The General Lee is in fairly good shape when the Dukes go into the sheriff's office to look for clues, yet when the mercs approach the G.L. and open the car's hood, the front end is all stove in, and the driver's side door is badly dented inward.
The General Lee's sheet metal is shiny and undamaged when the Dukes drive to their farm to talk with Daisy and Uncle Jesse about what they suspect the two men and their female counterpart might be up to, yet when they later pull up to where Cletus is parked, there is a big dent in their car's left front fender.
Despite the brake line being cut, the General Lee still manages to slow down enough for some hay bales on the back of a truck to stop it. At any other time the General would have flown through the air & carried on moving.