I try to stay on top of things and wash and polish my car as much as I can. Well I love when I wash it and I'm finished, it just looks oh so clean, but when I look up close, I always see all of these imperfections and I get upset about them. Well after I washed and waxed her today, I saw a few more imperfections, which is usually normal. BUT, under the spoiler, and in other spots, I saw some red starting to show through. I know paint ages and its a 15 year old car, but after what I saw, I honestly believe that my Z used to be red, and someone did a half @$$ job at painting it white. Hmm makes me wonder...

 

Look on your RPO sticker and let us know what the paint code is it will be a number after the BC/CC line at the bottom and may start with "U"

For expample my car's code is U382E which is Light Pewter Metallic.

You can also have your vin decoded at Compnine and it will show up in your RPO list.

It is alot easier to replace the rear hatch instead of replacing the glass (cheaper too) so your hatch may have just been replaced and a cheapo paint job done on it to make the car all one color.

Massey

 

Your car was originally painted from the factory using a base coat/clear coat. For any color to show from wear under the white, you would have to be worn through the clear. You would know by looking at a coarse dull white if it was worn that far down. If the white is wearing through to a red-red, then it sounds like a repaint, probably a single stage paint. Primer isn't red, it's more of a reddish-brown, but I believe GM was still using a gray primer regardless.

 

Wow, I didn't think about checking the RPO code lol I go look at it right now and let you guys know.

 

Another way to know is to lift up the carpet. Normally no one paints that far when repainting.

 

OK, so I just did Compnine and it is in fact arctic white so thats good. But looking at it, I am finally starting to pull all of the puzzle pieces together.

Here is the story:
When I first bought the car, I saw that one rear wheel seemed it was sticking out just a little further than the other one. So I looked at it and had my old man check it out and he said the passenger quarter panel was bondo'd so he thought the car was in an accident. That is why it seems a little off compared to the body. Well I also just got my rear window tinted and the shop that did it told me that my tint will not look perfect bc my rear window had hot spots from weld splatter. So someone was welding in the back.

Lets put the pieces together. 1) My quarter panel has been bondo'd, 2) My rear window has weld splatter on it from someone welding back there, and 3) The white paint on the back of my car is REALLY crappy and is starting to show red.

My guess is that my car was previously in an accident, most likely rear ended (duh), and someone took parts off of a red donor car and got them poorly painted. Can I do a carfax to see if it was previously a salvaged title or in an accident at least?

 

Yep, a wreck/panel replacement is what I was suspecting. Try doing a google search on your VIN to see if anything interesting pops up. I've found out about totaled cars that way before by it showing up as an insurance auction car. Otherwise, a carfax should show something if it was a wreck that was reported to the law or insurance company.

 

My brother was almost-new car shopping a month or so ago and learned something interesting.
The lot owner told him to be careful when using Carfax. It can take 6 months for a wreck to show up on Carfax. The lot owner told him that he bought a late model Lexus at auction after checking it on Carfax. Took it home and gave it a close going over. The car had been hit and repaired. Took it back to the auction and they nullified the transaction and refunded his money. They were aware that wrecked cars are sometimes repaired quickly and rushed to auction to outmaneuver Carfax.
At some point later he ran the VIN on carfax again and then the wreck report showed up.
No matter how good the system is there will always be somebody who finds a way to beat it.

 

Well I have had my car for about 3 years now so if it's only 6 months delay on Carfax, then it should be posted by now. But I am going to google my VIN right now and see what comes up.

 

Not everything shows up on Carfax. Sarah's accident was not run through a shop or insurance and will not show up. The accident technically totaled her but I paid for the repairs and did the work myself. No carfax that way.

Massey