To the untrained eye, pre-owned cars may look roadworthy, but on closer examination one may be shocked to learn just how many cars on some dealership floors are write-offs.
Over the past two years, the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), has campaigned to have cars that have been written off as a result of being critically damaged from being repaired and resold to the unsuspecting public.
Richard Green, National Director of the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA) has repeatedly stated that currently, there is no way for the public to verify if a car has been previously written off in an accident.
Until such a time as the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) makes information relating to a vehicle’s accident history available to the public, the public will remain at risk of unknowingly purchasing cars that have been written off.
Photo by Matt Antonioli
Should you be on the market for a pre-owned car, it is vital that you have it professionally assessed. Green advises consumers as follows:
Never buy a vehicle without physically checking it and taking it for a test drive. Turn off the radio when driving it and listen to any tell-tale noises which may alert you to mechanical and other faults.
Never purchase a vehicle that does not have a full-service history from a reputable service provider.
Insist on getting an independent dealer or repairer to assess the vehicle further. You can find a list of accredited South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA)service providers on the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) website. The same applies should you be purchasing the vehicle from a private seller. A legitimate seller should not take issue with your suggestion of bringing in an independent assessor.
Spend time reading previous customer reviews about the dealership you intend to purchase your car from.
Remember that accredited SAMBRA members adhere to strict criteria and service levels designed to protect themselves as well as customers.
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.
Photo by Christian Buehner on Unsplash
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)
Photo by Oxa Roxa on Unsplash
“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.
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.
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