Ive got a 92 firebird that my mom bought new so i know everything that has ever happened to that car. i was looking at my door the other day because it wasnt shutting quite right (you have to kinda slam it although it shuts fine with the window down) and noticed what looks to me like sanding scratches on the drivers side quarter that have shown through from under shrunken paint. I know for a fact that the car has never been hit there since we bought it new. I'm guessing this thing got bumped into while on a test drive or at the factory and was fixed and now years down the road the paint has shrunk revealing the scratches. has anyone else ever found a factory repair on their vehicle?

To tell you the truth it kinda pisses me off, who wants to buy a "new" wrecked car without any knowledge of it?????

 

They put body putty on at the factory, it's probably just showing now.

 

Like you say, it could have been bumped into at the dealership and repaired before it was sold. I'd want to remove the door panel and feel for any imperfections on the inside of the door skin if it was me. Of coarse there's nothing you can do about it now, other than knowing you got slipped the green weenie.

 

I worked at a car plant in Illinois years ago, and saw some cars that had roof and quarter dents. I was told by the repair people that they couldn't put any bondo in a new car because it would void the warranty(no bondo was kept in the plant, anyway). It was all hammer and dolly with lots of primer.

However, shortly thereafter, I began selling new cars and if a customer wanted a particular new car that had a dent in it, it was taken to a local shop where it was bondo'ed up, sanded, primed and painted, and back to the dealership in about four hours. This happened a lot, so a number of cars were sent for repair as soon as it was discovered they were damaged. Yours may have had a similar fate if it was on the dealers lot for any amount of time before you bought it. And if the car gets body work done to it at the dealers, there has to be some kind of investigation before the factory can get charged for warranty repairs.

 

If i remember correctly, we bought it in late 1992, so it had probably been there for some time. from what i can see, the door has never had any work done to it, and ive replaced the electric window motor and never noticed anything. the only place i can see the scratches showing through is on the quarter around the area of the body line that outlines the wheel well. I started pulling everything apart to see the back of the quarter panel but i didnt have enough time to get it pulled all apart so i stopped. maybe ill get around to pulling it all the way apart soon when i have more time to mess with it. whatever happened, i dont think it was much, the inner fender well isnt wrinkled or anything like that.