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This picture is from underneath the trunk of my car:

Car picture

As you can see, it seems like there is some "Bondo" on the edge behind the spare wheel.

What does this mean about the history of the car? What kind of damage or other reason could have caused this?

hb20007
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2 Answers2

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That's not bondo. It's seam sealer. This is used to ... well ... seal seams in the metal. It provides a seal as well as provides better structural support. This comes from the factory with the stuff on most cars. Every manufacturer uses it at their own pace, meaning, some use more and some use less.

EDIT:

There has been a few people who wondered if this is "actually" stock. I was watching a YouTube video today and found this. The vehicle in question (Dodge Charger SRT) has all of it's "guts" taken out. You can clearly see the seam sealer was put on after it was painted, and it is completely stock without any damage having been had.

enter image description here

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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  • Does the factory seam sealer often look like this? It doesn't look very uniform or precise. – hb20007 Aug 20 '21 at 21:59
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    @hb20007 I did my apprenticeship in a large dealer selling 1000’s of cars a year - seen worse than that !! – Solar Mike Aug 20 '21 at 22:03
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    @hb20007 - It's not "uniform or precise" because it doesn't have to be. It just needs to seal the seam. Keep water/dirt/what have you out of the joint, which helps prevent rust. It also provides a huge amount of shear strength by "cool welding" the two parts together. It doesn't have to be "neat" to do either of these things. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Aug 20 '21 at 22:05
  • @Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2. If it were original, wouldn’t you expect it to be painted? You are most likely correct, but I just don’t recall ever seeing unpainted seam sealer. – HandyHowie Aug 20 '21 at 22:26
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    @HandyHowie - Maybe; maybe not. I think it all depends on the manufacturer. I've seen it both ways. I'd actually expect it to be painted over (or not used at all) if there were replacement panels in place. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Aug 21 '21 at 02:12
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That looks original from the original build to seal the joint. No evidence of creases either - but more images may prove that, also removing the spare…

Solar Mike
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  • Isn't the job a bit too sloppy if it is the original build? I would expect it to be applied more neatly. – hb20007 Aug 20 '21 at 21:58
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    @hb20007 really? You expect them to put edging tape and cut straight lines? Not on a production line… if they drop a screw or nut or washer they leave it and get another - they don’t have time to mess around. – Solar Mike Aug 20 '21 at 22:01