Re-registering a repairable writeoff.

[Colum Black-Byron]

Hi all.

I was looking at getting a new car for my wife, and was watching one of those pickles auction for damaged cars. They were going really cheap, 2005 cars going for under $2000.

Some have been dinged up worse than others, but some have had a few windows smashed by vandals, others just need a bumper and bonnet replaced. All stuff I can do easily enough myself.

My question is, how hard is it to get these registered again (in South Australia)?

[big_landau]

not sure about sa but its not that hard in qld,up here it needs to be inspceted.if they are a minor fix and you can do the work yourself and have a bit of time id say go for it.having said that id stay away from a front end hit and be very carefull and choose wisely.

[stevepet]

Don't know about SA but in Vic you would need receipts for everything diary of what you have done photos. Have to have a VIV check and a RWC as long as you cross your t's and dot your i's its pretty straightforward. If airbags have been deployed you will also need check by the manufacturers dealer ford dealer holden dealer etc.

[Colum Black-Byron]

Awesome thanks for the help! I will have to look into this a little closer.

I just couldn't believe the price difference.

[rocket67]

I would advise you not to do this before you are aware of the current regulations imposed by the department of transport in SA.

From the 1st March they changed the rules to make it extremely difficult and expensive to re register a repairable write off. An absolute joke in my opinion!

Check out these Links -

http://www.sa.gov.au/subject/Transpo...n-off+vehicles

http://www.sa.gov.au/upload/franchis...ir%20Diary.pdf

We used to repair and reregister repairable write offs and were constantly having curveballs thrown at us at the first tier3 inspection. Last car we put through was a slightly hail damaged Holden from Victoria. When we took the car for inspection they made us take it to a Holden Dealer for a Air Bag System check which cost us $1,000! Bloody ridiculous! The car only had minor hail damage for Petes sake. They also insisted on the photos from the auction house that we bought the car from. We managed to get the photos after a lot of fuss.
After that experience we decided never again. They have gone stark raving mad down there in my opinion.

Do yourself a favour. Buy a car that is already registered, or you are buying trouble.

Rocket.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by rocket67

Do yourself a favour. Buy a car that is already registered, or you are buying trouble.

i agree, that's why they are so cheap. The only ones buying them are scrap dealers.

[Colum Black-Byron]

Originally Posted by rocket67

I would advise you not to do this before you are aware of the current regulations imposed by the department of transport in SA.

From the 1st March they changed the rules to make it extremely difficult and expensive to re register a repairable write off. An absolute joke in my opinion!

Check out these Links -

http://www.sa.gov.au/subject/Transpo...n-off+vehicles

http://www.sa.gov.au/upload/franchis...ir%20Diary.pdf

We used to repair and reregister repairable write offs and were constantly having curveballs thrown at us at the first tier3 inspection. Last car we put through was a slightly hail damaged Holden from Victoria. When we took the car for inspection they made us take it to a Holden Dealer for a Air Bag System check which cost us $1,000! Bloody ridiculous! The car only had minor hail damage for Petes sake. They also insisted on the photos from the auction house that we bought the car from. We managed to get the photos after a lot of fuss.
After that experience we decided never again. They have gone stark raving mad down there in my opinion.

Do yourself a favour. Buy a car that is already registered, or you are buying trouble.

Rocket.

Thanks for the links, very handy reading. I just went through it all. I basically need to keep photos of everything, receipts of everything (along with details of donor vehicle), and repair it in accordance with manufacturers guidelines.

One quick question, how long after the March 1st did you try to register your car? Sometimes people can get a little over zealous when new regulations come in, it can take a little while for them to calm down. Needing a airbag check for hail damage sounds stupid.

[suttoo]

Its a good thing they are cracking down on this, their are way too many dodgy guys repairing these cars and I wouldnt want them on the road or for some poor bloke unknown to the life of the vehicle when purchasing. But I do sympathise in your case rocket for a hail damaged car to needing to have the airbags checked and to cost $1000 is criminal.

[xisled]

In NSW if you car is a write off, it can never be re registered. I would think most states are going to follow next few years.

Also you may buy this car cheap and want to sell it down the track. The car will always be listed as a written off car.

[svo supporter]

They can be a PITA to get through and a little expensive...However the likes of airbag checks are necessary, even for hail damaged cars....it's called covering your backside and theirs.....They have to be confident the car is roadworthy regardless.

It might seem a pain, taking photos, keeping receipts etc etc, but that's all aimed at stopping the rebirthing trade...I'm not commenting whether it's successful or not, but common sense should prevail there.


For what it's worth....I do alignment reports for repairable write offs. Every car has to be within manufacturers specs, camber/caster and toe settings...Nothing major, but can be painful, when the repairer won't listen.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by xisled

In NSW if you car is a write off, it can never be re registered.

Yes you can, there are some set guidelines for it.

A written-off vehicle can only have registration established if it satisfies NSW registration requirements.

This means a written-off vehicle can only be registered when all of the below are true:

1.The person seeking registration meets NSW eligibility criteria

2.The person seeking to repair the vehicle has obtained an "Authorisation to Repair". This is issued by RMS and has strict eligibility requirements. For example, to obtain authorisation you must have been the registered operator of the vehicle 28 days prior to it being written-off

3.The vehicle has been issued with a Certificate of Compliance from a NSW Fair Trading Licensed Repairer

4.The vehicle passes all RMS inspection requirements

After January 31st 2013, no written-off vehicles will be registered without an Authorisation to Repair.

For further information about the new reforms, see Written-off Vehicle reforms - FAQs.

A written-off vehicle is:

A written-off vehicle is a vehicle that has been damaged to the extent that an insurer, self-insurer or auto-dismantler declares the vehicle to be a total loss under the formula prescribed in the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Act 1997.

Written-off vehicle laws aim to:

Written-off vehicle laws aim to ensure vehicle safety and consumer protection. The laws also seek to reduce the risk of vehicle theft and car re-birthing in NSW.

Vehicle 're-birthing' is:

A vehicle is 're-birthed' when the identifiers of a written-off vehicle are used to re-identify a stolen vehicle, or stolen parts are used to repair a written-off vehicle. Re-birthed vehicles are often poorly repaired and can be a safety risk.

Writen-off vehicles must be on the WOVR register:

Once a vehicle has been assessed as a write-off, an insurer, self-insurer or auto-dismantler must notify the Written-Off Vehicle Register (WOVR) of the vehicle. The vehicles registration will, by law, be cancelled fourteen days later.

[LG17]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

They can be a PITA to get through and a little expensive...However the likes of airbag checks are necessary, even for hail damaged cars....it's called covering your backside and theirs.....They have to be confident the car is roadworthy regardless.

It might seem a pain, taking photos, keeping receipts etc etc, but that's all aimed at stopping the rebirthing trade...I'm not commenting whether it's successful or not, but common sense should prevail there.


For what it's worth....I do alignment reports for repairable write offs. Every car has to be within manufacturers specs, camber/caster and toe settings...Nothing major, but can be painful, when the repairer won't listen.

What about accident damaged vehicles that aren't repairable write offs?
Do they have to get their airbags checked too?
Sounds a bit over the top to me.

[xisled]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Yes you can, there are some set guidelines for it.

That is the law if the car was not written off in NSW and is being registered in NSW and cars written off before 31st Jan 2011.

Any cars that are written off in NSW can not be registered

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registrati...les/index.html

Just part of the site.

From 31 January 2011:
All NSW light vehicles written-off from 31 January 2011 are classified as 'statutory write-offs' on the WOVR and these vehicles can only be used for scrap or for parts.

These laws apply to all light vehicles, including:

•Trailers
•Caravans
•Motorcycles
Further information on the Legislation is available from:

[atec77]

Originally Posted by Colum Black-Byron

Hi all.

I was looking at getting a new car for my wife, and was watching one of those pickles auction for damaged cars. They were going really cheap, 2005 cars going for under $2000.

Some have been dinged up worse than others, but some have had a few windows smashed by vandals, others just need a bumper and bonnet replaced. All stuff I can do easily enough myself.

My question is, how hard is it to get these registered again (in South Australia)?

I use a local engineer for inspection well worth a few hundred , off to wovy then rwc and registered , takes time and the engineer will check the work correctly (qld) in Sa you need to get local advice but no reason not to as you save a huge amount is it's a repairable

[Mick K.]

Here's a couple of cars I've noticed on carsales recently that look like repaired write offs - a lot less $$ than other comparable cars, but you'd have to be good at inspecting them and assessing their safety, and you'd be taking a risk on reliability, insurance issues, and resale.

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...-2007-13071988
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...-2010-12830279

MK

[Colum Black-Byron]

Just for reference on what I mean by cheap, I was watching the auction in Adelaide this morning, I saw a 2009 Mazda 2 selling for $2100, it looked like it needed a new bumper, bonnet, and airbags replaced. An undamaged car the same is on ebay at the moment for $16,000.

So even if I needed to spend $2k or $3k getting it through hoops to get second hand parts, and getting airbags replaced, and checked over, I'd still be saving a massive amount of money.

I didn't save the link (they disappear right after the auction is over), but another I caught was: http://www.pickles.com.au/damaged/it...back/502238731

It sold for $1650. I didn't want that one, but just for comparison, and anything pre 2000's didn't seem to go for over $700, some sold for $250.

I had a good read through the documentation, and it does want every car to have the airbags inspected, regardless of deployment or not, which sounds expensive, but I'd be shopping around for that. The only other thing is to remember to keep everything documented, where the parts come from, receipts, chassis numbers, photos from auction house, ect.

[MrEL]

Originally Posted by xisled

That is the law if the car was not written off in NSW and is being registered in NSW and cars written off before 31st Jan 2011.

Any cars that are written off in NSW can not be registered

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registrati...les/index.html

Just part of the site.

From 31 January 2011:
All NSW light vehicles written-off from 31 January 2011 are classified as 'statutory write-offs' on the WOVR and these vehicles can only be used for scrap or for parts.

These laws apply to all light vehicles, including:

•Trailers
•Caravans
•Motorcycles
Further information on the Legislation is available from:

Dont believe 100% what you read. In NSW if you meet the requirements you can have a vehcile removed from the stat write off list.
I was involved in one being done this year.
Its a lot of stuffing around but.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by MrEL

Dont believe 100% what you read. In NSW if you meet the requirements you can have a vehcile removed from the stat write off list.
I was involved in one being done this year.
Its a lot of stuffing around but.

that about sums it up, theres a few loop holes in it, like if you owned it when it was written off or how far it was damaged, what casued the damage, the age of the vehicle and so on, it is actualy all easy to find with a simple search on the RMS site

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by LG17

What about accident damaged vehicles that aren't repairable write offs?
Do they have to get their airbags checked too?
Sounds a bit over the top to me.

If it's been in an accident and not a repairable write off, just walk in rego, there is no need to have it checked legally.

Morally, I would have it checked....Peace of mind...

Over the top it might seem, but it's all about getting the car to roadworthy condition again.