Buying a Fiesta ST. Loose side mirror plastics?

[TenjouTenji]

Hi all.

Finally found a decent price on a 2016 Fiesta ST in Molten Orange (my favorite). Test drove it etc. Goes real nice. No funny noises, pulls hard etc.
However upon further inspection I noticed that BOTH side mirrors had the top half of the plastic disconnected, like it's not sitting flush. There is a gap. You can see the clips inside are disconnected. Didn't feel as if I could have just popped it back into place. Didn't want to break anything. I forgot to take pics, however see my drawing attached. I find this weird that it's on both sides? There is no scratches or anything that would indicate any sort of impact, they just not seated. The electric mechanism that folds the mirrors inward when you lock the car also works 100%. Strange? The dealer said they are going to sort it out for me in the workshop which I am happy about. Any cause for concern?

 

[Nivek]

Are they painted molten orange as well? May have been that the previous owner had the mirrors wrapped or something similar and then removed it before trading it in and damaged the clips? I know mine are painted black whereas the actual vehicle is molten orange

 

[TenjouTenji]

Are they painted molten orange as well? May have been that the previous owner had the mirrors wrapped or something similar and then removed it before trading it in and damaged the clips? I know mine are painted black whereas the actual vehicle is molten orange

Defos molten orange. Not a bad theory. That would explain it I guess. Will just have to see how well the workshop can fix it.

 

[Maximums_Rickimus]

Did you pop the hood and take a thorough look underneath. I have dealt with secondhand cars a lot in the past and you can usually pick up tell tale signs if a car has been in an accident. Sometimes workshops can hide previous accident damage very well but usually if you pop the hood and take a good lock at the chassis and the body underneath you will be able to see if the car has had any accidents. Look out for any cracks and places where the chassis looks like it has been torqued. Also if you stand back and take a look at the car make sure that all the panels line up and the paint seems matched on all the different panels. You have no idea how many cars people try to pass off as accident free and once you start taking it apart its a nightmare. People think that if you buy from a dealer you are safe but trust me sometimes these are the most scaley okes you can find.

 

[Nivek]

Agreed.. look at the paint work in the grooves of all the panels as well.. sometimes they do the painting on the cheap and you can see the mistakes.. but if all looks good get the ST trust me you will never have more fun driving had mine for 4 months now and still smile every time I pull off from a robot!

 

[TenjouTenji]

Did you pop the hood and take a thorough look underneath. I have dealt with secondhand cars a lot in the past and you can usually pick up tell tale signs if a car has been in an accident. Sometimes workshops can hide previous accident damage very well but usually if you pop the hood and take a good lock at the chassis and the body underneath you will be able to see if the car has had any accidents. Look out for any cracks and places where the chassis looks like it has been torqued. Also if you stand back and take a look at the car make sure that all the panels line up and the paint seems matched on all the different panels. You have no idea how many cars people try to pass off as accident free and once you start taking it apart its a nightmare. People think that if you buy from a dealer you are safe but trust me sometimes these are the most scaley okes you can find.

I did have a look under the hood, but I have no idea what it would look like if it had been torqued. The front bumper definitely didn't look like a respray as it had similar hairline scratches on it as did the fender, like from being washed etc. Could an impact have really popped loose both side mirror plastics? That sounds like it would have had to be a really hard hit. I'm hoping for the best that it hasn't as I will be picking the car up on Saturday. What do I look for under the hood?

 

[Nivek]

Who are you getting the car from? Just make sure you have a service plan and warranty in place.. services can cost a fortune without one

 

[UnBreakable_D]

its a Ford, even brand new you can expect loose plastic pretty quickly.

 

[TenjouTenji]

Who are you getting the car from? Just make sure you have a service plan and warranty in place.. services can cost a fortune without one

Casseys Auto Benoni. They with supergroup. There is still warranty as it's 2016 with 75k on the clock. No service plan though.

 

[Maximums_Rickimus]

I did have a look under the hood, but I have no idea what it would look like if it had been torqued. The front bumper definitely didn't look like a respray as it had similar hairline scratches on it as did the fender, like from being washed etc. Could an impact have really popped loose both side mirror plastics? That sounds like it would have had to be a really hard hit. I'm hoping for the best that it hasn't as I will be picking the car up on Saturday. What do I look for under the hood?

You definitely make a valid point about the mirror plastics being damaged in an accident, there is a high likelihood that the car would have been scrapped in such a case but you never know so just to be safe have a look. You should take a look at the chassis underneath the engine, it should be clearly visible as the side front panels attach to it. You will notice fairly quickly if there is anything out of place such as bends, tears or torqued metal. The chassis' two main beams run all the way to the front under the water tank and next/under the battery on the left and right hand side where the side panels usually attach directly to them.

This can give you a good idea of where to look for structural damage: Link