The re-registration of written-off vehicles will soon be banned in NSW, in an effort to curb vehicle theft and protect unwitting drivers from unsafe repair jobs.
The NSW Government is the first State to introduce such a ban, which means write-offs will no longer be able to be sold at auction.
Transport Minister David Campbell said the ban - which will come into effect in August - would help curb the re-birthing of stolen cars, which had links to organised crime syndicates.
"There's a black market for purchasing written-off vehicles at auctions, then using stolen parts to re-birth and register the car, to be sold for a tidy profit," Mr Campbell said.
"It's estimated that as many as six out of 10 of the 20,537 repairable written-off vehicles presented for re-registering in 2009 pose serious questions about the origin of the parts used to repair them.
"Today's announcement will put a massive dent in these illegal operations."
The ban would also protect unwary motorists, Mr Campbell said.
"Some consumers are being taken for a ride, motorists might be driving around in what's effectively a stolen vehicle," he said.
"More importantly, many of these vehicles have had dodgy repairs which can mask major structural damage.
"It's extremely unsafe."
I would say there would be mixed opinions on this subject, but let me tell you something. I will lose 75% of my income when these new rules apply in August, but I welcome the changes with open arms. I am developing new strategies as we speak to counter the rule changes.
75% of my customers are back yard mechanics which buy these written off vehicles and repair them to a standard which is not acceptable. I am governed by rules laid down by the state, and most of them know how the system works. For example, the air bags. The rule states that the air bag light must illuminate with ignition on, and extinguish after a short period of time. There is no physical check that the air bag is there. So I know 9 times out of 10 the air bag is not even fitted. They have simulated the condition electronically, or another good one is they rig it up to the oil pressure switch. Big money is saved having them not fitted.
The industry and consumer will lose big time, but when your driving down the road in these vehicles and are involved in an accident and the air bags dont deploy, or the car is repossessed by the police because it has been rebithed, you will understand just some of the tricks to make a quick buck.
If a vehicle is declared a write off, thats what it is. The vehicle should be scrapped and not be able to be registered again. Off course you have genuine people out there that do a great job repairing these repairable write offs, and I congratulate you for it. But unfortunately, there is more bad than good.
Most of these people have no qualifications in the automotive industry and this is where I think it is important to be qualified as at least there is some sort of auditing process.There are good back yarders out there, I know that, there is also qualified people out there that are not so great.
I hope that other states follow the lead of NSW and implement the rule changes.
I appreciate your comments Flan, but it is not just a few doing the wrong thing, its thousands.
Check it out:
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/newsevents/downloads/minister_releases/100408_car_rebirthing.pdf
its up to insurance company to determine whats a statutory write off and whats an economic write off. Some of the vehicles presented at the two major auction houses in Melbourne from insurance companies defies belief. Car comes in with structual damage ( arse end pushed in where you cant get the spare wheel out of the tub or front rail pushed into firewall and bent roofs and they class it as a repairable write off. Then some cars come in as stolen and recovered (structual integrety of car has not been comprimised) and they class it as statutory write off where i can purchase same model car that has been damaged and transfer parts from one to another and purchase some minor parts to complete vehicle and done legitimately with reciepts. Yes you have a minority from the middle east that play a huge part in vehicle rebirthing because i have seen big dollars thrown at vehicles that are only worth a fraction of the selling price.
