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READ MORE: Young woman exposes huge problem with mechanics in Australia
A mechanic has warned that many car dealerships are ripping off customers by selling them ‘repairable write-offs’.
Townsville-based repairman Dean Dalgleish claimed in a TikTok video in April he could ‘get into trouble’ for speaking out on the practice.
A repairable write-off refers to a vehicle that is so badly damaged that it is not financially worthwhile to repair and is treated as a total loss by an insurance company.
The car, however, is not deemed to be a statutory write-off, meaning the vehicle can be repaired and re-registered if it passes safety inspections.
Used car dealerships across most Australian states and territories are allowed to sell repairable write-offs, however sellers are legally obligated to inform their customers.
NSW
has stricter rules and the vehicles cannot be sold for road use due to safety concerns.
Mr Dalgleigh questioned how many customers are not being informed of the cars extensive repair history and were ‘paying full price for bad cars’.
‘I don’t know, do you reckon they’re getting away with it?’ he said.
Mr Dalgleigh said he was tempted to conduct inspections throughout the car yards just to see how prevalent the practice was.
His video has been viewed almost 150,000 times and invoked anger from social media users toward dodgy dealers.
‘People spend hard earned money to buy a car, maybe to help their grandkids out, later to find they bought problems,’ one wrote.
‘Older couple I know just brought one from a car yard in Brisbane. I just did a service on it,’ another said.
‘When I put it on the hoist I could see where it had been picked up with a forklift.’
A third added: ‘Any car written off should never be back on the road.’
Just last year the Queensland government proposed changes to the state’s written-off vehicle scheme after concerns that substandard repairs were going undetected.
The government suggested a more rigorous inspection process before repairable written-off vehicles could be re-registered.
Since 2015, more than 417,000 vehicles were written off in Queensland, with about two thirds deemed repairable.
Queensland is the only Australian state without a quality of repair process, which sparked concerns from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) that substandard repairs were going undetected.
TMR wants to mandate that mechanics keep a repair diary with photographic evidence, or ensure the vehicle had multiple inspections while it was being repaired.
The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) backed the proposals as it would ensure written-off vehicles were repaired to an industry standard.
‘Poor quality repairs can lower the structural integrity and effectiveness of safety systems, including airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners,’ a TMR spokesperson said.
The RACQ was also worried that written-off vehicles from interstate were being taken to Queensland where the cost of repairs was ‘more economical’ because of the lack of a quality-of-repair process.
A TMR spokesman said it was hard to know how long it would take to implement its proposed changes.
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