Ryan360

I'm helping my friend purchase a used p-car and was wondering if there's a way to check the exterior body for bondo repairs without going to body shop or using the thickness measuring tool used by some "buy/sell" auto dealership.

aron in toronto

A couple of simple and crude ways are to use small magnets or light tapping on panels and listen to the sound.

race911

Unless the guy is buying the car from his petty cash fund, it's not worth it to shortcut your way on a purchase of one of these. I'm not sure you need a body shop consult, but any experienced shop doing the PPI would be negligent if they didn't discover evidence of body repair. Not to say that disqualifies a car, just that when you know your way around these cars (or any that you're specializing in) it should be pretty easy to spot what's original.

Earlydays

Another simple test to check if the the fenders were repaired is to feel the inside lip of the wheel wells, it should feel rough, since it's painted over the undercoat. If it's smooth, then it's been repaired because most bodyshops will not replace the "undercoat" on the lip before they respray.....

kopo

Another thing to look for is sanding marks. A lot of shops finish sand with 320 grit sandpaper and it leave very noticeable sand marks in the paint work in the bondo areas. .

Ryan360

@race911- I wanted to do this on the spot prior to ordering a PPI.