
- you can check the geometry of the body by examining, opening and closing doors, hood and trunk lids, checking cracks and gaps;
- inspect only a washed car, in daylight or good artificial light.
Sale broken cars Is a serious business, but for some it is a piece of bread with red caviar. Because it is profitable to trade them. Emergency vehicles are bought cheaply, repaired and pampered so that the phrase "new condition" does not hurt the eye. The price tag is set accordingly.
Inexperienced buyers often fall for a pretty candy wrapper, add excitement and a classic trick: "I wanted to sell for 450, I'll give you for 420 ..." And here the desire to buy a nice car outweighs common sense.
But there is an honest option next to it, but its body is chipped, the paint has faded, and the price is higher ... But inside there is healthy iron, but how to find out about it?
Usually, restored cars are sold through car markets by professional resellers, but an ordinary private seller can also slip a battered one, and even an official dealer. Distinguishing an emergency specimen is actually not difficult, and learning how to do it is worth at least to bargain well. In addition, not every broken car is a reason to refuse to buy, and you need to be able to distinguish between serious "automotive body" from cosmetic repairs.
Suspiciously good paintwork condition
FROM market auto dealer Andrey we come to a black Lada-2110, and from a distance of 10 meters he concludes: “Don't look at this one. The whole "face" is painted. "
Even with careful use, chips appear on the car body: they usually concentrate on the front bumper, radiator grille and hood. In "vaziks" the thickness and strength of the paintwork are small, so that the "pockmarked" bonnet from chips is a normal phenomenon. The specimen in question with a declared mileage of 75 thousand kilometers has an amazingly black hood and bumpers and, most likely, recently repainted.
Pay attention to thresholds - they are usually covered with mesh small scratches from shoes. If on the one hand they are not there, this is a reason to take a closer look at the thresholds: perhaps they were painted.
Uneven body clearances
Semi-handicraft repairs often show the "curvature" of the body, which is especially noticeable at the interface between the panels. “It is not so much the absolute value of the gap that is important as its uniformity along the length and the difference with the gap on the symmetrical side of the car,” says body shop foreman Vadim Bestemyanov. - At russian cars the gaps are usually more curved already from the factory, but if it fits into a finger somewhere, and just below the parts are almost overlapping, this is a broken specimen. " 
Look at the photo: walking gap between the edge of the hood and the radiator grill Ford focus - an unhealthy phenomenon. Our suspicions were later confirmed.
A broken body can give out an indistinct closing of doors, so experienced buyers must check their functioning: are there any jamming, squeaks, or fuzzy operation of locks?
And in the photo below is a Chevrolet hatchback with rear light we find inconspicuous cracks. A closer inspection reveals that these are traces from the fifth door, which, when closed, beats against the plastic mounts of the brake light, damaging them. The reason was established a minute later: the rear of the car was being repaired.
Rear light of Chevrolet car
Crooked gaps or "ripped" panels sometimes indicate the use of cheap Turkish or Chinese spare parts, the geometry of which often does not match the original.
Treacherous fasteners
Vasily Martyanov, a specialist in the trade-in department of the Ford Center Vostok company, used to work in the body shop, and now he is responsible for accepting the "trade-in" cars, so identifying broken copies is his bread. It was he who helped us evaluate the Ford Focus in the video below the article.
Vasily shows one of the bolts on the car door: "See?" Honestly, I don't see it. I don't even know what to look at.
Fastener of the fifth door Ford Focus 5d
“It is unpainted,” says Vasily. “On the other hand, it can be seen that at the factory it was covered with enamel along with the body. This is a clear sign that the door was removed, most likely for repairs. "
It is worth clarifying that not all the bolts of the car must be painted over: at the factory, some of the elements are installed after painting.
Vasily advises to pay special attention to the fasteners of body parts and interior trims. "When body repair the car is disassembled, some fasteners are lost or broken, for example, caps for fixing interior panels. If you notice a loose, unpainted or non-standard bolt, as well as a lost or broken piston, this is a reason to study the element more carefully. Compare suspicious fittings with similar fittings on the other side of the car or on a new car. Check if the interior trims are not “walking”: after body repairs they are often not fastened properly, or they loose or fall off. "
Even door handles can give out "bodywork". “Small parts like door handles do not change during budget body repairs, so their unexpectedly poor condition should lead to thoughts of problems with the car, as is the case with this Ford Focus,” says Vasily.
Hands at the seams
At the factory car bodies are welded from individual parts mainly by spot welding, after which the joints are sealed with a special sealant. The method of applying the sealant is different: on nissan factory near St. Petersburg, this is done by workers with the help of special pistols, in the Hyundai Solaris and Rio workshops - by robots. Subsequently, the sealant is fired and the body is painted.
Factory sealant looks neat, is well colored and is often almost invisible. In body repairs, it is applied more knotted, often smeared, and the consistency is sometimes similar to dried paint.
Vasily Martyanov draws attention to the rough seam around the bracket of the fifth Chevrolet door, the very one that caught our attention with the split brake light housing. “It’s immediately clear that the sealant here is non-factory, and from both sides, which means, most likely, there was a blow to the rear - because the trunk lid now does not close as it should,” he concludes.
Sometimes the sealant is placed neatly enough, and if in doubt, Vasily advises to look at the seams of a new one or it is guaranteed not wrecked car the same model.
Weld seams are more difficult. During the repair, two welding methods are used: spot and seam welding (including in an inert gas environment). Spot welding is also used at the factory, so it would seem that the fact of repair should be invisible. However, Vadim, the coachbuilder, insists that this is not the case. “Look,” he runs his finger along the lower part of the thresholds of the car hanging on the lift. - On the one hand, there are factory spots from welding, but here are traces of the workshop. The points are not so even, traces of burns are visible, which means that the threshold was welded again. "
It is not always possible to use spot welding during repairs. At the factory, the parts are connected in a certain sequence, and in the workshop it is not always possible to crawl with welding tongs to each joint or to get the desired overlap. Then they use welding with a continuous or intermittent seam, which is easy to distinguish by eye.
If in some place you did not find traces of spot welding, although they are on the other side of the car, most likely the car has undergone major repairs.
“But there are little tricks,” Vadim shares. - Craftsmen often seal the weld spot with putty, and then make marks with the back of a pencil with an eraser that look very much like spot welding marks. Then the site is primed, painted over and looks like a factory version. "
At the Nissan plant, some parts are boiled with such pliers.
Hidden cavities
First of all, the client cares about appearance car. Therefore, the bodyworkers spend the lion's share of time and effort on restoring the basic geometry and "smoothing" the panels visible to the eye. This means that hidden cavities can tell a lot of interesting things: the bowels of the engine compartment, the spare wheel niche and the trunk floor, the inner ends of the doors, and so on. Experienced appraisers take a screwdriver for inspection and do not hesitate to remove the luggage compartment trim to look at the rear fenders from the inside: if the car was run over from behind, as a rule, there is a lot of evidence in these cavities.
Vasily Martyanov shares one more subtlety: “When finishing the paintwork, polishes are used, which are washed off from the outer part of the body, but often remain in hidden cavities. Outwardly, the polish looks like a chalk residue, which is easily washed off with water and rubbed off with your fingers. Sometimes the craftsmen are too lazy to disassemble the element completely before painting and seal the adjacent parts with tape, but not always "hermetically", so traces of paint remain on the interior details and seals. It is useful to bend the rubber elements with your finger and look at the places of their abutment to the parts to be painted: if there are traces of paint on the rubber bands, the painters had the car ”.
By the way, the borders of the painted areas are often led into secluded places, for example, in the Ford Focus in question, we found a rough color transition inside the doorway.
The color transition of this Focus is located in an inconspicuous place, but roughly processed
What will the gas tank flap tell you?
Reseller Andrey, approaching the next "victim", first of all, he opens the gas tank flap, squats and looks out for something in its depths.
“For many cars, by the fastening of the hatch, you can immediately see whether it was removed or not,” Andrey comments. - Non-standard or damaged bolts, "left" rivets - all this suggests that the hatch was removed. And they were filming, most likely, for the sake of tinting, that is, color matching ”.
The fuel filler flap is convenient for painters, as it is compact and its absence does not impede movement. True, in some cars (for example, Ford Focus), the hatch can be removed invisibly. Again, the very fact of tinting does not indicate any serious problems, but this is a reason to ask the owner what exactly was painted. Many answer on duty: "Yes, I broke the bumper on a snowdrift, so they repainted." But is it really so?
Looking for spots and color joints
In good workshops, the damaged area is painted with a so-called transition, that is, the enamel is applied, among other things, to adjacent fragments of the body so that the color contrast between the factory painting and the repair one is not so sharp. For example, after replacing a door, they usually paint not only it, but also the adjacent wing and the adjacent door of the car. If the repair is "budgetary" and only walked through the door, the difference in shade can be quite noticeable, since it is rarely possible to ensure perfect color matching. Even two new cars from different batches may have a different shade.
To distinguish painted areas, you need bright lighting, a clean body and good color sensitivity of the viewer. Usually, the difference is noticeable at certain angles, so you should walk around the car or ask the owner to ride in a circle, first in one direction, then in the other.
To my question whether it is possible to paint in such a way that even a professional would not notice, the master of the paint shop Yuri replies: “In theory - probably, in reality, practically not. An experienced eye sees not only a difference in color, but also a different quality of surfaces: graininess, shagreen. It takes a very meticulous and expensive approach to match the factory paint, so in most cases, the trained eye sees the tinted areas right away. "
Measurement of paintwork thickness
More the exact way is the determination of the thickness of the paintwork using a special device, which is often called a "thickness gauge" in workshops. Vasily shows us how the Automation Dr Nix works using the example of a Cadillac. He applies the sensor to the fender of the car, and the screen displays the thickness of the coating in micrometers. “310 ... 175 ... 110 ... - says Vasily and concludes: - Such a range of thicknesses suggests that the wing was painted. A factory paint coat is usually thinner and much more uniform than a repair paint. If putty was used, then the sensor readings will be even higher. Moreover, cars from different manufacturers have their own standards for the thickness of the paintwork: for Japanese and Russian, they are thinner, for American - usually thicker. "
Almost all body shops and dealerships have such a device, so if in doubt, drive the car to a specialist. Surely in your city there are visiting teams of experts who can evaluate a car right on the market or in a place convenient for you.
To take or not to take?
A damaged car, let alone a painted one, is not a reason to refuse a purchase. Firstly, the fact of repair in itself does not mean that vital organs are affected: there may have been a minor accident. A painted bumper with no other signs of repair is most likely the result of unsuccessful parking or an attempt by the owner to fix the chips. Minor operating injuries are almost inevitable.
Secondly, even if the impact damaged the load-bearing elements of the car, shifted the suspension attachment points or deformed the load-bearing structure, after a quality repair, the car may well still serve. The main thing here is not to overpay for it too much, but bitness itself is not a sentence.
Worse, if the repair was done poorly: an abundance of putty, poor color, especially cracks in the paintwork, lack of fasteners - signs of a tyap-blooper-repair.
It is very bad if it was not possible to restore the geometry of the body: then you can rake a whole bunch of problems from poor closing doors to the impossibility of setting the recommended values \u200b\u200bfor the wheel alignment angles. And this is already unsafe.
“It is very difficult to determine the change in the geometry of the body by eye, but there are indirect signs,” says Vasily. - I recommend paying attention to the uniformity of tire wear: if they are worn in different ways or their individual parts wore out faster, most likely, the camber-toe angle is knocked down, and this may be a sign of a critical violation of the body geometry. If with by car the second set of wheels, for example winter ones - check it too. A car with unevenly worn wheels should be checked twice as carefully, and before buying, be sure to check whether the camber and toe angles are set in principle. If not, you shouldn't take the car. "
Instrumental measurement of body geometry
If you want to and pricks - do not spare money for instrumental measurement of the body geometry: dealers or serious services have such equipment. We were shown the work of the contact measuring complex at the Ford Center Vostok company. It determines the relative position of several vital points on the underbody of the car, allowing you to judge the preservation of the factory geometry.
A tip for the master at what point to take the next measurement
The process is simple: a hint with a photograph of the next point for measurement is displayed on the laptop screen to the master, he touches it with a stylus with a sharp tip, and the system determines the position of the point in the coordinate system attached to the car. Then the coordinates are compared with the given base, and a conclusion is made as to whether the body geometry needs correction. In general, this equipment is used to repair heavily damaged cars, and the computer simultaneously gives hints in which direction and how much to pull the body. But you can use it to diagnose whole-looking machines: the cost is about 4,000 rubles.
“According to the standards, the displacement of points should not exceed 2-3 mm - each point has its own value,” explains the stand operator. - If the body is "gone" by 4 mm, most likely, repair is required. If the client does not want to pay 4000 rubles for instrumental diagnostics, we offer a visual examination - it costs about 1000 rubles. For an experienced master it will not be difficult to find problem areas and determine how well they were repaired ”.
There are cars with which it is better not to mess with: say, welded from the halves of two emergency vehicles. Such "centaurs" in the next road accident are often torn in half with fatal consequences. Naturally, such a car can look good: fresh paint, new salon, a lively engine ... but only for the gaze of a layman, to whom such "designers" are addressed.
Another way to play it safe is to buy a car at Trade In showroom from authorized dealer: such machines are diagnosed before acceptance, so that their background is known to the future buyer in advance. Usually, Trade In dealerships do not take broken copies for sale at all.
What you shouldn't get hung up on
Small dents without damage to the paintwork usually do not threaten anything, except for the loss of aesthetics, and in some services they are straightened out using the Paintless Dent Repair method (for example, marks from "enemy" doors on the sidewalls of a car).
Chipped bumpers and scratches also do not affect functionality. In cramped European cities, flimsy bumpers are normal. A crooked bumper or torn off aerodynamic aprons underneath often indicate an unsuccessful off-road sortie, but if the other elements are intact, this is not critical.
A grid of micro-scratches on the surface of the body appears in the first months of operation after washing - this is an almost inevitable evil.
Local touch-up of elements, most likely, is not a problem, and if in doubt, check the area with a “thickness gauge”: is there a thick layer of putty under the paint? In any case, this is a reason to knock down the price a little (if the buyer did not declare the damage in advance).
Body repair technology
Let us briefly tell you how to restore machines with serious damage.
First, the injured part is disassembled, the "dead" parts are discarded, and the body parts are thoroughly troubleshooting. Sometimes it is more profitable to pull the spar, sometimes to change it to a new one.
Serious centers use systems to measure the geometry of the body. They are different: laser, template, mechanical, but the meaning is the same - to determine the displacement of key points of the body and the direction in which it needs to be pulled.
Slipway for pulling the body
They are pulled on a special slipway: the car is attached to its base by the sills with clamps, and the force is transmitted from power device (for example, lever-hydraulic type) through special chains with hooks. A system of rulers and templates is provided on the slipway, with the help of which the master determines how much to stretch the element.
The body panels are also defective, and if the damage is not critical, they are straightened. First, enamel and zinc coatings are removed from them, which, in theory, then need to be restored.
When straightening, an incredible number of tools are used: anvils, hammers, mandrels, trowels. Sometimes special tools are used, for example, spotters or reverse hammers: temporary fasteners are welded to the surface, and the dent is pulled outward, as it were (tapped in the opposite direction).
Often it is impossible to restore a too wrinkled surface to an ideal state, and putty is used - a plastic material that is given the desired shape. An abundance of putty usually indicates a low quality of repair, and its presence can be determined, for example, using a device for measuring the thickness of the paintwork - it measures the depth to the metal.
If power structure severely damaged, some of the elements are cut out, and new ones are welded in, in whole or with the help of insert fragments. Cook with pliers for spot welding or seam welding.
Surface preparation for painting in a paint shop
After restoring the geometry, the parts are sent to the paint shop, and here - many of their subtleties. The surface is prepared for painting, primed, in the meantime, the paint workers select the color, mix the paints. After applying the enamel, the body is sent to the drying chamber. And then - to the reinforcement shop for final assembly.
Rebuilding the body requires great meticulousness, and a good repairer or painter is almost a man of art.
Worse bat ...
The worst thing that can happen to the buyer of a run car is the purchase of a mortgage car. There are plenty of precedents. A person buys a car, puts it on record, drives for a year or two, and then the bailiffs seize the car, since, for example, it is pledged for a car loan or other debt that was not paid on time by the previous owner. The last owner remains the last one - the car is confiscated through the court and sold at auction in favor of the bank. There are chances to return at least the money, but there will be many obstacles on the way. Fraudsters who sell a mortgage car face criminal punishment, but the victim is no easier: as a rule, the money is not returned to him.
The paradox is that there are practically no guaranteed ways to protect yourself from such a situation: there is no single register of pledged machines, as well as special marks in the registration certificate or PTS. When buying a car on credit, PTS usually remains in the bank, but the owner can easily get a copy from the traffic police due to the alleged loss. Some banks either by design or "accidentally" accept copies of the TCP for safekeeping.
How to reduce risks? There is no one hundred percent reliable way, but suspicion should be caused by a car that was recently acquired and immediately put up for sale; which, instead of the TCP, has its duplicate, issued in connection with the loss (see the column "Special marks"). Ask the owner for payment documents, by which you can judge whether the car was purchased on credit or for cash (however, this does not prevent you from re-mortgage the car later to obtain a new loan). And of course, do not ignore your gut: if the seller seems suspicious, sometimes it is better to refuse a purchase than to lose both money and a car.
Algorithm for finding traces of body repair
- Check if the fuel filler flap was removed. If so, check with the owner for what purpose.
- We are looking for chips and micro-scratches on the body: if the car has been in operation for several years, but the body is perfect, it may have recently been repainted.
- In good lighting, we are looking for a color mismatch between individual parts, shade transitions or color spots, for which we go around the car.
- In suspicious places, when looking along the surface, we determine the presence of shagreen. (paintwork microroughness), we check whether the surface does not "play" in the light.
- We carefully study the uniformity and symmetry of the body clearances.
- We check the ease and sound of closing all doors, the trunk lid and the hood.
- We evaluate the quality of the welded seams (points) and the accuracy of applying the sealant.
- We check the fasteners: bolts, rivets, caps. Are there any damaged, replaced, non-standard, or unpainted parts? Are the interior trims loose?
- Daylight hours
- Clean car condition
- An opaque oil that smells like fumes (testifies about the merciless operation of the machine and the need for urgent replacement of filters and oil)
- New oil, which has a pronounced odor and color, and is also quickly absorbed into the fabric (it is possible that the replacement was made just before the sale in order to hide serious automatic transmission problems)
- Dark liquid with the inclusion of metal particles (the condition of the car is critical and does not allow further operation without major, expensive repairs)
- Cloudy liquid (testifies about coolant entering the filter, which prevents further operation of the machine without overhaul Automatic transmission and radiator replacement)
Are you an ordinary car enthusiast and are not aware of all the nuances of selling cars? We decided to buy a used car, but are afraid that the salon will sell wrecked car? Today we will talk about how to identify a wrecked and / or painted car and not get into a mess when buying a car.
So, how to check a damaged car yourself?
1. Conduct a visual inspection of the body
When visually inspecting a used car, 2 prerequisites must be met:
The vehicle should be inspected at a distance of several steps. Take a look at the body and try to determine by eye the difference in shades in different parts and elements. It is better to inspect the car in the shade - it makes it easier to notice the difference in shades, and the defects are most visible exactly when the sun glare hits them. An unpainted car should have a uniform shade of paintwork throughout the body, and if you notice even the slightest defect, most likely the car has already been repainted.
By the way, multiple scratches and small paint chips from a used car are quite common. On the contrary, an unnaturally new type of coverage should alert you, especially if it does not correspond to the age of the car.
Advice for the advanced... A special device - a thickness gauge - will help to significantly facilitate the procedure for checking the paintwork. It is enough to attach this device to the surface of the car body and hold it over it. The indicator readings in all parts of the body must match, and significant deviations in any place indicate a layer of putty, as happens when a car is broken. If you don't want to spend money on a thickness gauge, prepare a magnet wrapped in a thin cloth: in those places where it will not stick to the body, a thick layer of putty is likely to pass.
We suggest watching a video on how to use the thickness gauge.
It is easy to recognize a wrecked car by comparing the width of the gaps between the hood and the fender (they should be the same on both sides). Sometimes an uneven gap can be found at the junction of the parts to be welded, for example, between the wing and the body pillar.
Do not buy a car without checking the width of the clearances in symmetrical places. Also, be sure to open the doors of the car and wiggle them a little to check the hinges and any gaps in them. A well-known trick is to listen to the car: are there any creaks and other unpleasant sounds when opening and closing doors. Quite often, after an accident, doors are installed with a slight bias, and during operation they leave some defects on the car body.
3. Check optics
Glasses and headlights are excellent witnesses of past accidents. If they are trying to sell you a car whose headlights differ in transparency, then one of them was recently replaced, and you should ask why. Also examine carefully windshield - usually in its lower right corner there is a brand of the manufacturer. If the glass is not marked with the factory logo, this is another reason to doubt that the car is not damaged (although, in principle, the glass could have been replaced for another reason).
The headlights of the car should shine symmetrically and evenly. To test their operation, drive the car to a flat wall and turn on the lights. If the light falls unevenly and at the wrong angle, this indicates that the headlights are replaced.
Advice for the advanced. Be aware that every car manufacturer has its own suppliers supplying parts to the factory conveyor. If you learn their names, you can always determine which car part is original and which is not. In this case, it will be easy for an unscrupulous seller to be brought to light, especially if you show him the logo of a Chinese company for spare parts, say, from a Mercedes.
4. Check the glass and door seals
Bend back the seals on the front and rear window to check for characteristic smudges or steps in the paint. If the color of the paint under the seal is slightly different from the main shade of the body, this is normal, but under no circumstances should there be frank paint smudges under the seals.
Be sure to also check the tightness of the closing of the doors and make sure that they fit well to the seal. If a visible gap remains after the doors are closed, this is a very likely sign that the body has been deformed.
5. Rate tire wear
Uneven tire wear may indicate a disturbed body geometry. To check this fact, measure the distance between the center points of the front suspension struts. If the number obtained differs from the factory standard by more than 5 mm, most likely, the geometry of the body was broken after a serious impact.
An indirect sign of painting works are new fasteners supplied to replace the factory rivets and caps. The fact is that when repainting the body, its individual elements are often removed, and during dismantling, the fasteners often break or are lost. Thus, the presence of new fasteners is an indirect sign that the car was disassembled, which means that a broken and painted car can also be identified in this way.
7. Check the fuel filler flap
Sometimes a tiny detail, such as a gas filler flap, helps to distinguish a broken car from an unbroken one. To find out if it was removed for tinting (color matching before painting), open the flap and take a closer look at its fasteners. Non-standard or damaged bolts, “non-native” rivets - all this suggests that the fuel filler flap, as a compact and not affecting movement element, has been removed in the past and has been in the hands of painters.
In conclusion, we suggest watching a video with expert advice on how to distinguish a wrecked car - perhaps this will make all of the above clearer.
When buying a used machine, check technical condition car is a mandatory step that should never be neglected. It can be very difficult for a layman to check the condition of the car, but, nevertheless, no matter how the seller or the manager of the car dealership assures you that the car is in good condition, you need to make sure of this yourself.
Assessing the technical condition of a car is a complex, complex process, and there are several tips to facilitate and structure it.
Most car defects can be detected with a simple visual inspection, so always start examining the car from its body. Remember that every damage to the surface of the machine, that is, a scratch or chip, is a potential source of corrosion.
Be sure to inspect the pre-washed car from all angles in daylight. If you notice variations in body color, this indicates that the car has been painted, which means that an accident in the past is quite possible, and the technical condition of the car may not be ideal. Minor body defects are often hidden under stickers.
To check the technical condition of cars on the body, you have to look under the hood and in the trunk, paying special attention to the joints of the parts and the quality of the seals. You should definitely check how the doors open and close - this should happen effortlessly and smoothly.
Checking the condition of the car is unthinkable without engine diagnostics, at least by ear. To do this, start the car and listen to how it works. Smooth rumbling of the engine indicates that the car is in good condition, while all sorts of noises, tapping, whistles and interruptions in the operation of the internal combustion engine indicate the presence of malfunctions.
How serious the problem is - it is unrealistic for a beginner to determine, however, in fairness, let's say that eliminating a minor defect under the hood of a car can be a simpler and faster solution than finding another car in perfect condition.
Note to the buyer. Even a stretched alternator belt is already a sufficient reason to lower the price a little, so pay attention to every detail you can see and do not hesitate to bargain.
If the machine has an air conditioner, require it to work. Fixing an inoperative air conditioner is a very expensive business, so even if you, in principle, are not going to use it, feel free to ask the seller for a discount of at least 10 thousand rubles.
If they are trying to convince you that the air conditioner simply needs to be refueled, do not give up your requirements: you cannot personally be convinced when buying that the system works in principle.
If the car is in good condition, its engine should start the first time, even in cold weather. In addition to diagnosing the operation of the internal combustion engine by ear, pay attention to the fastening nuts and bolts under the hood. If they were unscrewed, and this can be seen, it means that the car is hardly in excellent condition, as the seller tries to assure you: it was not out of natural curiosity that the owner climbed into the engine!
Oil stains and smudges, "decorating" the components and assemblies, indicate leaks in the units. During the operation of the machine, lack of tightness is fraught with leakage lubricant and related problems.
The next step in assessing the condition of the car is the color of the smoke from the exhaust pipe. A vehicle in excellent condition (at least in terms of engine performance) will have a light gray smoke.
Black smoke from the chimney indicates excessive fuel supply or increased consumption oils. In either case, engine adjustment will be required, for example, replacing worn out injectors, valve stem seals or piston rings, but this is an expensive pleasure.
An important parameter of the technical condition of a car with automatic transmission is the color of the oil. If the probe of the machine is available, it is not difficult to determine the condition of the machine, or rather, its most important and expensive part to repair.
To do this, drip liquid from the dipstick onto a piece of paper or white linen cloth. Clean liquid without burning smell and impurities, slightly smelling synthetic oil, Is an indicator of the health of the hydraulics. This means that the car is in excellent condition, and the previous owner really followed it: did not overload the transmission and carried out maintenance in a timely manner.
What should alert the buyer of a used car with automatic transmission:
We suggest watching a video on how to check automatic transmission gears in the car:
After you have checked the condition of the car on the spot, it's time to test the car while driving. To do this, take a ride on flat road with a smooth increase in speed. A car in excellent condition does not drive on the road and can be controlled at any speed. At the same time, the engine noise remains smooth and the wheels do not emit unnecessary knocks.
An important step in checking the condition of a vehicle before purchasing is evaluating the brakes and suspension. To do this, it is advisable to test the car by driving over bumps, but since a rare seller will allow you to do this, it is better to go with him to diagnose a car service and ask the masters two or three specific, substantive questions. This double check of those car conditions will give the best results.
If a car seller, under various pretexts, tries to evade a visit to a car service, this is a direct confirmation that the car is by no means ideal technically.
Finally, please note that any defect that would allow the vehicle to be considered to be in a condition other than that declared by the seller is a reason for a decrease in the vehicle's selling value.
