When purchasing a used car, it is essential that you sign up to a good deal. If the previous owner of the car has repainted the car or if the car has underwent repairs, then it is highly likely that you are paying more than what the car is actually worth. This is why it is essential that you know how to inspect a car thoroughly.

Look for Dirt Spots

When spotting signs for a repaint, you need to inspect the car’s paint job with a careful eye. Spotting signs of previous damage or wear can however be very difficult. Hence, prior to buying a used car, it is better to resort to a professional technician as they are better suited to spot subtle indications that can be challenging for you to notice.

The first indicator of a repaint is dirt spots. The reason why you should look for them to judge a repaint is because they are very common. A factory paint job is distinguishable because it displays absolutely zero dirt spots because of the clean environment of a manufacturing unit. Hence, it is impossible to get a dirt spot in it.

On the other hand, when you take your car to a local body shop, you can expect its environment to be full of dirt, debris, sanding, road grimes and other contaminants. Therefore, it can be very difficult to not have a few dust spots on the new paint job.

Inspect any Loosened Trim

When a manufacturing unit is painting a car, they essentially have to paint a blank metal frame before they can install its specific trim and installations. This is however not the case for when a body shop is performing a car’s paint job. Instead, they have to paint the car over the trims, such as rubber linings and plastic covers.

When doing so, they will often tape those components to keep the paint from touching them. This can often lead to clear lines when you paint the car. Hence, the trims that are aligned across the edge of doors can reveal plenty about the car’s paint history. Thus, you can check the trim for any signs of paint, damage, or faded masking tapes.

Look for a Solvent Pop

If you happen to spot a solvent pop on a vehicle, then you can confirm with complete certainty that the car is repainted for resale. What is Solvent Pop? In every component of the paint job, there is always going to be an addition of solvent. This solvent contains vapors that will often burst out of the paint’s bottom coat or layer. This will often time cause a dotted region on the car which can guarantee that the car underwent a re-paint.

The car’s company paint-job and color is very valuable to the car. Any change in its original paint decreases the value of a car by a significant amount.