Vehicle Damage and Structural Repair Report

[chinx_4eva]

Hey Guys,

I am just being troubled at the moment with problem
I have just sold my Honda Jazz Gli 2003 that i've owned just over 2 years

When i first bought the car I was told everything that needed to be told and what not
everything has been fine since then and now I am selling the vehicle

I offered to supply a RWC as a courtesy of sale, as I bring my vehicle to the tester and after being tested
I get told that the car has been hit before and that the repair has been done pretty poorly.
I now need to complete a Vehicle Damage and Structural Repair Report that is signed by a 'Insurance Company recognised, smash damage repairer business'

First of all, I re-checked the first RWC of when I purchased the car and there was no such information on it stating that my car has any structural problems nor stating it has been hit before.

Secondly, I know nothing about doing such checks, so I'm asking if anyone would know and estimate on how much it will cost?
Is it something big such as an eng cert or a minor check where a licensed mechanic just has a look through?

The car has already been sold and deposit has been taken so I'm in a stage where im deciding whether to let the car go anymore because of all the hassle and money that I may have to fork out

And wanting to know, if I am able to contact the previous tester and question them about this situation on how come this did not come up on the test in the first place

Sorry about the long post, and thanks in advance for the people who can contribute in helping me resolve this issue

Sam.

[Lukey]

have you tried taking it elsewhere?

[Symphorced]

+1 to the above. Take it to another workshop and hopefully they'll be more lenient/overlook the poorly repaired daamages.

[mocchi]

Hey Guys,

I am just being troubled at the moment with problem
I have just sold my Honda Jazz Gli 2003 that i've owned just over 2 years

When i first bought the car I was told everything that needed to be told and what not
everything has been fine since then and now I am selling the vehicle

I offered to supply a RWC as a courtesy of sale, as I bring my vehicle to the tester and after being tested
I get told that the car has been hit before and that the repair has been done pretty poorly.
I now need to complete a Vehicle Damage and Structural Repair Report that is signed by a 'Insurance Company recognised, smash damage repairer business'

First of all, I re-checked the first RWC of when I purchased the car and there was no such information on it stating that my car has any structural problems nor stating it has been hit before.

Secondly, I know nothing about doing such checks, so I'm asking if anyone would know and estimate on how much it will cost?
Is it something big such as an eng cert or a minor check where a licensed mechanic just has a look through?

The car has already been sold and deposit has been taken so I'm in a stage where im deciding whether to let the car go anymore because of all the hassle and money that I may have to fork out

And wanting to know, if I am able to contact the previous tester and question them about this situation on how come this did not come up on the test in the first place

Sorry about the long post, and thanks in advance for the people who can contribute in helping me resolve this issue

Sam.

if you still have copy of old rwc, go back to mechanic/workshop who signed it and ask for clarification?
or go get another rwc from them maybe

[chinx_4eva]

yea thats what im planning to do
just take it back to the old workshop and get them to do a roadworthy with of course me bringing the old copy RWC, and just showing them how it was done then and I need another one because im selling
in all hope things work out and they do a check and pass me

given that they don't pass me because of the structural damage thats when I guess ill ask for clarification

[markismaximus]

if it was overlooked in the first place it will be your word against theirs. They will say the damage must have occurred after they inspected it and whilst you owned the vehicle.

[akira]

you can do a history check on the jazz and find out if insurance paid to fix the damage. Usually insurance offer lifetime guarantee on all repairs so if that's the case then you can get the insurance to pay for everything that you have to do to get RWC.

[stndrd]

When was the previous RWC carried out before the one that has just been done to begin with?

As some people are aware, September last year Vicrods brought out a whole list of new regulations that RWC centre's have to follow. One of them is Structural rigidity. It is a whole new section that was previously left in the "up to testers discretion" basket. All testers now need to sit a short course that outlines how to check & test for these things and what to look out for.

If you have any queries, I would be call R Kent & Sons (66-70 Renver Road, Clayton 3168 VIC, PH: 1300 11 KENT (5368)) as they do crash inspection & alignment reports for a small fee. After you have spoken to them, they will be able to advise you accordingly on which way you should go.

Also simply taking it somewhere else for a RWC test, hoping they will not notice the structural damage will not help in the long run. If the tester who has said it requires an engineers report has written an official fail for the car, when it comes time in the near future for Vicroads to audit him when he applies for new RWC books, Vicroads will log that your Jazz has been recommended for an engineers report and follow up on this to see:

1) the car has had such repairs carried out

2) if the car has been taken to another tester for RWC and if yes, has it failed or passed, then possibly take the car off the road after the car has been delivered to the new owner if the engineers certificate has not been presented and RWC was given out without structural repairs done, not to mention heavily fine & possibly strip the tester who passed the car without engineers report of their RWC license

[chinx_4eva]

thanks for the feedback everyone!

I will definately give R Kent & Sons a call, thanks for the contact details
That new section added might've been the cause of all this mess

given the case, if I do bring the vehicle to another RoadWorthy centre and they do pass me, it would be entirely up to the new owner whether or not he finds out that the car has been hit before
What im saying is, firstly I was completely unaware of the structual damages to the car in the first place so hence IF the RoadWorthy centre does pass me, all the future liabilities would lie on the tester is that correct?
I know that sounds rat on me but, as stated I'm taking it back to the original tester who did the car when I first purchased and they were the ones who passed the car in the first place without notifying me of such fault in the car

hope it make sence

[stndrd]

You may be deemed as liable because you were informed and given an official fail stating that it needs an engineers report. Tread very carefully is all I can say

[chinx_4eva]

Is it possible for them to know that I have been to 2 Road Worthy centres to check the vehicle though?

[stndrd]

Yes it is. What you need to think about is are you willing to sell a car that has been deemed structurally unsafe to an unsuspecting buyer?

As I stated earlier, all it takes is for Vicroads to audit the first tester (which happens everytime they apply for a new RWC book), see that they have failed your car for structural reasons requiring engineers certificate and they will launch an investigation to see if the car has been taken anywhere and passed a separate inspection and another location.

By shopping around for a RWC centre that will pass you, you are leaving yourself & the tester who passes you open to be held liable by Vicroads, which I have already outlined earlier

[chinx_4eva]

thanks for the very helpful information Josh! I will definitely keep that all that in mind

I did take your advice and went to R Kent & Sons to see what they had to say
what they told me was, the structural report was made for cars that were sold in auction, meaning that cars that were damaged but repaired to be safe on the road
now, apparently Road Worthy testers are able to ask for such report and especially those who are not specialist's in that field.

What he also told me was that, to bring the vehicle in for an inspection as well by them, thus they can give me a genuine lowdown on how the vehicle structure actually is.
It will cost me $50 and pretty much after that they'll let me know whether its a yes or no in terms of passing a road worthy.
They can do an actual Structure report for me but the gentleman advised me not to because it would cost around $600 and its just stupid to do so.
Given that he says the car is fine, he'll call up my original tester personally to give his professional advice and hopefully he'll let me pass otherwise he'll take me to another tester that will obviously test the vehicle again but would not note down the VSR report.
R Kent & Sons were also very very helpful :)

[chinx_4eva]

Ok so an update on the situation now

I bought the car in for Andrew to have a look at, at Kents.. unfortunate to say that the vehicle has suffered damages to the rear rail and has been poorly repaired
He gave me a few options
1, to go back to the original road worthy tester and let them know what the situation is and how come they've let the vehicle to pass in the first place, give them a scare with notifying vicroads and solicitors etc etc. as this shouldn't have happened if a, the vehicle was properly repaired or b, the tester sighted the problem.
2, Repair the damages and get another road worthy from another tester

I did take the first option, but that didn't turn out so well obviously. The original tester did have a look at the car once again and said the damanges can't have been that bad when he signed off the road worthy etc and refused to sign it again due to new laws and what not.

I ended up taking it back to Kents to get a quote on how much it'll cost to repair the vehicle.
He recommended me to Cambro Motors which was just a few shops down as they supply the RWC and Kents don't, just so they can have a look at it and assess how bad the actual damage is and what it would take to get the car road worthy.

They had a look under the car and checked most of the sections and it turns out that its in a lot worst condition then even what Andrew at Kents thought, pretty much the job was done very poorly, welds were done so bad that its beginning to crack and rust etc and for them to get the car back on the road it'll cost $4-5K because they'll have to replace the whole rear rail and possibly even sides because they haven't actually taken the car apart to check the extent on the damages.
I was then told, the car would probably never because able to get a transfer ever again in its life and ill be the last person with registration on it till it dies

Of course at this stage I wasn't a happy chap, but as I stated I did have another Jazz I can sell and I guess ill be keeping this for the rest of my life..........................

So at home I decided to do a vehcile status check, everything is fine.. I still wasn't convinced so finally I bought a PPSR certificate and here we go, finally came to conclusion that
**drum rolls**
the car has been smashed before and was listed as an 'Economic Repairable Write-off' then 'Inspected' and of course re-registered and now its in my hands

What I want to know is, is it possible to find the repairer responsible for this fix? as akira said on an earlier post, given that its been repaired properly it should have a lifetime warranty on it :S
if anyone can guide me what I should do next, I mean worst case i'd keep the car but knowing that the vehicle has and is facing major structual damage, for safety reasons I wouldn't want the missus or in fact anyone driving the car around :(

[GSi_PSi]

solution...

repair the jazz with extra welds throughout chassis

because jazz race car

turn it into a track only car

[Rudy]

The original tester did have a look at the car once again and said the damanges can't have been that bad when he signed off the road worthy etc and refused to sign it again due to new laws and what not.



So at home I decided to do a vehcile status check, everything is fine.. I still wasn't convinced so finally I bought a PPSR certificate and here we go, finally came to conclusion that
**drum rolls**
the car has been smashed before and was listed as an 'Economic REpairable Write-off' then 'Inspected' and of course re-registered and now its in my hands




Compare all the dates (ie listed as write-off, inspected, then given RWC) , and use the timeline to prove that he inspected and passed the car after the damage and subsequent poor repair. Get a few 3rd party notes from licensed testers assessing the status, ie saying the repair is faulty and car is unroadworthy, as well as estimates to correct the damages. File a case in small claims against the original dodgy tester taking all the evidence (PPSR, original RWC, notes, etc). I would also consider filing against the original repairer who did the work. Someone screwed you around and deserves to pay or at least be inconvenienced majorly.

[stndrd]

Shame to hear about this man. I would be looking into your legal rights and pursue the matter further. Best of luck with it

[akira]

So at home I decided to do a vehcile status check, everything is fine.. I still wasn't convinced so finally I bought a PPSR certificate and here we go, finally came to conclusion that
**drum rolls**
the car has been smashed before and was listed as an 'Economic Repairable Write-off' then 'Inspected' and of course re-registered and now its in my hands

What I want to know is, is it possible to find the repairer responsible for this fix? as akira said on an earlier post, given that its been repaired properly it should have a lifetime warranty on it :S
if anyone can guide me what I should do next, I mean worst case i'd keep the car but knowing that the vehicle has and is facing major structual damage, for safety reasons I wouldn't want the missus or in fact anyone driving the car around :(

Call up PPSR/vicroads and tell them of your situation. I think they'll need you to send in a formal request letter stating that you require detail information regarding the said 'repairable write-off'. Vicroads will do an investigation and find out if this was covered under insurance. If it was, then you can maybe chase up the insurance and get them to fix the repair again (especially if they offer life-time guarantee like AAMI). Or if you're lucky, you can get the repairers details and confront them of their worksmanship.