NSW Government to introduce new repairable write-off legislation

The NSW Government’s Minister for Transport and Roads, Mr David Campbell has today announced new legislation to ban the re-registration of all repairable written-off vehicles.

The move comes as the Government toughens its stance of car rebirthing, and means vehicles that have been written-off by an insurer can no longer be sold at auction.

It is hoped the new legislation, which is due to be implemented from August this year, will help stop the sale of potentially unsafe vehicles to unsuspecting customers.

“There is a black market for purchasing written-off vehicles at auctions, then using stolen parts to rebirth and register the car, to be sold for a tidy profit,” said Mr Campbell.

“This isn’t being done by licensed repairers – in most instances it’s not financially viable for genuine repairers to repair these cars using legitimate parts,

“In many cases, it’s being done by unscrupulous operators in backyards and workshops using stolen parts, who then sell the vehicles to unwary motorists,

“Some consumers are being taken for a ride – motorists might be driving around in what’s effectively a stolen vehicle,

“More importantly, many of these vehicles have had dodgy repairs which can mask major structural damage. It’s extremely unsafe,

“Car re-birthing is a significant problem which has been known to have links to organised crime syndicates,

“Today’s announcement will put a massive dent in these illegal operations,

“It’s estimated that as many as six out of ten of the 20,537 repairable written-off vehicles presented for re-registration in 2009 posed serious questions about the origin of the parts used to repair them,

“Around 19,000 vehicles were stolen in NSW in the 2008-09 financial year – of these, around 5,700 have not been recovered,

“Today’s announcement means any car which is written off will not be able to be reregistered even if it can be repaired.”

Mr Campbell said today’s announcement follows a discussion paper released for consultation in August last year, and that he hopes other states will follow the example set by the NSW state government and implement similar laws.

“What we found was that consumers – as well as legitimate car dealers and repairers – wanted better protections in place,” explained Mr Campbell.

“NSW is the first state to introduce this ban on repairable write-offs, and we would encourage other states to follow our lead and implement similar laws,

“There will be very limited exemptions to the new laws – for some vehicles written off because of hail damage, and for some classic antique cars.

“We will also strengthen written-off vehicle notification requirements – for example, vehicles currently being sent to a scrap yard for crushing are not required to be registered on the Written-off Vehicle Register (WOVR) and this presents an additional opportunity for rebirthing.”

The new laws will be introduced in addition to the RTA’s Vehicle History Check service launched last year.

“The RTA’s Vehicle History Check service allows potential buyers to check whether a used car has ever been written-off anywhere in Australia,” said Mr Campbell.

“The service also provides customers with details of a car’s history including the number of previous owners, when it was first registered in NSW and odometer readings,

“All you need is the car’s registration plate details, vehicle type and the last four digits of the VIN/chassis number,

“It’s a simple check you can do on the RTA website for under $20.”

The new laws will be implemented following stringent legislative change and will take effect in August this year.

Jon Leong

What car is that in the Picture??

I cant tell…

all I can tell is that it’s a left hand drive (because of the wiper.)

Prius Pensioner

It’s a first generation Toyota Matrix.

Jon Leong

I see… too bad we dont have it over here in the Australian market, or else i would of known.

Valet Dabess

well… i noticed the double lines were yellow. does that count for anything?

Bob

My guess is it’s an American market Mazda 6. Looks like a Mzda logo on the rims and Mazda door handles from a 3 or 6.

What’s interesting is how repairable write-offs such as Hail-damaged vehicles are treated.

Effectively, a vehicle that is virtually brand new and perfectly mechanically and structurally safe and sound, not to mention more environmentally friendly, can be written off if damaged in a Dealership and then crushed.

It can’t be repaired or even sold at a discount to a family looking for a safer, economical car at a heavily discounted price and it will also increase the price of these wrecks as insurers aim to reduce pressure on premiums as a result.

This will probably in turn increase pressure on Wreckers to increase parts prices to recover the cost of higher wrecks and effectively create a stronger demand for stolen parts through a different channel.

Effectively it will shift the demand for stolen parts from hidden chop shops and simply push it into private garages and clandestine repairers on repairable non-write-offs.

Hope I’m proven wrong…

chris

Bob, not sure on your reasoning. A damaged car can still be repaired by a insurance company.
With the market for damaged cars at auctions probably halved overnight the price will drop. Insurance premiums will most likely rise as they will loose the money. There will be only stat write off’s. Chris

Bob`

Basically if the price of wrecks rises, so will the price of Used parts from those wrekcs as yards try to recover their costs – assuming the insurance companies won’t absorb to loss purely in increased premiums.

As a result, it will create a new black market in stolen parts to combat the increasing used part costs.

Effectively whilst it’ll solve the rebirthing problem – it won’t solve the car theft for parts problem – mind you it will still decrease it as thieves won’t hold onto a car for parts salvage unless they have a specific order I would imagine.

All this will really do apart from solving one problem, is create problems for owners of sentimental and classic cars from registering them after a shunt. I would imagine one way around this problem would be to simply insure the vehicle for a much higher value so any repair is containable.

Casey

Wait, I don’t get it.

Does this mean that a wrecked and written off car can’t be bought by a wrecker to part-out?

freddo

It means that it cant be re registered.

Im just waiting for the Insurance premium rise as the value of repairable write offs (which are now write offs) fall through the floor.

Hung Low

This has amputated a lucrative revenue stream from the Insurance companies (the auctioning off of repairable write-off’s).
This will ensure that all motorist will pay the extra premium for a half witted blanket solution when there are many other easier and more accurate ways of achieving the same goal.

One possible solution is that all cars are assessed before auction with a list of parts required to make the car road worthy again, the auction winners I.D and details are recorded at the time of purchase and when the car is re-registered it has to pass a RTA pit inspection where the authentification of parts used (with reciepts as proof) and quality and legality of repair criteria have to be met.
This costly and extensive process will eliminate plenty of the dodgy repairers and may not even make a wreck economically viable to fix.

Owners of classic cars like myself would go through this processes as it will not prohibit me from ensuring that I still have the right to do as I please with my salvage, and not be dictated by some pen pushing pollies half baked solution to a simple problem.

Sam

I a female have been purchasing and repairing cars to help me with my student financial requirements i think its completely unfair to forbid re registering of damaged car as not only is it unfair for the insurance buyers but for ppl like me and the people who wish to own a great car at a lower price,, your point of receipts is well established here in nsw you have to have every receipt paper work and detail of work that was made on the car or else it wont eb inspected i dont understand how it is possible to illegally rebirth a car when the inspection sector is as strict as a university dean on a troubled child you can not breathe or have room for error this is not good for anyone besides the governments appearance.. For those who question the quality of my work i suggest you consider my conscience, i make sure my cars are built back to the original shape if not better with all parts being brand new and genuine i dont do cut and shuts and i dont do overriding of wires, one of my cars got sold at factory evaluation as of how great of a condition it was in… so look at the bigger picture you as a consumer are not being tricked into buying a car especially that it is recorded that it was once written off you are not being tricked ripped off or made a fool of you are purchasing a car someone loved enough to bring back to life if the government wants to do something good then they should consider legislations which gives the buyer the RIGHTS allowing them to take actions of LEMONS and crap work!! not abolish the option of buying a 2010 car that you would of never been able to afford!!!

Wayne Kerr

Finally, the NSW govt does something good for motorists as opposed to BS anti-speed campaign. It must be the upcoming election.

John

Typical knee jerk reaction by the idiots running this state showing the let’s act before we think mentality, if an unregisterd vehicle requires a blue slip to get onto the RTA system why can’t a repairable write off require an engineers report prior to blue slip

John

what about old, classic cars? these have value beyond the $ to their owners. Also, some cars have sentimental value. Perhaps we need a “do not write off” register.
Wayne Kerr

John, I agree, there needs to be an exception for owners who are willing to pay the extra costs for repairing a repairable write off.

Pete

There is an exemption – you simply don’t go through your insurance company!

If you repair the damage yourself, you don’t need to submit a claim. Simple.

Goodjjp

Very nice job
Should be done much earlier…
Dennis

Well it doesn’t stop people from other states doing rebirths…
Peter

What if you are already driving a perfectly good car that was once a repairable write off? Does that mean you can’t drive the car anymore?!!

Dennis

Yeah i know!, maybe CA can inform us…

Bob`

No – cars already registered don’t count. It’s only new registrations from the effective date.

Falkman

This will achieve nothing. The majority of “repairable write offs” are sold off by insurance companies, and if they cannot be sold in NSW they will simply be moved interstate where they can be sold. For any scheme like this to work it would need to be national otherwise there are just too many ways around it.
http://ford vid_ghost

Just to let all off you know i was looking to buy a second hand car and 8 out of 10 cars i check Vin and eng number on through revs check .org came up as repaired write offs… omg!! and these cars were in the 15k+ range!

Bezza

That is a very high ratio. Is it possible that the cars you were looking at all had prices that were a bit too good to be true?

Most cons start by offering something that is better than the general market offers and that must be a red flag.

matt

I believe you are mistaken with what a REVS check is, Register of Encumbered Vehicles, so yes it is probably true that a high number of cars still have money oweing on them thus your 8 out of 10 results. Try a V check part of the QLD govt whick is a written of vehicle register.

matt

Oh and i work at a reputable dealer in the ACT and we REVS and V check all of our cars before they are bought/traded and have done for years, another reason to buy from a dealer.

http://ford vid_ghost

NO matt, these cars were listed as write off’s repaired and then registered

It was started clearly.. ive had others yes come up with money owning but i’m just listing the ones that came up as write offs
Pete

Hi Matt,

i used to buy repairable write offs from a friend who fixed them for me when i needed a car.

the one time i went to a dealer and bought a car that wasnt listed on revs lasted me 100km.

this was a great way for honest people to get a great deal on a fairly new car as opposed to being taken for a ride by a ‘dealer car’ which may be in worse condition than a repairable write off being repaired by a known repairer.

both channels have their disadvantages

milobob

that engine is completely smashed but the cabin looks more or less intact (from the outside at least).
toxic_horse

This should have been done years ago. would have saved thousands of cars from being stolen.
Rob

A certain ethnic group (won’t mention which) will be going out of business in NSW. I hope this scheme goes national because it will wipe out rebirthing crime overnight! Also always do a REVS check in NSW as it comes up if a car has been written off or not. You will find the same certain ethnic group usually seling these repaired cars as well. So I suggest not buying any used cars from them at all!

Hung Low

Good onya Redneck Rob! While largely true there are others doing the same as well. Apart from the indigenous people, we are all ethnics in Australia!
wrecker

oh as a repairer there is a certain race of people that will be getting ready to blow up the people responsible for bringing this legislation in anyone that attends damaged vehicle auctions regularly will instantly know who this in nsw any way
Alex

Rob, these ethnic group build this counrty u racist prick.
Tom

I have had this experience i am afraid. Said ethnic group sold me a write off for average market prive then a year later my rear panel is about to fall off…. Pretty hard for a student to bear and the seller is running around in a BMW. People just gotta be smarter about buying their cars, they prey on the young and inexperienced

Paul

The government picking on the little guy again! In Vic they blame hoons for structurally inadequate cars folding up around occupants on impact, now in NSW they’re not asking WHY repairable write-offs are uneconomic to repair… because manufacturer sourced replacement parts are basically legalized extortion, instead they’ll kill the market for repairable vehicles, new cars sales will get a boost and insurance premiums will shoot through the roof!

Lets See a Government with enough balls to go after the big guys and ask companies like Mercedes how they think it’s reasonable to charge $12,000 for an ignition module, or Toyota where they get off extorting $9,000 out of a Prius owner for a replacement steering rack..

It’s no wonder “in most instances it’s not financially viable for genuine repairers to repair these cars using legitimate parts”

toxic_horse

Thats one reason people buy Commodores.
shane

Paul you have got in one mate!
Sure’ly people have been to a panel shop with a little front damage front bar & headlight thinking $700.00 should see this out, only to be told bullshit & your looking at about $3000.00 or more, thats what happens with repairablle writeoff cars over quotes by panel shops & off to auction they go to fixed for nothing like the rip off qoute & the new parts that are just a joke ex(bf xr bonnet & bar $2500 to $3000)give me a break.
Easy for a govenment to make a desision like this considering they live in the world of milk & honey! brand new cars every 2 years & 320i bmw’s for their kids straight out school.
Check out the new cars they let on the road hyundai getz & barinas, their not safe from new, “but dont upset asia they by our resourses & we buy their shit!
Goventment gets rich & we the consumer get bombardied with rubbish the Government lets in.

Hung Low

Hung Low says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
April 9, 2010 at 4:48 pm
This has amputated a lucrative revenue stream from the Insurance companies (the auctioning off of repairable write-off’s).
This will ensure that all motorist will pay the extra premium for a half witted blanket solution when there are many other easier and more accurate ways of achieving the same goal.

One possible solution is that all cars are assessed before auction with a list of parts required to make the car road worthy again, the auction winners I.D and details are recorded at the time of purchase and when the car is re-registered it has to pass a RTA pit inspection where the authentification of parts used (with reciepts as proof) and quality and legality of repair criteria have to be met.
This costly and extensive process will eliminate plenty of the dodgy repairers and may not even make a wreck economically viable to fix.

Owners of classic cars like myself would go through this processes as it will not prohibit me from ensuring that I still have the right to do as I please with my salvage, and not be dictated by some pen pushing pollies half baked solution to a simple problem.

Reply
matt

i believe what will occur more ofter after this law is as stated above, premiums will rise because all cars written off from anything major to minor will have to be wrecked so the value to the insurance companys will be less per car, more people will cash settle for repairs if it is getting to write off value therefore the cars that should be scrapped will be repaired on the cheap. What will happen to malitious damage vehicles say panels are gone but otherwise is fine. there is too much that is being overlooked at this stage, hopefully they will iron it out in the long run.
Maybe there should be different levels of a repairable write off, 1 being no structual damage/floor/hail and 5 being heavy structual damage and not to be registered again with level 1 and 2 being able to be registered again.
matt

On another note i dont think it is the wrecked cars being rebirthed, the crooks are legitimately buying a car from auction damaged and stealing the same model, swapping the plated and numbers from the wreck to the perfectly good stolen car thus now they “own” that stolen car according to the numbers.
shane

I cant believe that people think that this will stop rebirthing cars,Their are plenty of cars out their that have no history ie(landcruisers that are two years old from the mines that are worth nothing to buy, Taxis Statesmans that have done a million kms in 2years,drink driving accidents no insurance “no history,no worries!)
No doubt a group do buy repairable writeoff cars to use parts etc up but why would they make it hard for themselves as these cars have history & are not easy to sell,when you can get no risk cars & get top dollar with out the problems.
Why is the Nsw Government so gutless to sought out the crooks,Instead they take everyone out off the picture & the bad guys move on to rebirthing Tractors,Bobcats,& heavy machinary etc.
The problem is not going away it is just moving on.

NSW gov should of done what Victoria does with repairable w/off cars,but they couldnt do that could they, cos they didnt think off it first.

wrecker

nail on the head you got it exactly right i do believe that if only licenced people were allowed into salvage auctions it would reduce the rebirth game as well as making it easier to keep track of any dodgy repairs /rebirthing. having said that liceced repairers have beeen pushing this for eons but the insurance companies would not listen so if it is going to impact them perhaps its a good thing they deserve it for not bending a little to what the gov proposed over the years .Mine vehicles are absolute shockers and with the mining boom there is a ever increasing number of them finding their way back onto the road if rebirthed at least they are safe but when repaired i would not own one .It will be interesting to see if the idio sorry minister responsible backs off a little to allow vehicles classed as minor damage as well classic/collector cars to get an exemption intersesting times for any one who relies on cars to make a living

tagn

Wait & see the cars that were written off,now are going to be fixed to be cost viable for insurance company, who checks the repairs from the panel shop? they will be handing back cars to familys now that will have heated chasis rails & other short cuts to get the job done.
No one checks repairs from insurane work,not all panel shops have laser measuring equipment,hardley any,& some off the repairs from so called panel shops poor at best
If you had proper checks on written off cars ie structual checks by engineers & airbag reports from dealerships you would be well better off.
Mr Campbell dont crash your Merc or Bmw now Cos the insurance wont write it off”they will chain it up pull it heat the rails & give it back to you & no independent authority checks it, & no history for the next consumer to find out that it was repaired,so you think this is the best way to go about things?
You are joke,scary to think people like you are allowed to make decissions.
cfc

That Toyota looks better than half of Toyota Australia’s models…
svd

A few people miss the point about so called repairable write offs. The people who repair these are most likely not doing it so that their own family and friends can drive around in one. They are reparing them so they can make a quick buck. This means there is an incentive on their part to do the job as cheaply as possible with improper welds and fudged airbag wiring and other things which then make this vehicle unsafe, particularly if involved in an accident. Another possible aspect is that if the VIN is removed from the vehicle manufacturers list because say the vehicle has been written off then any safety recall will not be notified to the new owner.
David

Am I missing the point here, but aren’t “repairable write-off” cars being bought at auctions simply for the VIN and ID numbers etc, so that they can be transfered to a stolen car? If this is the case, can’t all of the VIN and ID plates be removed off a repairable write-off sold at auction, so that it can be still bought to source parts from, but is not able to become a donor car for a stolen vehicle?
Surely this is too simple an idea..
Dave

Another example of a short sighted bunch of politicians with no idea making a knee jerk reaction that only disadvantages the legitimate resident of NSW. Whilst I agree that there are groups of people purchasing repairable write offs for the purpose of rebirthing this is not the case for all who buy these vehicles. I have been a qualified vehicle repairer for over 20 years and have purchased and repaired many economical write offs and repaired them to be driven by myself and family and friends. As with any repair or work I do for any person these vehicles were all repaired to a standard often better than before they were damaged.
If the politicians were serious about tackling the issue of vehicle rebirthing they would divert funds towards employing QUALIFIED experts that could easily identify these vehicles. If the RTA and police employed experts to examine these vehicles, the criminals rebirthing them and presenting them for registration could be identified and prosecuted.
Surely this would be a better result for the people of NSW, to actually deal with the criminals doing the wrong thing rather than disadvantage the rest of the population by removing a genuine market. This action will surely mean an increase in insurance premiums as I can’t see the insurance companies absorbing the money they would have otherwise recouped in the sale of these vehicles.
I guess none of this will be of much concern to Mr CAMPBELLL and his politician mates as they drive around in their new Commodores and statesmans paid for by the NSW taxpayer.

Sean

Here here!! I, like you Dave, have been in the motor vehicle industry for over 20 years and am a licenced motor dealer and repairer. 90% of my business involves the purchase, repair and sale of “economical” write offs. These vehicles are repaired to a high quality/safety standard using genuine and non-genuine parts.

Last week I spent over $6500 on new parts and my concern, also, with this knee jerk reaction, is the impact that it will have on the legitimate parts suppliers not to mention the impact on the auction houses, car carriers, and the NSW Government through the loss of GST revenue.

The insurance companies will not lose, they will simply adjust their premiums to compensate. People will find that it will be uneconomical to comprehensively insure their vehicle based on its market value, therefore, if that vehicle is damaged, and sold on without repairs and without being recorded on WOVR, this will open up another avenue for those illegitimate repairers and re-birthers. The theft and re-birthing of vehicles will continue and should be addressed through the NSW Police Service and RTA, not though the demise of a legitimate vehicle repair industry.

If you don’t want this legitimate industry to be “crushed” by the NSW State Government, I urge you to put pen to paper and voice your opinion to your local State Member, the Premier, the Minister for Transport and Roads, the Opposition Leader and the Motor Traders Association. Addresses are all available on the internet. I have an appointment with my local member tomorrow at 10.30. So lets get off the fence and do something about this.

wrecker

i am in your boat as well sean i do hope that if you are a member of the mta you recind your member ship as soon as possible as they seem to be the loudest voice on this i have repaired in the region of a hundred cars that have been bought at action always with minor damage (yes i am licenced) and have yet to have a complaint i allways make sure the vehicle is SAFE un like the used car dealer in the next place,oh and guess what mob he is a member of when will people realise that organisations such as the mta dont give a bugger about the quality /morals of its members only the membership funds any repairer that stays with them after this has got a pumpkin for a head for sure

LN

Finally someone on here talking a lot of sense.

My brother is a licensed panel beater, and he buys repairable write offs for his friends, mutual friends and others because they know how much they can save on buying one of these instead of a used car.

The only type of cars my brother refuses to get are cars that have mechanical and structural damage and cars that have airbags deployed

None of them have ever made a complaint about the work my brother has done for them and they are all satisfied of the work he has done on their cars.

My brother gets both the RTA and NRMA inspection and both are satisfied with the work.

I sometimes ask how can an insurance be any different to a vehicle that is written off? I have seen really bodgy work on insurance jobs.

The insurance companies will hike up their premiums to cover the losses and so will the RTA when it comes to registration.

This will massively affect the auto vehicles repair industry and I can see a lot of job losses here.

samar

i am a licensed panel beater for 4 years also run a car yard dealership both my businesses run on repairing economical repairable write offs and we never have an issue this law will hurt both our business and we may be forced to close down what about the cars that i have which are unregistered will i still be able to registerer thmem after august as the waiting time for each viv inspection know is 3-4 weeks eachg they wont be finished by august

chris kelly

im a owner operator of a panel shop so what happens to the damaged cars anyway they go to the wreckers right thats it give the cars the the pillars of the comunity that work at the wreckers theres surely no criminals working there that will use these cars for illegal purposes what happens to the uninsured cars they dont even go on the register what about new cars that have little damage but the insured person only will accept a new replacement because thats in the policy he has this is a crock government already take $450 off us to sighn them off the register and present recipts for the parts for that car whats the good of the parts from these cars anyway if they go on another car thats obviosly been in a accident or it wouldnt need parts in the first place then the both sit at the wreckers right half baked half assed policys what a bunch of clowns
John Young

I would like to know if the change covers all registrations eg: motorbikes, caravans, box trailers and trucks. or is it just motor cars.
dave

I have just finished a “repairable write off”, panel beating done by a licenced repairer, all new parts supplied by me …when presented to the RTA it had to have a full inspenction and I had to supply ALL invoices for parts and panel beating….plus of course $450.00 to the RTA Inspector….this was to verify that no parts were stolen and the work had been carried out to ensure the car was as good as new…so where is the problem…..ensure new parts are used, the work is safe and to the highest standard…and that the vin plate is true and concurs with whats stamped on the chassis and you have a $20,000 dollar car for $10,000…Why not just make that car unsellable to another owner for a period of 12 months? surely that would be a way of stopping “quick buck making” illegal operators….seems like its going to increase the price of insurance….and bodgy repairs that dont need to be inspected by the RTA
john

the used car well more expensive there is people honest fix these car without stolen part we punish them and punish all of us to make the used car more expensive
Tony

I am about to purchase a repairable write off today..The vehicle IS CURRENTLY REGISTERED , Do these new laws come into effect for cars written off AFTER August ?

Theres no way the government could send letters to hundreds of thousands of people telling them that they have to take their cars off the road if the write off was well prior to these laws
Ian

The purpose of this ban is to distance the RTA from the mess it has created thru its own outsourcing and inability to implement basic procedures to combat the relative low incidence of rebirthing.
An ICAC enquiry in 2000 revealed there were then over 700 blue slip inspectors when the original plan had been for 50. This has provided a huge loophole for poorly repaired vehicles over 10 years old to be re-registered. Vehicles under 10 yrs old are inspected by RTA therefore any suspect repairs should be detected by RTA. Regional areas do not require this level of inspection.

ANY REBIRTHED OR POORLY REPAIRED VEHICLE ON THE ROAD HAS PASSED AN RTA INSPECTION.

High volume of unrecovered stolen vehicles relates to high prices being paid for scrap metal in recent times – easy for a vehicle to disappear completely especially if under finance and insured. Other vehicles leave the country without fear of detection in CONTAINERS.

Insurance premiums will skyrocket if companies unable to recoup costs by selling off these vehicles. This is nothing to do with safety. New car dealers, under the guise of the MTA are backing this push. Next to electricity, this will be one of the most inflationery moves of all time by this labor government. Owning a car in NSW will become a luxury, not a necessity.

If a vehicle fails inspection or the correct evidence of parts purchases is not presented – the vehicle doesn’t get registered. What is the problem? Every industry (and sport) has some form of crime. The amount of rebirthing compared to total number of cars re-registered must be miniscule. It would be quite easy to track vehicles purchases at auctions, but it’s all too hard for the RTA and even the police. People who attend the auctions regularly seem to know who the crooks are – why is it so hard for the authorities to recognise them.
John

So can’t you just buy a car from an interstate auction, repair it, and register it in that state? Then you can transfer the rego back to NSW ??????? Or simply sell it with interstate rego ???? I don’t think much thought has been placed into this…

As Ian stated previously all written off vehicles (up to 10 years old) have been examined through the hands of the state and now they claim that there are unsafe cars out there. Well who released them on to the road???
http://caradvice Dave

From my experience at damaged vehicle auctions, a lot of the cars sold as repairable write offs really should have been classified as statutory write offs, maybe an independant body instead of the insurance companies should be doing the classifying of damaged vehicles.
Rebecca

What about hail damaged vehicles? Insurance companies are writing these vehicles off at the drop of a hat in Vic and WA due to the recent storms. There is absolutely no structural damage to these cars. Only asthetic isses. They should be the exception to the rule.

If insurance companies can’t get any money back by selling these hail damaged repairable write offs at auction then we are all in for massive jumps in premiums.

What the hell will happen to all the thousands of mechanically sound vehicles written off due to hail damage next time there is a huge hail storm in Sydney??

http://caradvice Dave

Starting to wonder if this is all just a conspiracy to help to inflate the prices of the huge volume of storm affected vehicles from Melbourne and Perth, last chance to buy a write off and have it repaired before the end of july, sounds ridiculous i know, my bet is that this new legislation will never happen.

XR6

The car in the photo is a Toyota Prius… after the brakes failed.
ben

Before posting I suggest you read what I have to say.

1ST. all cars under 10 years of age must go through a RTA VIN unit. The RTA have pictures and information regarding the accident. They verify the car does not have stolen parts. They check for data-dot. They check the receipts, and even call up the companies selling the receipts. If the part is new, it doesn’t require a VIN, if it was removed from another car they require the VIN, if you remove a part from another car, then they cancel that VIN. They get little cameras and put them into the rails of the cars to verify the repair, they only pass cars that have removed the rails or any metal part from the factory spot weld only, you can not simply cut and weld anywhere. If anything its ridiculously hard to pass inspection. Hence making the car completely safe for any family. I can honestly say any insurance company that repairs cars outside of the RTA inspection check will take shortcuts. If you have had a smash and your insurance company fixed your car. Chances are if you took it to a RTA inspection it would fail!

2ND. as far as I have researched, there is no current legislation in place, I’ve searched in http://www.austlii.edu.au and can not find any current cases relating to this legislation, once submitted in austlii all the insurers and other companies will fight this in

3rd. many cars that are repairable write-offs can be for some of the dumbest reasons., e.g. last week a Mazda 323 sp20 went into the auction simply because its rear window was broken, seriously how hard is it to get a window replaced! Call O’Brian and $150 later and you have your self a new window.

4th. all this talk about dodgy repairers are bullshit. if anything when this legislation is passed alot of panel beaters will feel the $$$ drop and will charge peanuts to do jobs which then will have no quality and insurance companies will source out to these people meaning all future cars with any damage will be repaired dodgy and not inspected to meet rta safety standards!

5th. Number jobs. Seriously the people that are talking about number jobs are stuck in the 70′s and 80′s. Security on all new cars after 2000 include immobilisers. Ecus which contain the original VIN number that can not be changed. Data dot which shows the original VIN regardless of how much sanding and sandblasting. No one can do number jobs these days. It’s next to impossible. Yes there are a few dodgy people who buy a base model hilux worth $20k from a damaged auction and then repair it properly, pass RTA VIN check and repair check. Then a few months down the track, steal a top of the line sr5 hilux which is worth $40k. And do a top body swap as the VIN number located on hilux is on the rail rather than the body. Making there car a 40k sr5. BUT. The RTA catch’s onto everything and they caught onto this so even after you pass inspection, a few months will go by then BAM! The RTA shows up at your house to reinspect the car. I’ve known many dodgy people doing this and getting caught. Honestly these days it’s impossible to get around the RTA inspection short from going to another state. Even if you have a vehicle registered in another state the RTA will want to reinspect it. That’s how much of assholes they are.

6. This is a witch hunt as every year goes by the RTA makes it more and more harder to register cars and especially repairable write-offs. They only want to pass this law because they can’t apply TAX to the people who make a living off the hard labor panel beating work that has no paper work to prove the money made.

7. The thing is I’ve asked alot of these people and investigated what can be achieved from this legislation. All of them have said we will end up at centre link. Because they have no trade knowledge in any other field. So unemployment rate will go up. And crime will go up. Safety of David Cambellfield; RTA claims will not improve, more likely more crime will be committed,. I can see many people being unhappy with the future cheap repairs that insurance companies will apply, and therefore they will cause more insurance fraud (stealing there own cars to get paid out due to not being able to sell a car with poor repairs).

8. Basically if you study what I have said you will see the only thing this legislation will do is screw over the entire nsw. This state is starting to become a prison. Schools have fences that look like prisons. Tolls on many roads are a joke in price. Bring out new laws for new hidden speed cameras. Wtf. this state has no freedom. No life. The government wants to control everything. There’s a point where they help you but now they want to run you. Hell even the council fined me for parking in my front lawn. There was a time when we could park where ever we want! for those of you who think that this legislation is a good thing = enjoy higher premiums, poor repairs to your car with no choice, higher rta fee’s, higher competition in employment caused by a flux of many unemployed only resulting in lower pay. No safely as there is no inspections. While you might think well my car isn’t damaged, what about those cars that have been put on the road in the future without inspection from the insurance. They will hit you and injure you because there abs or some lower control arm failed due to dodgy repairs from cheaper competition.

Enjoy nsw puppets!
Michael

I think that the panelbeaters/spraypainters and insurance companies should form a lobby group and lobby the government very hard to prevent them from introducing this pathetic legislation. It is sad to see the government at all levels doing everything in their power to taint the reputation of a particular ethnic group in any way they can without thinking of the consequences. We must remember that over 10 million of the 20 million population of this country are from an ethnic background and it must be said that from any particular ethnic group there is the bad bunch. It is just unfair to target a whole particular ethnic group because of the actions of less than 1% of its members.

Moving away from the issue of racial discrimination. I agree with all of the comments made against introducing this legislation. The whole state of NSW will suffer from this legislation. Is it not enough that the price of petrol is high in this country that never went down in line with the drop of crude oil prices. Is it not enough that people are paying unbelievable rent prices, and interest rates are going up to debilitate homeowners, and Australians have to pay $15 for a packet cigarettes and the government collectiong even more taxes on alcohol. Do they have to go the extra step on banning repairable write-offs so that insurance premiums can go through the roof, car-registration prices to skyrocket let alone the price of cars will go up. For god’s sake why are we living in Australia just to work and be penniless at the end of the week. What about the ever increasing of property prices. Our children will never be able to afford to buy a home.

Just recently also, the government talking about increasing taxes on the mining industry. This is the industry that kept us out of the recession when the whole world dived in head first into the recession.

Australia has a lot of resources and minerals, yet we pay huge amounts of tax. The United Arab Emirates by comparison which is oil rich is a tax free country because the government receives a lot of revenue from oil.

Professionals in this country are very low paid compared to other advanced countries and therefore our professionals go overseas, while we are forced to bring professionals from other ethnicities from overseas, while at the same time attacking ethnic groups. what narcissist politicians.

I advise the panelbeaters and spray painter to organise a forum meet up with the insurers and stop these career politicians who are out of touch with the struggles of the average Australian. They have to wake up from their ignorance
Bill Cochrane

I guess iam am one of the so called backyard repairers, i have brought 4 repairable writeoffs and had them repaired by freinds in the panel beating industry and purchased parts from wrecking yards as well as new genuine parts all inspected and done properly. I used one myself and gave 1 each to my daughters , by doing this i was able to get them into a near new more safe car for half the price of buying one at a caryard, rather than having to buy older cars within our budget, now this will be impossible to do in nsw .If our government thinks it will stop the criminal element and car rebirthing in this country , well where one door shuts another opens , wake up. Proper strict inspection and a multiple classification of damaged cars would be more effective than total ban , these new laws are a typical governmet reaction and will result in higher cost for everyone in nsw..

Michael

I agree with you bill. Stealing cars will not stop. As a matter of fact the only people standing to benefit from the ban on repairable writeoffs are the thieves and the panelbeaters buying stolen parts from them – in other words the dodgy element. Insurance companies will now fix more cars than declare them a repairable writeoff and the thieves will continue stelealing cars and selling them to dodgy panelbeaters to fix legitimate smashed cars that are getting fixed by insurance companies. Yes – less repairable writeoff cars on the road, but instead they will get repaired and still have stolen parts on them without the benefit of an RTA inspection. These politicians really have no idea.
Michael

I agree with you bill. Stealing car will not stop. As a matter of fact the only people standing to benefit from the ban on repairable writeoffs are the thieves and the panelbeaters buying stolen parts from them – in other words the dodgy element. Insurance companies will now fix more cars than declare them a repairable writeoff and the thieves will continue stelealing cars and selling them to dodgy panelbeaters to fix legitimate smashed cars that are getting fixed by insurance companies. Yes – less repairable writeoff cars on the road, but instead they will get repaired and still have stolen parts on them without the benefit of an RTA inspection. These politician really have no idea.

http://suzifour1@optusnet.com.au lee

from lee if you think that the ins will go up
look at the tow truck will go off the road the worker will lost the jobs the forklift tow car carrys and wreckerd office workers .pannel workers will have work ok
but the big boys of the car markers
will drop the price on all the parts to the ins boys
but you will pay more for parts
if you think this is bad look at the tow truck laws
Mustafa Ghazzaoui

David Campbell… NSW Minister for Roads & Transport… He’s doing a real good job of it.

First he proposes the new legislation about RWO vehicles, then he has Australia’s BIGGEST stuff up on the F2 and left commuters stranded for 6hrs…no petrol, no food, no movement. Then its gets better, you look at the trains and the new ticketing system that was years late.

The icing on the cake came when being the good role model that he is… he gets busted at a gay sex club.

He knows, nothing about cars, managing roads, or transport. How are people supposed to believe that they are safe having him manage the most important government portfolio for NSW. They’re not safe.

He should resign and dedicate his time to gay support not stuffing our roads up.

Support him and I hope your kids turn gay just like him!!!
taylor

DOES ANYBODY KNOW IF A REPAIRABLE WRITEOFF REVS CHECK CAN BE REMOVED OFF THR SYSTEM AS THE CAR IS REPAIRED 100% AND IS NOW 7 YEARS OLD.. ???
wrecker

as far as i know taylor once on the register never off its a pain but one of those things
wrecker

i wonder what is happening with the legislation as regards RWOs now that the minister responsible has resigned ineresting stuff . on a side note i wonder how many mta members are going to not pay their membership when its due as they are the ones who have been instumental in getting the legislation introduced.
radwan

my names radwan i love cars i am 22 years of age i aint a panelbeater or a dealer yet but ive been in the game my brothers a licensed dealer, please read and id like to see comments of what other people think

firsttime i got on this page just to find out wat the hell is going on thinkin to my self this isnt gona work, glad to see so many people weary on the impact it will do.
shame to see government putting pressure on the public other than focusing highly of the issues of illegal drugs in this country which our family and frens sometimes get caught up in cause its every were

i think if they do this in nsw that alot of people will move innerstate, alot of people rely on this income maybe they wanna push the crooks innerstate to less distress rta issues and reduce tax free cash for the state.

i dont agree with this law but to be honest these days you cant buy a cheap car from the auction prior to 3 years ago and most of the time you get done cause the car has more damage then expected which encourage people to use stolen parts and dodge being out of pocket or waste there time. dodgy assesors who put the car as a repairable
write offwhen it should have been a stat iam sure one of use has been done like that?? or maybe pickles internet bidding are criminals try and show minimal damage and shit listing or maybe its there shit 2.0 megapixel camera they use so u cant properly zoom in, fowles doesn even list the damage in the damaged section , off course evryone getting something under the table! then you get the goverment saying bla blah 20000 cars being stolen, well if they showed information of the damage of the vehcle whilst assesed people would no wat they are buying and wont have the thourt of STEALING are car cause they no wat they are up for. then you get those people trying to make a quick buck using stolen parts! thats why they should have a strict rule at the rta even 4cars a year depending on value of the car of course and classics aswell as extras that way youd push thieves or people looking for a quick buck to there limits and maybe they will learn that i better get a full time job even possibly applyig for a dealers license if thats wat they love lol

instead of being able to registeras many cars as u want in your name why not bring out a strict law that when u go in the rta they say to your limits six we cant register another car Mr David Campbell!! THEY DONT let you reregister your car if you havent paid a outstanding fine!!!. then you get some young kid registering 30 cars in his poor pensioner mums name. they dont police it to many loopholes. if they police it then the black market will significally decrease,

have a few questions i need to no since i have applied for my dealers license if any one could reallyhelp me out

1, who is going to be attending these auctions in nsw? is it the people from the remainding states that there laws allow the to repair cars?
2,if only nsw does that mean people in vic, act , qld ect would be able to buy these cars and use the parts?

3 are dealers alowed to buy cars from damaged auctions? and get them repaired and registed? whatbout panel beaters.

4. are alot of panel beater gona move interstate? or they gona have more jobs since insurance companys arent gona writeoff as many vehcles?
5. will nsw car market get less expensive since other states will have r/w andbe cheaper cause they can use our cars and carparts?

6. WTF was David Campbell thinking when he brought this law out??? WAS HE STONED??
OR IS IT CAUSE MAYBE hes daughter or son got got fukked on when they bourt that 2010 bmw that they found out later it was a CUT n SHUT like everyone is saying prevously get more inspectors out there, create more jobs police it better we dont all have to suffer ffrom this.

if they bring this law out i am very sure i dont think it
will last. simply because every tom dik n harry no its just not that simple.

my conclusion is fix the rta up, fix the auctions up, asses vehcles properly and get your headout of the gutter and talk to the people who are being affected? is this a free country? freedon of speech maybe! but they dont listen to us cause we didnt go to UNIVERSITY for 6years and learn how to put a suite on and talk with formally which more then half thepopulation dont understand.

lol take care everyone hope to get some replies if ive said something youmay think is wrong please correct me maybe i am not looking at it the right way.
radwan

Also i just was thinking of it maybe they are going to do it temporaily just to slow the blackmarket down cause atm its way out of hand, maybe theyd do it for a trial to maybe start fresh so they can have time to figure out how they can police it everyway, then when they bring it back to normal theyd can pick out the black sheep.

getting conspiricial lol haha seeing wat guys like us will think and say cause the mummies boys politicians cant see the loop holes haha then theyd fix it. just wandering that cause they havent brought out the restrictions and we dont no wtf going on wen we should have by now
radwan

CAUSE I DID HEAR THAT THEY ARE GONA MAYBE LINK ALL STATES SOON AND NSW IS JUST A TRIAL TO FIGURE IT OUT THEN BAM ALL STATES WILL APPLY THE SAME RULES, THEY CANT SIMPLY STOP IT IN ONE STATE IMPOSSIBLE! I BE SO HAPPY IF I WAS RIGHT LOL. THERE has to be a catch for them to do something this big
http://suzifour1@optusnet.com.au lee

look out the new laws come in

watch rego go up green going up ins go up pricr of cars up

parking tick up

and the big you will have to pay to drive it to the city

it is going to be like japan you reg will go up

as you are driveing your car and truck around sydney

you will pay the price

all the light have camers on them the f7 f2 f3 f5

will tell them the klms you doing so the bill can be put on your reg papers

good luck i ma pack up and getting out of this stat
good job

GOOD JOB MR CAMPBELL
ABOUT TIME SOMEONE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS
I HAVE SEEN FIRST HAND TIME N TIME AGAIN THE CRAP THAT THESE SO CALL REPAIRERS PUT BACK ON THE ROAD
**NO MORE REBIRTH
**NO MORE UNSAFE REPAIRED CARS SOLD TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE BUYING
** WIN WIN SITUATION DON’T YOU THINK FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Ian Campbell

Whats is the so called race a lot of people are talking about. Wouldn’t be referring to Angelo-Saxon australians would we. Maybe we shouldn’t be singling out this group.
Or then again maybe we can play the blame game.

Simple facts are:
1.There are going to be good repairers and not so good ones. The insurance company repairs are a prime example of a not so good repairers.

2.What is the agender behind this law. Whilst I do not think its such a bad thing provided it is handled correctly there still has to be some political motivation behind it. To stop crime…yeah right we all saw the stats and they are not so bad.

3. Yes as I understand it, if you buy a car at the auction before the august deadline you will have paperwork to re-register it even after the deadline. It was stated that repairable write offs will no longer be sold to NSW because they can not be re-registered. Therefore car currently sold from an auction house as repairable write offs can be re-registered after repairs…otherwise they would not be sold.

4. Is this going to work for NSW’s? This law may last a few months and possibly to the end of this year but expect it to be gone a quickly as it came. The government will soon realise they are targeting the wrong group and these sort of things should be best handled by the police force.
martin

Related links:

Frequently asked questions pdf

Written-off vehicles

Vehicle History Check

Written-off vehicle reforms
Impending changes to the laws for written-off vehicle management from 31 October 2010.

On 31 October 2010, the RTA intends to commence new legislation which will prohibit the registration of NSW written-off vehicles. The reforms aim to improve road safety and consumer protection and to clamp down on car re-birthing and vehicle theft.

Prior to the changes coming into effect, all current arrangements regarding written-off vehicles will continue to apply.

Following the introduction of the reforms on 31 October, all NSW written-off vehicles will be classified as statutory (permanent) write-offs. This means they will not be permitted to be registered anywhere in Australia (with some limited exemptions). These written-off vehicles will still be able to be sold for parts or scrap metal.
Frequently asked questions

When will the changes come into effect?
Initially the changes were to commence in August 2010. However the implementation date has been revised to 31 October 2010.

Why are these reforms being introduced?
The reforms are being introduced to improve vehicle safety and consumer protection as well as reduce the incidence of vehicle theft, re-birthing and related crime.

What vehicles are covered by the ban?
All NSW light vehicles (including motorcycles, trailers and caravans) are covered by the ban. Once a vehicle is entered into the Written-Off Vehicle Register (WOVR) it cannot be registered again anywhere in Australia.

The current and new written-off vehicle laws only apply to vehicles up to 15 years of age.

Does the ban affect my currently registered repairable write-off?
No. All vehicles which are currently classified as repairable can be registered.

Will I be able to register my repairable write-off after 31 October 2010?
If the vehicle is identified as a repairable write-off before 31 October 2010, then it will be able to be registered after 31 October 2010, for the life of the vehicle, providing all existing registration requirements are met.

For example:

1. A vehicle was recorded on the WOVR as repairable write-off in July 2009. The vehicle has been repaired and was re-registered in February 2010. This vehicle will continue to be able to be renewed for the life of the vehicle providing all other registration requirements are met.

2. A vehicle was purchased as an unregistered repairable write-off in November 2010. If this vehicle was notified to the WOVR before 31 October 2010, it will be able to be registered, for the life of the vehicle, providing all other registration requirements are met. If this vehicle was notified to the WOVR on or after 31 October 2010 it will not be eligible for registration in NSW or anywhere else in Australia.

Does my written-off vehicle have to be inspected before the reforms commence in order for me to be able to register it after October 2010?
No. The new laws only require that the vehicle be recorded on the Written-Off Vehicle Register (WOVR) prior to 31 October 2010. The vehicle may be inspected any time after it has been recorded on the WOVR, which may be after the reforms are introduced.

For example:

A vehicle was assessed as a repairable write-off and notified to the WOVR in July 2010, but not repaired and presented for re-registration until July 2011. As this vehicle was recorded on the WOVR before 31 October 2010 it will be able to be registered, for the life of the vehicle, providing all other registration requirements are met.
sm

can you buy repairable rite offs that have been registed in another state then transfer the rego over? what if some unwise person buys a car interstate after these laws come out cant he register it in nsw??
charlotte white

This is soooo stupid. I researched pickles damaged auctions for 2 months in order to buy my son a car
which his dad could fix. That meant nothing which had
discharged its safety airbag- nothing with hail damage or water damage – nothing with any structural damage and only cars which needed light replacement and panel replacing. So we did that and I found my son a nissan pulsar st 1.8 engine sedan 2002 model with low kms for 800 dollars! He and his dad completed minor repairs with one particular non fitting boot and several lights and casing needing replacement then when we went to register it they had more stringent tests to make sure we hadn’t missed any serious structural damage not declared at auction (buyer beware as they say) and so nothing was
found so it is now registered. If my son decided to buy a new car and sell this one on, none of us would feel he was passing anything on but a perfectly safe vehicle!

If people have the savvy to fix up small repairs they should be allowed! Maybe just make it so all serious write off can only go to registered repairers or for parts.
Chris

Easiest solution, to prevent insurance premiums going up and prevent rebirthing.

I know from experience lossing $25k on a rebirthed car and waiting for 4years whilst it sat in the police holding yard for it to be investigated.

Datadot – its a paint with an embedded serial number. cant wash off and naked to the eye. you can spray entire engine bays and chasis and that way you can identify exactly where the part came from.

Alot more cost effective
bobby

So, what is to stop say the likes of Toyota jacking up the prices of their spare parts even further?

i.e.
If Toyota know that a vehicle will be written off and never allowed to be on the road again ultimately because of price (i.e. cost of spare parts for repairs) then what’s to stop them driving up the price of spare parts so as to have more vehicles declared write-offs which in turn will result in more new car sales for Toyota!
kurt

THIS LAW IS A DISGRACE!!!
I am a licenced repairer(panel beater) and licenced motor dealer in NSW
For many years i have purchased lightly damaged repairable write-off vehicles at auction and repaired them, then sold these vehicles stating to potential customers the history of these vehicles(as required by dealer obligations. The buyers of these cars are happy to get a car at a discounted price knowing that the car has been repaired by a licensed repairer using quality parts ,then the NSW government bring in this law to stop backyarders repairing and selling damaged cars, its a case of “if some are doing the wrong thing, punish everone”.
People like me pay for licenses, jump through their hoops etc and then get thrown into the same basket as backyard operations.
Shame on you NSW government what a dim-witted piece of legislation.
This NEEDS to be corrected!
Jayme

i was wondering i bought a car from nsw what passed a repairable writeoff in nsw, i brang it up to queensland and tried to get it registed, But i need to get a queensland wovr. but the car is over 15 years old. will i still be able to get it inspected and registed
bobby

can a repaired wright off be reregistered

bobby

if it still got three months rego on it

http://Joe's Joe

what about other states? Vic, SA, QLD, TAS, ACT, WA, NT? they will still be sold somewhere. Fiji now accepts RHD vehicles too now I believe. This law will only punish those effectively in NSW. What’s the point?