If a car is in an accident, and the repair shop restored it to new condition (no bent frame, new parts, paint, airbag, etc.), why does it still lose value in as a trade in, if it is otherwise in great condition, with low miles?
In: Other
Who says it loses value? Value is whatever you can sell it for. If you can sell it for the same price (including repair costs) its value hasn’t changed (to you).
Some people will want a lower sale price, car companies for example, for vehicles that have had accidents because there is no 100% guarantee that something fatally wrong wasn’t caused in the crash. Metal cracks under stress and those cracks sometimes don’t appear for a long time, and then your engine falls in half.
As someone that was a autobody painter for 15 years, the chance it was fixed 100% right is pretty small lol.
Also depends on what the damage was and how much the repair was. Cosmetic? Doesn’t affect the price much. Frame or welded panel replacement? Then it drops like a rock. As good as you can do, you can never match OEM’s E-coat dip for protection. What’s funny is we would get BRAND new GMC Terrains with rusty door seams and rusty lift gate seams and outers. I’m not painting anymore but we were averaging 10 terrain door/gate repairs a week for almost 3 years lol hadn’t even left the lot and we were grinding them down and fixing them lol.
The short version is this: Because when there’s an accident, there are always unseen stresses and minor changes that don’t exist in a similar car that was NOT in an accident. Immediately post-repair, these may be undetectable, but over time these tiny stresses can become cracks, and create problems down the line.
It’s always better to get undamaged than repaired.
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