Well, I am not sure there are seals like the warranty seals, and even if they are around, don't know where they are.
But, one thing which works for me is, feel with you hands around the edges of body work, especially doors, bonnet, boot etc. Company finishes have something like a "plastic coating" on the edges, where the sheet metal folds in. If the edge feels rough, and the the "plastic coating" is missing, that definitely is a repainted piece. To learn the difference, try this out on a few cars... And of course, this would only work for panels where the edges have been repainted. And anyway, if the panel had some minor scratches removed, the easy way to detect would be to look for colour consistency. With most metallic paints, it is practically impossible to achieve a 100% colour match. |