PPI Advice

I'm looking for some advice. I had a 458 Spider PPI last Friday and was told the "rear bumper was not mounted properly and appears to have been repainted". This is a triple color paint, so I'm concerned it will be difficult to match properly. Is this a big deal or am I overreacting?

I've negotiated a fair price prior to discovering the paint/bumper issue, but not a great "deal". Its a bit of a disappointment...

 

I don’t think 458s will be collectibles since so there’s so many of them so I am not sure how sensitive is the resale value if it has a repainted bumper... I am curious to know that as well to see if I should repaint my bumpers due to road scraping and rock debris. With that said if the bumper isn’t mounted correctly I can “maybe” assume the previous owner cheap out on the install and paint and might be cutting corners in other parts of the car. U never know but that’s what most pple would assume. You kinda have to look at other factors to piece together the big pic to see if this is a time bomb or a good buy (rotor life, tires, service history, number of owners, interior condition, anything missing in the car etc.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Painted plastic panels require a special tool to measure paint thickness that's far more expensive than the one used on metal panels.

To have a repainted bumper means nothing, so long as it's done by a proper shop. I get worried when metal panels are repainted as that could signal a much more serious accident.

Maybe you can use the repaint to negotiate an additional discount, but certainly don't walk away from the deal if the car works for you as a whole. Wouldn't hurt to buy a paint thickness gauge and check the surrounding metal panels, there's always minute variations from the factory, but a big jump in thickness indicates a respray. That tool cost around $115 or so.

 

Paint panels aren't a deal breaker for me, but they are a possible indication of an accident.

Combined with other signs it can add up to a deal breaker.

Either way, you should negotiate a better price as a result of that discover

 

I'm concerned that this issue wasn't disclosed (since I did ask). It makes me wonder what else may have happened. Overall PPI was good, but poor installation of the bumper makes me question who did the work. Knowing there are so many perfectly clean examples out there, I've decided to pass. Thanks for the feedback.