Grande Punto Need help as the last owner did not tell me it has been in a crash

[Petrina]

Hi, this is my first post on here I have just bought my first grande punto sport which has taken ages to save up for and after taking off the bumper to fix a small crack in it, I found that the bumper reinforcer was twisted and also the rad was hanging off as the part it is meant to be attached to was half missing.
I am now not sure if the engine in it is the correct one, so am trying to find the engine number but can't find it, please can someone tell me where it should be. I also have a couple of I think air conditioning pipes next to my rad with nothing attached by I have climate control not ac , so am not sure what should be attached to these pipes? Any ideas anyone. I am very annoyed as this has ruined the fun of getting the car I have waited so long for.

 

[shaun6017]

Did u buy private?

 

[GYoung87]

Wow sorry you've got burnt. Unrecorded damage or cat d/c? Always worth getting a text check with private sales. A VIC check maybe needed

Too late for that maybe but post pics as it will be easier access the damage

 

[Petrina]

I did and it also had a brand new mot, which there is no way should have passed at all. Have put new rad holder on and am waiting for new bumper and reinforcer to arrive . My husband is fixing it as I would not be able to get it fixed otherwise but we can't find the engine number to check it against the vic check vin is ok but want to check engine number

 

[Magic Johnson]

Sounds proper dodge!

So did you buy private or garage? Not sure where engine number is on mjet but mine is on the top of the engine iirc.

Who MOTd it??

 

[Andy Monty]

What engine is the car supposed to have?

 

[Petrina]

I bought it on gum tree
It was mot d in Milton Keynes which was just round the corner from where they lived , I guess they knew the .

Mines a 1.4 16v no turbo though.
She had a 6 week old baby did not think it would be dodgy

 

[beyre83]

First things first....

whilst a txt check / hpi check is invaluable when buying a car it has flaws

which i will point out below

Scenario A Car has a crash but not to bad that police has to be called, owner does not go through insurance and pays out of pocket to other guys car, there for the damage is not recorded and as such will not be marked down as a CAT C/D Write off

2ndly a new engine is not a bad thing providing it was fitted correctly and that the previous owner notified the DVLA of the change of engine number so it would be noted on the new logbook / database so if the car did get stopped and the police did a check on the car then it would be fine as the engine number would match with whats on file but not identification plate again that is perfectly fine if he followed proper channels

but yes he should of told you about the damage rather than hiding it and not telling you so i hope you can see now whilst HPI checks are invaluable they also have problems

Beyre83

 

[Magic Johnson]

Have you been round to ask WTF?

 

[Petrina]

I would but I live near Brighton and I got the car from Milton Keynes. I did have a telephone conversation with her but she said she knew nothing about a crash !!
Am very enjoyed but I will feel better when I know it has the correct engine but can't find a number, have got one from the check I did before I bought it but I have nothing to compare it too.
It's a lovely car and can't wait to drive it, but the car was so dangerous how can people let someone drive it away knowing that the front of the car won't work in a crash. I'm lucky the rad did not fall off going down the motorway.

 

[GYoung87]

Did you not look around the car before you bought it? Surely a radiator loose would make a noise on the test drive, plus pop the bonnet and you can see it clearly

 

[Petrina]

Of course I looked around the car
I even opened the bonnet and no I could not see the rad was loose it was the bottom bit missing not the top.
The rad is behind the bumper so is mostly hidden compared to most cars I've had in the past. Plus the mot was only 10 days old!
I had done all my check online before I went to look at the car including the mot on the dvla website

 

[beyre83]

Petrina you are just down the road from me, i am near worthing and as you say your from around brighton.... as for the engine if it has or has not been replaced as i said in my previous post should be nothing of any major consern really as i said providing the head is fine, you can check simply by checking the exhaust looking for excessive smoke whitish/blueish colour and also check the oil filler cap if there is no mayo in there then you should be fine but if in doubt get a pressure check done on it

and also can you be 1000% sure that some idiot didnt reverse into your car when parked up either at work or at home assuming you don't have a driveway or prehaps if you stopped at a moterway service station....

i am not trying to leave the seller blameless but prehaps it they genuinely didnt know it happened

but as i say don't put to much issue on the engine even if its been replaced might not of been after the impact could of been befor if at all

Beyre83

 

[Petrina]

I just need to check that the engine number matches the logbook. Just for my own peace of mind as I can fix all the other damage.
It's just I can't find one anywhere. Does anyone know where it should be ?
As I seem to have extra pipes at the front next to the rad that are not connected to anything but have ac fluid in them but my car had climate control not ac ? Am a bit confused ??

 

[beyre83]

Petrina Does your dash look like this

or like this

First one being no Aircon Second one being Aircon

i am refering to the bottom part of the dash with the heating / ventilation controls do you have twisty knobs or do you have a screen with climate control that is your aircon control unit

 

[beyre83]

Plus the mot was only 10 days old!

the impact could of happend after the MoT then.. as you say it was 10 days previous to when you bought the car....

as for the engine numbers they are usually stamped on the front of the engine block lower portion of it so it might be very hard / in exessable to read and if its got oil / grime on it can make them hard to read... so try with a nice strong light and play close attention as it is easy to miss them

 

[Petrina]

Hi I have twist knobs
I will take a picture in the morning of the tubes I have with nothing on the end
Which is my concern as I am not sure if something is missing from there as they do have fluid in them fiat over he phone says they are for ax but I don't have that

 

[Andy Monty]

Petrina Does your dash look like this

or like this

First one being no Aircon Second one being Aircon

i am refering to the bottom part of the dash with the heating / ventilation controls do you have twisty knobs or do you have a screen with climate control that is your aircon control unit

Both those cars have ac (lower one has climate control) the upper pic has basic air con you can see the snowflake (ac) button between the heated rear screen and air recirc buttons

 

[GYoung87]

Petrina Does your dash look like this

or like this

First one being no Aircon Second one being Aircon

i am refering to the bottom part of the dash with the heating / ventilation controls do you have twisty knobs or do you have a screen with climate control that is your aircon control unit

The first pic does have aircon. The button in the middle with the snowflake icon is aircon. The second one has climate control. Not a very helpful post.

If it is a sporting, no matter what engine (mjet, T-jet or starjet) is should have aircon as standard

 

[GYoung87]

Sorry Andy just got there first