Well my rear bumper was destroyed by a drunk driver, and I just started taking off all the trunk trim getting ready to replace the bumper. I noticed some stuff that looked exactly like liquid nails (industrial strength caulk-gun glue) all over several edges and joints of the trunk metal. Is this normal?

Main reason I am concerned is I bought the car for pretty cheap (16500 for an 04 with most options last summer, when most were going for around 18-19000 with similar options and mileage), and found out a few weeks after buying that the entire right side of the car had been repainted. Is this any indication of the car being salvaged/rebuilt? I have attached pictures.

 

that's normal I think... been a while and I fully sound dampened my trunk.

I think this is the stuff they use nowadays instead of lead to seal gaps. Although that's pretty messy.

-T

 

You should hurry up and sell the car before someone else sees it!

jk Its normal

 

Normal. These days the companies use a heavy duty adhesive to add strength to the chassis and welds.

 

yep - normal... I've spent so much damn time in there these last few weeks with taillight mods, I'm sick of seeing it!

 

Awesome, thanks guys. Yeah while I have everything ripped out I'm considering putting some dynamat in and looking at taillight options. Also out of curiosity, isn't a full size spare standard for these cars? I have a donut (not to mention no key for the lug locks). Moral of the story never rush in to buy a car (I narrowed down to a car and color but didn't do nearly enough of an inspection before buying this particular one).

 

donut is normal for base model - full size spare is optional... I prefer donut because its much less weight and I don’t ever intend to run a spare long enough to care that its not full size.

Speaking of weight - you might want to look into this product: www.b-quiet.com it rivals dynamat for sound deadening properties but is much lighter.

 

Yeah, I've ran pretty serious systems in all my previous cars and never used actual dynamat brand - usually b-quiet, fat mat, or whatever was sponsoring me back in the day. Good to know about the spare and glue; I'll post some pics of the new bumper install once it begins.