Question about Vehicle complaints

[Antallica]

Hey all,

I have a little issue with a certain vehicle me and my lady were going to purchase a while back. We had it assesed long time back, and the roof was found to have some serious internal rusting of it's structural struts that was evident by the external rusting (producing bubbles on the roof above the struts).

The WoF guy I had do the inspection said he would never give it a warrant. He also told me to see a panelbeater to see about cost and to get a second opinion. Of course the PB took one look at it and told me to stay away from it as the cost to fix and get up to scratch would be thousands. We did of course and have never looked back.

The unfortunate thing is the owner has since covered up this internal rust by bogging it and repainting the roof. Me and my lady have come across it for sale just today, it makes us feel rather ill inside to think that a person could very well purchase this vehicle not knowing the possible danger to them and their family.

What I was wondering is if there is anything we could possibly do to inform any possible buyers of this, we know very well the owner will not let this information be known. Not sure what to do, I could say nothing but the thought of someone being killed in order to save a few bucks sickens me.

[sAsLEX]

I would talk to the likes of Motu, i thought there was something on the WOF comp to tell them if a car had something dodge to check it thourghly. Worth a shot any ways, he could of fixed it properly you know? but i do doubt that!

[scumdog]

Have a look at its WOF and see if you can tell where it was issued from, go to THEM and tell them what you know and point out that now they know of the problem they would be liable should the car crash/somebody get hurt due to the rust problem.

If no joy ph. LTSA (or whatever this weeks name for them is) and quote vehicle rego, WOF issuing gargres name etc.

Keep us posted

[jazbug5]

It's LTNZ. PM me with the details, I'll find out for you today who are the right people to report it to.

[ManDownUnder]

Know what - I'm bloody impressed with this little outburst of civic pride and duty...

Awesome people - bloody awesome!

[Lou Girardin]

If you do report the issue to LTNZ, put it in writing and get names of anyone you deal with there.

[Motu]

We were excited when electronic WoFs came in,we thought we would be able to track vehicles,stop them going to AVIC after AVIC trying for a WoF,make notes about dodgy vehicles to let others know to look out for it.But no...the internet allows LTNZ to track AVICs,that's more important to them.

We don't see rusty cars much anymore,after 1987 most have been fully dipped for protection and they are fast disapearing out of the national fleet.Remember that a WoF is a visual inspection only,in no way are we allowd to remove components or probe external panels for rust (we can on the chassis) How do you know it hasn't been a fully welded repair and then bogged over?....you don't,so you can't condem it's visual appearance.It's a tough one,and if I can't see bog oosing out of a beer can or cardboard,or if I can't get it to move pushing with my finger...well I can't really say it's a substandard repair.Usualy a note is made on the check sheet by the AVI,but this is only to cover his or the AVICs arse incase the shit hits the fan,he has to be aware something is not right here and make a note.

We had a Suzuki S70 van once that was rusted everywhere,roof inside and out,front and rear pillars inside and out - of course I wasn't going to even consider checking it.The owner asked me if he could repair it with fibreglass,and I said no....''oh,but it will be stronger than steel''....'yeah but Suzuki didn't make it out of fibreglass,you have to repair it with the original materials',he wasn't happy with me,and repaired it with fibreglass anyway,it was a terrible job,just matting layed over the pillars,resin oosing down.So when he came back I told him no way,I'm not going near it...I was called all sorts of names.He got a WoF somewhere else (this was over 10 yrs ago)

A few months later his lady friend rolled it down a bank,it was dragged out and she drove it into work,it was a bit bent out of shape but in no way did it fold up,the repair saved her life....you just never know eh?

[Antallica]

Quite true Motu, I can't say whether or not it has been fixed properly. I assure you though the the visual inspection would have failed it at the time (depending on who you take it to of course ). I've got the letter all ready to go anyway.

[Ixion]

..) How do you know it hasn't been a fully welded repair and then bogged over?....you don't,so you can't condem it's visual appearance..

That's actually a reasonably legitmate practice. It is (relatively) easy to weld in new steel to get the original strength back (and more usually). What is really hard is getting the steel to look good , especially if it has to follow a compound curve. So one way is to do a "strong but ugly" repair with the torch, then bog round the steel to get the curves and make it all pretty. Rules just say that it has to be repaired with the original materials, don't say that it has to look like original. Once repaired, bog for aesthetic reasons is legitimate.