Should rego authorities compensate people who buy stolen cars?
Item on some current affairs show recently about people who innocently bought stolen cars and had them taken away by police, in one case a year after purchasing a $25,000 or so car.
You usually don't get the car back and it's usually pointless suing the seller, if you can find them, because they either don't have any money or they're the sort that'll beat the crap out of you.
Motor rego authorities have different levels of info in each state and territory. The main problem is that there is no national scheme of notifying stolen and wrecked cars to all rego authorities, although it wouldn't be all that hard in this computer age. So even if the Vic register shows cars stolen in Vic and some other states, that's no help if the car is stolen from another state that doesn't notify Vic, or if the VIN etc is altered and the car is registered afresh, or rebirthed from a wreck. Again, it wouldn't be beyond human ingenuity to have all VIN etc details recorded nationally and checked on registration, so that we don't have several cars running around with the same VIN etc, as we do now, and for VIN codes to be crosschecke automatically so that e.g. a car registered as a manual with an auto code in the VIN is flagged
As the problem can be fairly easily cured by governments but isn't, why shouldn't they bear the loss rather than the unlucky innocents who currently suffer because of government inaction? It's a theoretical question as the governments won't do it, but would you be prepared to pay, say, $10 to $20 a year extra on your rego to be sure you were protected when you buy a second hand car?
Maybe there should be an optional insurance policy that you (as the new owner) can get.
eg: You pay a one off insurance charge of $100 - $150 which would cover you if your vehicle was stolen property and taken back by police, whilst you own it.
I don't like the idea of adding yet more cost to the rego payments, especially if you are buying a new car and have no need for the cover.
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"To be afraid is to be alive - to act against that fear is to be a person of courage."
the house of grunt Click on the above link to go to a site about my cars, old and new.
Sounds like a good idea. In this modern age of computers and internet etc it should be a piece of piss to set up a nationwide data base of stolen and/or written off cars.
Part of the problem (I think it's changing now) is that insurance companies are too greedy and are/were encouraging car thieves by selling their wrecks at way over market value to people who are obviously going to do something shonky with the car.
An example. A few years ago a mate who owns a wreckers went to a NRMA auction in Sydney to look for some stock to buy. he saw a VS Statesman (wasn't even a Caprice), think it was a 6cyl that had been rolled several times. It was basically trashed, not a straight panel, the diff was bent, gearbox and motor were probably damaged as well. The interior was stuffed, everything was stuffed. Some guy paid about $6000 for it. There would be lucky to be $100 of usable parts on it. It would seem fairly obvious to me that this guy was just buying the comliance plates, there's no way you could (economically) re-build it, and most of the parts were damaged so you couldn't wreck it and sell parts. There were heaps of other cars there with similar scenarios.
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You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said, 'Parking Fine.'So that was nice.
you have to keep in mind that such a clause in your insurance policy would open a whole can of worms in regards to legitimacy of claims.
i believe the gov't should assist people who purchased stolen cars and had them confiscated though. if one buys a stolen car and has it confiscated, i can't see how that is punishing the thieves. the only person who gets off scott-free are the thieves themselves! if they don't get caught that is...
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<p align="center"> *** just because it sells it doesn't mean it's good *** </p> Tickford Owners Club of NSW
One of the downsides of being a Federation of States instead of a single country.
I don't know why the states just can't get together and do the same thing on many issues - we are all Australians aren't we? (well except for me :s6: )
The Federal govt tries to bring in national standards and the states just say - umm, no we won't do that.
Originally posted by FM Easy solution to the problem.. Buy new.
Bit hard for some folks I know but hey.. at least you don't have to worry if the cars stolen.
Raises something else. New cars disappear from time to time, and there's plenty of near new stuff that goes missing. If it's sold to an innocent buyer, how does the seller get around the warranty issues? Isn't the buyer of a car that's still in its warranty period going to have troubles with dealers if VIN's etc don't match?
Raises something else. New cars disappear from time to time, and there's plenty of near new stuff that goes missing. If it's sold to an innocent buyer, how does the seller get around the warranty issues? Isn't the buyer of a car that's still in its warranty period going to have troubles with dealers if VIN's etc don't match?
Exactly. And, I also wouldnt buy a near-new car if it doesnt have an owner's manual with some sort of service history. I'd assume that rebirthings fudge the model types a little, and that'd be an easy way to spot it.. say you buy an LTD, and its got an owners manual thats got Fairlane Ghia written in on the inside of the book.. i'd be more than a little worried there..
Exactly. And, I also wouldnt buy a near-new car if it doesnt have an owner's manual with some sort of service history. I'd assume that rebirthings fudge the model types a little, and that'd be an easy way to spot it.. say you buy an LTD, and its got an owners manual thats got Fairlane Ghia written in on the inside of the book.. i'd be more than a little worried there..
Be a lot easier to fake the owner's manual than the car. Go into any rubber stamp place and they'll make anything you want. Create a dealer stamp, bang it in the book, write up the service history. Hardest part would probably be getting the manual in the first place, but I suppose they're available if you're in the know.
One of the great advantages of all parts marked on a car is that you can see immediately if the VIN on the guard and rear 1/4 panels etc match the plate. Also lets you know quickly if it's been hit, which I think is why it's unpopular with some 2nd hand dealers.
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