second-hand car Archives - Heels & Horsepower Magazine

3 basic things you should know about servicing your car

vuyi on October 25, 2021

Owning your first car and not having to rely on anyone else to get you to where you need to go, is a true rite of passage. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and maintaining it should be a priority.

Keeping your car in tiptop condition is as important while you are driving it, as it is when the time comes to sell it. A properly maintained car, and one with a complete and detailed service history will always be more valuable than one that’s poorly looked after.

The first item of business for any dealership or prospective buyer at trade-in or sale time, is a car’s service book, and some might dismiss a car completely if the service history is incomplete or patchy. Have a look at the second-hand cars for sale on any reputable dealer’s website and the term ‘FSH’, or Full Service History, is often listed ahead of any other features or extras.

Here are 3 factors you, as a motorist, should understand when it comes to servicing your car.

What are car service intervals?

Though these may differ slightly from car to car, every vehicle on the road comes with a manufacturer’s recommended service schedule. These are generally in the form of time and distance intervals between workshop visits, such as ‘one year or 15,000km’, whichever comes first, as an example.

It’s important to know that adhering to these intervals is not optional, and especially not on cars that are still covered by warranties. Skipping a scheduled service can have serious repercussions, such as the voiding of warranties or even mechanical failure.

When should you take your car in for a service?

Familiarise yourself with your car’s schedule in order to prepare for upcoming services, whether your car is covered by a service/maintenance plan or not. This can generally be found in the physical or digital service book that comes with the car, and should be stored somewhere safe. Also, some cars have built-in service timers to notify you ahead of the scheduled maintenance work, but it’s always better to check than to rely on these alone.

What information should you have at hand when booking your car in for a service?

If you struggle to understand your schedule, or have trouble finding it, call the service department at your dealership to ask for assistance. Have your car’s current mileage and the details of the last known service handy, as this will assist them in guiding you.

It’s also a good idea to have your car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on hand, as this is the quickest way for a dealership to identify the specifics of your particular vehicle model. This can be found on your licence disc, or stamped onto the body of your car – often, but not always, visible through the bottom corner of the windscreen.

“Servicing your vehicle means that you will always be aware of the condition of your vehicle. For instance, you may not know if your car needs a new wheel bearing or shock absorber, or that your brakes are nearing replacement time. Regular services allow the technician or mechanic to check for and inform you of any costly problems or issues before or as they begin to arise,” says Kutlwano Mogatusi, WesBank’s Communications Specialist.

Buying a Pre-Owned Car: What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get

vuyi on July 1, 2021

For many South Africans, buying a car means freedom but many vehicles, which have been written off re ‘repaired’ and sold to unsuspecting people. Richard Green, National Director of SAMBRA weighs in on this illegal practice

Buying a second-hand car can be an exciting purchase and a good economical decision provided there are no surprises. Typically, the reliability of a second-hand car is at the forefront of most buyers’ minds. Meanwhile, to others, the fear of purchasing a vehicle that was previously involved in a serious accident could be that deal-breaker.

Cars that have been severely damaged are often repaired and end up back on the road, but the quality of the repair job and the severity of the damage play a huge part in ensuring the safety and roadworthiness of a vehicle.

There is no way of checking if a car has been written off previously in an accident
– Richard Green, National Director of the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA)

Richard Green, National Director of the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), an association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) says the problem in South Africa is that there is no way of checking if a car has been written off previously in an accident making it difficult for consumers to access if the showroom-condition car they bought is exactly what it claims to be.

Green share a story of a customer who brought in a two-year-old Nissan into a SAMBRA Repair Shop in Bela Bela. With just 28 267km on the clock, the owner had no idea her vehicle had been in an accident previously and had been so poorly repaired that it was structurally unsafe.

“The front body bumper absorber, which is a structural and stabilizing component in most cars, (and this case forms part of the front cradle panel), had been heated or welded together so poorly that the metal strength had been compromised. This had resulted in rust developing in the panel – a sign of early metal fatigue. As it forms part of the crumple zone of a vehicle, the panel should have been replaced with a new part,” Green said.

There were numerous many other serious repair faults on the car too, but the consumer in question had no way of checking the history of the car. “Not only does this have serious legal and cost ramifications, but it talks to the safety of motorists and a growing pool of un-roadworthy and perhaps even stolen vehicles on our roads,” says Green.

If the South African Insurance Association would agree to make write-off information available buyers would be better informed

RICHARD GREEN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MOTOR BODY REPAIRERS’ ASSOCIATION (SAMBRA)

“If the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) would agree to make write-off information available on a public register where the VIN of a vehicle could be checked; buyers would be better informed before making a decision to purchase a used car.

Currently, write-off information is routinely forwarded to SAIA from all insurance companies. SAIA then creates a Vehicle Salvage Data (VSD) system which contains information on salvage vehicles. These are vehicles that have been deregistered by the respective insurers and thus declared salvage after policyholders have been indemnified of their motor claims. A vehicle is considered salvage by the insurance industry if it is written-off following, for instance, a motor accident.

By not making the information publicly available, SAIA is enabling the very two things they claim to be attempting to avoid.
– RICHARD GREEN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MOTOR BODY REPAIRERS’ ASSOCIATION (SAMBRA)

SAIA however, argues that making the database public, would not only be unlawful, but would allow criminals to have access to the entire motoring insurance industry database of scrapped vehicle VINs, leading to a dramatic increase in false financing and insurance of cloned vehicles.

The reality however, is that “uneconomical to repair” cars continue to be bought by fraudsters and syndicates on salvage yards – complete with Code 2 papers. In many instances they are then poorly repaired before being sold to dealers and unsuspecting consumers who have no way of checking the bona fide history of their second-hand purchase. The papers of these same vehicles are also being used to re-register stolen vehicles as bona fide 2nd hand (code 2) vehicles.

Consumers would be better empowered and enabled through the access to additional data on a used vehicle.
– RICHARD GREEN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MOTOR BODY REPAIRERS’ ASSOCIATION (SAMBRA)

“In essence, by not making the information publicly available, SAIA is enabling the very two things they claim to be attempting to avoid – criminal activity and an impact on the safety of motorists,” Green concluded.

TransUnion’s Kriben Reddy states that being unable to verify if a vehicle has been previously written off, is a significant problem as many vehicles are being cloned, especially in a consumer-to-consumer environment. “Consumers would be better empowered and enabled through the access to additional data on a used vehicle. As it stands consumers’ access to additional information is limited,” says Reddy.

It seems clear the conversation is not over and there is merit for all parties to revisit a system that is clearly not working.

Soure: Automobil Magazine, RMI

Do You Know the History of your Second-Hand Car?

vuyi on October 14, 2020

Insurers routinely ‘write off’ vehicles and these vehicles are sold within a salvage contract to auction yards
– Richard Green, National Director of SAMBRA

The South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), an Association of the Retail Motor Industry (RMI), is concerned about the lack of information available to the market with regards to the status of second-hand vehicles.

Richard Green, National Director of SAMBRA, says at present there is no way for a consumer to find out if the second-hand vehicle they are purchasing has been previously written off. “Not only does this have serious legal and cost ramifications, but it talks to the safety of motorists and a growing pool of unroadworthy and perhaps even stolen vehicles on our roads,” says Green.

According to Green, insurers routinely ‘write off’ vehicles and these vehicles are sold within a salvage contract to auction yards.

“While there is nothing wrong with this on face value, the problem comes in when these vehicles, still registered as Code 2 (the description for a used car) are sold to any buyer willing to pay the highest price on auction. In many cases, these vehicles are bought by dubious repairers and sold back into the system for a good profit via digital sales platforms or unsuspecting used car traders. This is where the system goes awfully wrong as the second unsuspecting buyers often ends up with a vehicle that has previously been written off by an insurer, deemed uneconomical to repair. It also has not been reclassified as a Code 3 vehicle and the purchaser has no way of checking the history.”

Most vehicles stolen by professional thieves have a high value and are never recovered
– RICHARD GREEN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF SAMBRA

Further problems

The other problem facing the industry is if the cars are not repaired and sold on, they can be bought by hijacking syndicates.

“Most vehicles stolen by professional thieves have a high value and are never recovered, as they’re either stripped for parts and the bodies dumped or re-birthed under new identities. These written off vehicles provides the perfect foil for this illegal activity. The severely damaged vehicles are bought on auction to obtain Code 2 registration documents which are then used to re-register stolen vehicles. The VIN and engine numbers on the stolen or hijacked vehicle is changed to match the “written off” vehicles papers and the scrapped licence plates are used on the stolen car. For the unsuspecting buyer it is almost impossible to check the validity of his car papers,” says Green.

Green adds that it is for these reasons that SAMBRA have requested SAIA (South African Insurance Association) to make this information available in the form of the VIN number of the vehicle so that consumers can be properly informed prior to making a used car purchase decision.

The information is routinely forwarded to SAIA from all insurance companies yet the request to SAIA has been denied to date. SAMBRA believes a formal, publicly accessible write off register will minimise the illegal use of vehicle identifiers in the re-birthing of stolen vehicles and in curtailing stolen vehicle parts being used in the repair of damaged vehicles. It will also help eliminate unsafe vehicles for unsuspecting purchasers.

“Practically, if there is not a market for these cars, the practice will have to slow down,” he says.

“Access to the write-off register is the only way one can check those repairable written-off vehicles don’t contain stolen parts and it is the only way to take severely damaged vehicles off the road permanently. We need that “write off’ register as a vehicle remains on the register for the rest of its life, even if it’s repaired or ownership is transferred,” concludes Green.