Hey guys,

I'm about to purchase a G35 S and when i went to see the car the previous owner told me a clip on the front of the bumper near the area ive circled was broken so it sticks up very slightly and its visible in the picture. I wanted to know if this could indicate signs of some sort of damage to the front but the carfax came up clean and so did an autocheck report. There were no tape marks on the paint or anything like that but was just figured if a broken clip could be a reason for this.

 

The only reasons i can think of for that clip to break are:
- It was in a front-end collision and wasn't repaired correctly, a slight tap when parked could also do it but you should also see other cosmetic damage from it.
- The owner tried taking the bumper off and applied too much pressure

Check underneath the front bumper, fender and by the windshield cowl area for overspray. Also, see if the front bumper has more or less orange peel than the hood and fenders. If a blend was done, part of the fender or hood will have a very slightly different finish when transitioning to the front door or wherever they ended the blend.

Check the colors, too, make sure they match completely between body sections (if the paint wasn't blended, tell-tale.)

That said, make sure it is indeed a broken clip as well. There is a bit of wiggle room when installing and aligning the bumper.

As for Carfax/Autocheck, it's great for initial reports, but certainly not the final word. If you can, have it professionally inspected as well.

 

Oh mine is like that too, after it was pulled off for painting. I think it was incorrectly installed that's all. It seems like once they pull it off they can never line it up correctly during re-installment. It's not an issue. If it bothers you a lot have them remove and re-install it if they want you to purchase it.

 

My guess would be that the owner had the bumper pulled for some kind of work to be done. It could have been a simple respray for a scratch or maybe much more, who knows? Anyway, if the owner paid out of pocket for the work (maybe his deductible was way too high, or he didn't want his rates to go up, again, who knows??) in which case there will most likely be no record of it on CarFax or Autocheck. THIS IS WHY YOU CAN"T TRUST THEM!! If you want to be sure, take it to a professional shop and have them assess it.

.02

 

Lol those pieces can't hold that much pressure at all. I remember mines breaking in the same side when i pulled mines off to swap my driver side headlamp assembly. So now it sticks out very slighty. And i was very careful too!! The owner probably parked it where some concrete parking bumper was a littile bit high and it moved the bumper up causing the break. If you didn't see anything out of the ordinary and checked both faqs then the car should be ok.