Hey, Im new here.

Im in the market for a CL as my first car, and have been looking around for quite a while. I came across an '01 type S for sale down the street from me and it seems like a pretty good deal. The carfax is clean with no record of any accidents. Im seriously considering it, but I just realized that something is fishy with the back of the car. The 3.2 CL badge and the Type S badge are on opposite sides of the trunk. Every other one I'v seen they were both on the right side placed next to eachother.
Look:



Could this be a sign that it was in an accident? I know that sometimes when cars are repainted the auto shop screws up the placement of the badges when they put them back on. It doesnt have any signs of being repainted such as crackling or chipping. Is this a bad sign that theres something they're not telling me?

Please forgive me if this has been brought up before, I couldnt find it in the search.

 

The A C U R A badges are too close together too. It's hard to say what's been done, whether it was debadged by the previous owner and the dealership decided to put the stock emblems back on but put them on wrong or if the trunk was repainted or what. Check to see if the VIN sticker is on the underside of the trunk lip. If there's no sticker then you know the trunk lid has been replaced which most likely means the car was in an accident. Also, carfax doesn't ALWAYS have all the info on cars. Someone backed into my CL and caused damage that I had their insurance pay for, so you'd figure that would be on the carfax, but nope, wasn't there, my carfax was totally clean, so don't just go on that either. If I were you and I was looking to absolutely make sure nothing has ever been done to the car, I'd move on and find one that looks like it hasn't been touched.

 

^^ good advice. I would also ask the dealership if they did any work to it. They may have gotten it and put a couple bucks into respraying the trunk.

I imagine if the trunk was recently replaced/painted, you would be able to tell. Run your finger along the edge of each side of the trunk to make sure the gap is even. This may, along with what is above, may lead you in the right direction. Good luck.

 

The first "A" in Acura seems too high.

 

Something is not right, the letters on the back are all screwed up.

Take a look inside the trunk lid, there should be a tag with the vin on it. It won't be there if it's been replaced. Same with the rear bumper cover (tag is just inside the trunk) and the doors, front fenders, etc.

 

Thanks for repeating exactly what I said.

 

Yea i agree keep looking. Also im not sure if its the angle of the picture but the right exhaust tip looks further out than the left.

 

Yea, I knew it was too good to be true. I did notice that the right exhast looked a little crooked when I was examining it. I bet it was in an accident. Good call on the A C U R A spacing, I would have never noticed. I'll go back tomorrow and check to see if theres a VIN inside the trunk.

So when a car gets rear ended, how much does it affect the reliablility of the car? Does it cause a lot of long term problems, or would it be alright if the accident wasnt too bad? Anyone have stories or advice about buying a car thats been rear ended?

The dealer just dropped their price to 8,000, and it's got 77,000 miles. I think this is a pretty good deal, aside from the fact that it's probably been in an accident. What would you do?

Its upsetting, as this was exactly what I was looking for.

 

The A C U R A badges are too close together too. It's hard to say what's been done, whether it was debadged by the previous owner and the dealership decided to put the stock emblems back on but put them on wrong or if the trunk was repainted or what. Check to see if the VIN sticker is on the underside of the trunk lip. If there's no sticker then you know the trunk lid has been replaced which most likely means the car was in an accident. Also, carfax doesn't ALWAYS have all the info on cars. Someone backed into my CL and caused damage that I had their insurance pay for, so you'd figure that would be on the carfax, but nope, wasn't there, my carfax was totally clean, so don't just go on that either. If I were you and I was looking to absolutely make sure nothing has ever been done to the car, I'd move on and find one that looks like it hasn't been touched.

 

spoiler looks like mine too, custom look, not OEM, see:

 

You chicken f*cker!!!

 

its stilll a good deal. just take it. its just misplaced badges when its yours just debadge everything

 

Agreed. It's a damn good deal man. Take it. I'd recommend asking a mechanic you know check it out for you tho. At least the basic stuff...But other than that its a damn good deal.

 

The right exhaust can is sagging really badly.

 

I have seen people who think they have a type S when they don't. It's easy to stick a type S badge on a car as well as the type S shift knob.

It isn't so easy to replace the gauges and it would be quite a chore to replace all of the VIN tags.

If it is a type S without nav the VIN will start with 19uaya426.
If it is a type S with the nav it will start with 19uay427.

 

I bought my CLS from the same dealer, they have the BEST deals on CLS's for some reason, i wouldnt worry too much about those badges, those can be arranged any way you want them, also just like others said, get it checked out by a mechanic, the CLS i bought from them had some body work done to it, but it was minor because all the body panels are original, basically someone had resprayed my front bumper and fender, no biggie...i still got a huge deal on it, and i think you're getting an even better deal, i say GO FOR IT, they're awesome cars, tell SHYAM that Vikas bought a CLS from him over the summer and sent you over, he'll remember me, and prolly give you some kind of deal.

 

oh, and another thing, the carfax and title of my CLS were clean. make sure this car is clean also.


dont sweat it even if its been rear ended...

my car had been hit too, but the body work was done properly, also you gotta keep in mind its a 7 year old car now, and just about any car you see on the road at 7 years of age has had some type of body work, let me know how it works out man, i hope you get that car

 

Maybe I am against the masses, but I would pay a little extra to know that the car I was buying did not have any body/paint work (not that you every truly know for certain). To me, the fact that I got a deal would wear and the thought of having a mis-aligned body panel/trunk lip or paint that is not as uniform as the rest would remain. Not saying that is the case here, but just my

 

i somewhat agree, but two things, its not only a "little extra" this car is going for 8k, of which the dealer will probably only take 7100(i know because i dealt with the same dealer) , the car could be sold for a solid 10G's anywhere else...

another thing, i just think that if body/paintwork is done PROPERLY then its no big deal, obviously if stuff is misaligned thats not acceptable... my

 

The vin starts out as 19UYA426, which is neither of those. Does this mean its not a type S?

So I went back today and looked at it a bit more closely and decided against buying it. I noticed the front bumper had some work done to it which wasnt done too great. The paint was chipping off and it was misaligned. There was also some cracked plastic parts in the engine compartment, but im not sure exactly what they were for.

I checked the trunk for a vin number, and it was there, but barely visible under a layer of blue paint, so I guess it did have some work done to the back.

The inside also reaked horribly of smoke.

I just had a bad feeling about all the sketchyness of it, like it was going to be a headache in the long run, so I guess I'll just keep looking.

Thanks for all the help, I would have never know any of this stuff without all of you.

If anyone else is interested in this car, heres the link: http://georgia-best-car-deal.ebizaut...s-2101332.html

 

That's a Type-S color.

 

19U - Honda of America, Acura Division, passenger vehicle (manufacturer code)

YA4 - Acura 3.2 CL with J32A1 or J32A2 engine (model code)

1 or 2 - 6MT or 5EAT transmission

4, 5, 6 or 7 - Premium, Premium + Navi, Type S, Type S + Navi



(Canada models - 4, 6, 7 - Premium, Type S 6MT, Type S 5EAT for MY2003)

1 - check digit

1, 2, 3 - Model Year 2001, 2002, 2003

A - Factory Code (Marysville, OH)

000001-800001 Serial number