I think you are absolutely correct. You know, life is a learning experience. I can't go back in time but buying this car has taught me alot. I had my last car for 13 years and I had my dad with me when I purchased it brand new. I appreciate your advice.

 

i use to work for carmax...if the carfax reports accidents or if we bought a car the shows signs of it being repaired for an accident we kicked it to the wholesale lot.

 

As has been said, there is a good chance it is something small like hinges. On the other hand, maybe it has been wrecked, but you should have caught that. It's not that hard to spot repairs on a car. And you should have known not to put any faith in carfax.

I'm not trying to be a d**k, but sometimes in life you make a mistake or by no fault of your own, you just get lemons. But a quick jump to the possibility of litigation is just silly. By the time you pay lawyers, negotiate your use of the car out of the numbers etc. plus the rediculous amount of your time you will waste, it isn't even nearly worth it. First, figure out if it is wrecked. If it is and you can't live with that, man up, sell the car, buy another, and move on with your life. Sheesh.

 

look at it this way ... even IF it was in an accident, it went unreported. that means it cost less than an insurance deductible to fix and should have been a minor repair. if you don't seen any difference in color on the body panels, it's most likely the hinges.

 

Thanks to each and all who responded. I definitely don't see any difference in color anywhere on the car(and I looked for this when I purchased the car). I think the hinges are something I should look in to. I'll admit I freaked when the guy mentioned accident. Thank God for this site. Having it looked at this week. Thanks guys!

 

I bought my '04 coupe in Feb from carmax. Couple weeks ago ran into an old friend who does body work. After popping the hood he asked me when the accident was? Never to my knowledge. He showed me wear the paint diddn't match exactly and wear they MISSED a spot.
I would be very curious to what you find out.

 

Any update?

 

Thanks for being concerned enough to ask!

Took it to a nissan body shop for an estimate. Two people looked at it thoroughly and determined the car (in their opinion) had not been in any major accidents. But they seemed perplexed about the hinges. They said they couldn't see them during the initial inspection to determine if they were in fact the problem. They thought it was odd the rest of the hood fit neatly on the car except near those corners. They said they want to "try replacing the hinges first" but alerted me that I may need a new hood. They also want to completely paint the hood. I'm hesitant about that because I don't want my hood to look completely different from the rest of the car, especially since only the small corners are messed up. A quote without painting the hood is $147. Should I let them paint the hood? I figured I could live with some touch up paint.

Again, you guys have been great with chiming in...

 

not every car that is painted was involved in an accident. their is hurricane damage, scratches that don't meet carmax's standards, bug damage...plenty of factors that go into why a panel could of been painted. also they could blend the panel depending on where the area of concern is that way there is no noticeable difference between panels

 

most used cars have paintwork done to them, especially the front bumpers.

 

+1... my G had had the front bumper repainted and two side panels when I purchased it... fortunately it has not been in any accidents according to what two separate places have told me