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    purpleblucateye's Avatar
    purpleblucateye Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jun 28, 2020, 02:43 PM
    Where I can go to get a weatherstripping leak inspected and repaired?
    Hi!

    When I am interested in purchasing a used car, I normally have said car inspected prior to making a decision in purchasing the car. I have done this so many times previously with cars, that when I do decide to purchase an intended, inspected car, I find that the car I wanted to buy was already purchased. I had been too slow in acting upon purchasing these vehicles! So, having experienced this at least 3x's previously, I have been a little bummed out. I didn't want to repeat these actions again.
    So, this time, I went on ahead and purchased this used car. I did not obtain an inspection for it (yet). I bought this car in 2/10/2020 from a used car dealer. It is a 2015 Jeep Compass, engine 2.0L.

    After buying this car, I then noticed some things that I had not noticed cosmetically, which has led me to think that the car was involved in a collision or something.


    The things I have noticed are:

    1. There are 2 small tears at the outer corners of the opening created for the left front foglamp in the front left side bumper.
    2. There is a scrape along the edge of the left driver's side wheel well/bumper that lightly flattened that edge, and removed the paint.
    3. I thought that this stuff on the outer driver's side door was left from a messy former owner who had the car before me. Emanating from the left driver's side mirror frame onto the exterior driver's side car door were these sooty, hard stains. They were like tearstains that got further stained with dirt. Since the car is white, you couldn't miss this mess.

    I since found out that this mess was dried epoxy. These "tearstains" were not removed by the used car dealership, or by whoever owned the car prior to me. The epoxy had dripped from that area onto the car's exterior door and dried up. No one bothered to clean up the car door since whenever the epoxy was applied. I suspect the driver's side mirror frame was affected in this suspected collision and was reattached by...?

    Otherwise, the exterior driver's car door, that whole outer driver's side door does not look like it was involved in a collision! There are no other dents or scrapes in this location.
    The car drives very well. My list of the car's cosmetic flaws is in order of what has become evident to me as time has progressed through owning this car.

    I had cleaned up the hardened epoxy stains on the car door. I had a new radio/camera system installed in the car to help with driving/parking because the car is large and hard to maneuver with parking. I had a camera installed on the driver's side mirror frame, so if there were any mechanical quirks involving the function of that mirror, this camera installation remedied that situation.
    Everything has been ok so far, until this latest discovery:

    I have parked this car outside on the street, rain or shine, since Feb 2020. The car's ceiling liner in the car interior is covered in a light-colored cloth material. The ceiling liner edges that are closest to the windows are also upholstered with some padding to make them soft.

    One time after a heavy rain, I sat in the driver's seat in my car. I rested my hand on the ceiling liner on the area between the driver's side window and the driver's side windshield. I was shocked to see that this area where I rested my hand on was soaked with water. The water was not only located in that particular area. There was water leading up to the ceiling lining edge above the top of the driver's side window. There was also water located in the ceiling lining area where the driver's side sun visor is connected.

    Eventually, these areas dried up, leaving water stains on these ceiling areas. Whenever it has rained, evidence of this leak has appeared in this way. I haven't been able to exactly detect where the leak is coming from, but if I had to guess, it is coming from the top of the door near that high top left upper corner of the driver's side window. I am worried that this leak will affect the operation of the driver's side door, the driver's side window switches, driver's side mirror switches, and whatever else that can be affected in this area that I do not know of yet.

    This brings up a related issue that is probably the result of this leak; there was this musty, moldy odor in the vehicle. Prior to my test drive, the used car dealer vacuumed the car and used air freshener in it, so the odor was not apparent to me at the time.
    Upon taking the car home, that's when the moldy odor became evident to me. The interior had food crumbs (?) in areas I would have never expected. There were these mysterious spots on the ceiling liner, in addition to the other previously mentioned issues that were becoming apparent to me. Since then, I had vigorously cleaned up the interior and exterior of this car.

    And, wouldn't you know, 2 days ago, I had experienced an issue with the window switch operating the driver's side window. I had opened the window using the window switch, and could not operate the switch to shut the window. After fidgeting with the switch, the driver's side window finally did shut.

    With the advent of this leak and everything else I've seen on the car, I can't help but think that this vehicle was in a collision.

    So, I would like to know what I should do or where I can go to get the leak inspected and repaired? I am hoping that this is not going to involve a body shop, like if the driver's side door is out of alignment and needs to be reinstalled, but, to me, this is what this is starting to look like. (Of all the times that I didn't get an inspection for a vehicle I was interested in buying!)

    After I deal with this door, what would be the next obvious thing I should do in addressing the care of this car? (The car inspection!)

    Thank you for your time in reading this note of my concerns.
    talaniman's Avatar
    talaniman Posts: 54,325, Reputation: 10855
    Expert
     
    #2

    Jun 29, 2020, 04:12 AM
    It is often the case when we buy preowned vehicles and we find all kinds of flaws that can only be noticed over time. If I may inquire your location/country or region, that may help with suggestions.

    Generally though, it sounds like you need that inspection you didn't get before you bought this vehicle. That's how I would approach this problem, by making a reasonable plan after I got the facts, and know exactly what you're dealing with. I think you have already come to that conclusion. A trusted mechanic or shop is worth it's weight in gold for fixing or maintaining any used vehicle.

    I know the trend lately though is to purchase an extended warranty plan that covers repairs of all kinds for most vehicles, and may require an inspection, but they seem quite popular for some people. May be worth looking into if its available where you are.
    purpleblucateye's Avatar
    purpleblucateye Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #3

    Jun 29, 2020, 03:29 PM
    Hi talaniman,

    Thank you for your response to my question. I live out here in the San Francisco Bay Area-specifically Emeryville, CA.

    I shall schedule an inspection as soon as possible. I am very curious to see what else the mechanic who inspects the car would be able to tell me. And, yes, please give me suggestions as to who I can bring the car to for an inspection.

    Thank you again, talaniman, for your response. Enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe.

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