Question about welding (I am not a welder)

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Hi there I have had recent problems with a car of mine, I got into a front end accident and brought the car to a repair shop to have the damage repaired,  the repair shop cannot repair my car because of "previouse damage" where the front grill rail had been smashed in previously and was welded back 1 1/2 inches from it intended spot with a tollerance of +- 2mm.  My question about welding is there a way to "date" this weld as to when it was done because the dealership that I had purchased it from is blaming me for the damage if I can prove the weld was done over a year ago I win my case if not I am liable for all damages.  Please Help.
Reply:Have you done a carfax report on the vehicle? It's only good for a reference tool though as a lot of minor accidents go unreported and don't show up there. Next question, can you find the previous owner? D.M.V. may be able to provide info about prior reported accidents involving the prior owner and that particular vehicle. If you can find the name of the previous owner you may also be able to find a police report (if one was made) by checking public records. If you posted pictures of the damaged area the best anyone could do is give you an educated guess at best. If you can do post pics of the damaged area. Don't know if any of this info will be helpful or useful but that's all I got. DaveI am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:I don't think Carbon14 testing would work.WeldingWeb forum--now more sophomoric banter than anything else!
Reply:If the weld area is rusty, and the new damaged area is not rusty, that may demonstrate that the weld was made some time ago.
Reply:dabar39 is on it.Title history search, leading to an accident report, documenting previous damage, would be the best.Good Luck
Reply:there is lots of ways to test welds but i don't know of any to test for age.
Reply:Not easy to date a weld, maybe impossible on a car unless it is very recent.I feel for you on this, as I had a similar problem on a truck a few years ago. In that case, the dealer lied outright about previous damage/accident. There is no way they didn't know if they did the inspection on the vehicle they claimed. But, try to prove it. The dealer in your case may have known (or not) about previous damage, but proving it is noot easy. Proving that the damage existed when you made the purchase a year ago is equally difficult.
Reply:Like was said, a title search is your best bet. You stated that it was an inch and a half off so it's a pretty safe bet it was a home repair. Just hope that VIN has an accident report on the record, it will describe the damage incurred...Good LuckAnything worth doing is worth doing RIGHT