Looks like my B7 was repainted!!

[fortyonejb]

Ok, so my beautiful 07 audi is showing some very bad signs that it was repainted. There is a mysterious $5k claim on the car from 2/9/08 that shows up now under my name (clearly didn't own the car then). Carfax shows clean, and there are no other tracings to where that $5k claim came from. So, there is no history as to anything happening to this car, when I questioned Audi about the claim, they presented me the clean carfax and said the car is fine. Currently I have the car scheduled to visit an independent Audi certified shop. Hopefully anything they find is stronger evidence than a regular mechanic, they hold current, up to date certifications on all audi models.

here are two pictures I've taken of the car:




in the first one you can see paint peeling in the joint between the quarter-panel and the bumper, that doesn't happen from wear and tear.

in the second, through the reflections you'll notice a very strong "orange-peel" effect.

The offender that i couldnt get a clear picture of is a very distinct bubble behind the door handle. With all that is there any reason to doubt its been repainted?

provided the audi specialist finds evidence of repainting and/or body repair, what remedies should I seek? BTW this car was sold to me as an Audi Certified vehicle with the warranty.

[fairguyz]

can't really tell

but looks like it had been repainted before....

maybe previous owner didn't report this?......i

[PandaXpress88]

yikes...yea...the orange peel looks pretty bad. Here are some easy ways that I use to check also, maybe you see if its just that quarterpanel:
- Look at the bolts on parts like fenders, hoods, trunks and see if they have been loosened and moved before, you'll see the previous location of the washer

- Feel the inside lip areas like if you open the trunk, feel the edge and inside quarterpanel areas to see if its rough as thats a good sign that its not paint. A lot of times repair shops skip painting the inside to save time. But original should always be smooth.

- Look at the moldings, edges of lights to see if you can spot paint on it, from bad taping job.

-and obviously like in your pictures, orange peel and fish eye, and dust under the paint are giveaways.

Did you buy the car from a dealer certified pre-owned?

[fortyonejb]

yeah, there is definite ridging inside the door panels, and you can see particles in the paint.

Yes i did buy the car certified pre-owned. From an "award winning" (magna society) dealer. The car is going monday to another dealer to be inspected. Any idea what i can push for?

[clumpymold]

What you can also do to tell if the car has not been repaired well is to run your fingers along the cracks/seams of the panels. If there is any pinching, the part has been repaired but poorly.