The South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association is appealing to the SA Insurance Association to allow public access to the vehicle salvage database to allow consumers to check if a vehicle has been written off before concluding a transaction.
Unsuspecting used vehicle buyers are purchasing cars without knowing they have been previously written off.
This is because the registration code of the vehicle has not been amended to reflect this.
Not only does this lead to consumers purchasing a used vehicle at an inflated price but these rebuilt vehicles are often unroadworthy and dangerous to drive and require the new owners to spend a significant amount of money to get them into a safe and roadworthy condition.
The SA Insurance Association has declined this request as it does not believe the database is the solution but rather effective policing of vehicles that are bought and repaired after being sold by, by auction houses.