Couple of questions re Roadworthy laws and rust Ok , a quick outline.....................
A mate purchased a 71 Corvette from a ( large ) card yard in Sydney and bought it site unseen and had it shipped down here. The car was sold with reg and roadworthy , both from NSW.
When the car arrived , it had been registered the previous day in Sydney , yet had a number of items that were not roadworthy.....speedo broken , no handbrake , couple of other little things.
The next day , his missus drove it to get some petrol and was involved in an accident. The other driver was insured , so no problem with repairs. It is currently at a repair shop.
The car yard has been contacted in regards to the roadworthy , which was obviously dodgy and advised that they will be paying all associated costs to get it RWC in the state of Victoria. This they have verbally agreed to.
The repairer has now rang my mate and said the car is ****ed , the frame has bad rust in it. I havent seen it , but can only go on the repairers description , which was " get rid of it to someone while you can ".
Although we have the car yard by the balls in regards to a false roadworthy , what is the law in NSW in regards to rust and a roadworthy certificate ?
Any help appreciated , particuarly from anyone in the mechanical trade in NSW that is involved with RWC checks
Sanity
any visible rust must be removed and the area fixed to the correct standards.
Easiest way to show my meaning.
Just did the rego on the wifes car , two spots of rust on door pillar = failed rego till it was removed and repaired and then had to be re-inspected for a pass.
It also has a " customised " setup under the bonnet.......the radiator was mounted closer to the front of the car with twin thermo fans on it.
It seems that it does not have a radiator support panel and the previous owner has created a " different " setup with the cooling.
I would be expecting that a radiator support panel would be part of a roadworthy. I used to work in the auto trade many moons ago and we used to sell a lot of HQ-Z panels because people would get knocked back on roadworhies for rust in them.
Ok, this sounds pretty messy....
The vehicle was sold with a bodgy rwc. The vehicle tester who provided the rwc has some answering to do.
Second, it was purchased from a licencened motor vehicle trader. He also has some answering to do.
Rust must not be structural. A outer skin of a door with rust can be considered structural, specialy in a side impact.
ADRs are in place that any panel modifications forward of the firewall must be accompanied with an engineers certificate.
Corvettes bodies are fiberglass from my understanding but im unsure if the floor pans are steel. They do sit on a seperated steel chassis.
This may help but related to Victoria
This is also Vic related
Body and chassis section may interest you (page 9)
Remember they are Vic related but all the states are very similar in requirements.
Oh and one other thing, check if the roadworthy states that its valid for 30 days, and act QUICKLY.
30 days RWC When a RWC is issued in Victoria the RWC inspector signs to say that the vehicle was roadworthy at the time of inspection (probably not in this case) the 30 days is just the time frame for which you can use the certificate (i.e. Registration or transfer). Think how far a vehicle could be driven or what damage can be done in 30 days by some people, hence 'at the time of inspection'. That still makes it hard to explain the rust!
It seems to me that every inspection site has a different interpretation on the regulations. I would assume that they would have some discretionary power when it comes to wear ( ball joints, suspension rubbers etc )
When I bought my current ( 2nd hand ) car the speedo cable was broken. Rego time came around so when I tried to get a new cable I found there was none in the country & would take 3 weeks to get one. The car was A1 in every other respect so I rang the place that inspects my car & told them the story & asked if the would pass it if every thing else proved OK. NO WAY they said , speedo MUST work. So thinking that the RTA may have some sort of interim system going I rang them & told the story. Could not get a cable for 3 weeks , rego runs out in 1 week & I need my car for work. Now the RTA man said to me that you DO NOT need a working speedo , it is only an aid & will not make the vehicle unsafe. He gave me a number for the inspection boys to ring & he straightened them out.
End of story , car passes rego.
I got talking to the RTA bloke about the variations & interpretations & he asked if I had ever had problems with cracked windscreens & rego. I mentioned that everyone seems to have a different veiw concerning position of crack , length of crack when deciding if it passes or not. He told me that next time it happens to take the car away , knock the windscreen out completely , then take it back.
They have no option but to pass it.
Until recently I had a very hot Morris Minor that an old bloke used to pass for rego but he has died & I can't find anyone else to do the inspections ( it scares them ) so I've taken it off the road. The old bloke used to maintain that since it is already registered he only has to treat it the same as any other vehicle & do the same checks. Not sure if he was right but I didn't push the matter.
Licensed security installer & Trainer
if I've been helpful - add to my reputation
you were born with two ears & one mouth
so listen twice as much as you talk
my brother had a similar thing happen to him.
He purchased a car that had a roadworthy done 10 days prior to its sale(they last for 30 days in NSW).
Got the car home and found it was pulling severely to the left so he got a wheel alignment done and it was no better.
He took it to a mates workshop to check it out and found that the whole floorpan(which was monocoque structure) was rusted out beyond belief, it had freshly painted underbody sealer hiding it.
Turns out my brother worked for the RTA at the time, so he had a chat with one of the inspectors who checked it out for him and contacted the person who wrote the pinkslip and advised that they had to repair it or they would revoke his licence to carry out vehicle inspections.
It was fixed within the week, bloody good job done too...Funny that
Not all states need a RWC to register a car.
They just sight the car and VIN number.
There is no doubt the roadworthy is dodgy. The car was bought from NSW and freighted to Victoria , sold with registration and roadworthy. The registration sticker showed it was registered the day before.Originally Posted by global88
I have allready ripped a new arse in the car yard and they have agreed to meet costs in making this car roadworthy in Victoria.
The car was involved in an accident the second day he owned it and is currently at a repair facility. The repairer has just contacted my mate and said the car is ****ed.......it has bad rust in the chassisn frame. I dont know exactly what he calles ****ed as I havent seen under the car and what he is referring to.
One thing is for sure though , this car yard seem to have no problems with getting any car registered even though they are blatantly unroadworty. I am just wondering if all states have the same roadworthy laws , or whether they differ between states.
in qld. the renewal notice comes in the mail box.
u sign on the back that all is the same, or u have changed address, then with the notice in one hand, money in the other u head off to the RTA or post office and pay them, then wait for the rego label to turn up by mail, and u are good again for 12 months.
what roadworthy certificate ? the only time one is required is if you are going to sell the car.
Or buy the car. You cannot register a car in to your name without one.
Just did some reading and found that the roadworthy laws from state to state are similar but not the same.
Each state dictates its own interpertation of the law.
NSW is known for bodgy roadworthys.
The basic rwc seem to be the same, they are governed by adr's (australian design rules), but they have grey areas such as car modifications ie pod filters etc.
Very hard to find a straight answer though where ever you look.
Id try calling vicroads and its NSW counterpart for a straight answer personally.
Last edited by global88; 30-03-08 at 12:57 PM. Reason: added more
Thats what I thought might be the case , thanks for the confirmation as I havent been able to confirm that one way or another.
It was bought with NSW reg and RWC with the intention of immediately having a Victorian RWC performed and the car transferred in to his name.
I was there when it was delivered by the card yard's single car transporter with a car yard employee driving. He said to my mate , " a couple of things...this doesnt work , that doesnt work " etc etc which I thought was very strange but as I wasnt sure what agreement he had with them , I didnt say anything.
This particular car yard deals exclusively with classic , sports and collectible cars in Sydney and I am amazed that they thought that they could just get a dodgy RWC and register it. Althought they have agreed to pay costs to get it roadworthy in principle , the repairers comments have put a new swing on things as he is basically saying the car is beyond help. I havent actually seen the rust , but will be going to the repairer with my mate to have a look at what he is referring to.
The car yard have a lot to lose here and I intend to throw the book at them if they dont come good on what needs to be done , but it is starting to sound like this vehicle may have to be sent back to them and a refund demanded.
Anyone that is looking to buy this type of vehicle from a prestige looking car yard in Sydney , please think twice before doing so and PM me so I can advise you of the name of this car yard. I wouldnt like to see anyone else have this happen to them , we are talking about 30K plus of car and thats a cheap car from them. I cant post the name of it here , as with other companies I have named for illegal services certain Austech viewers contact the people concerned and I get legal threats.
Yes, a good idea to see the car for yourself, sounds strange that the repairer clasified it as not worth repairing.
This is after he has started repairing it after submitting an insurance quote to the RACV. Apparently an auto electician who is doing some additional work was under the car and has pointed it out to the repairer.
The accident wasnt a big one with just some front damage ( which did come to 15K ). If this rust is so seriously bad in the frame/chassis , I cant see why the repairer didnt see it ? By rights , he should have put the car on a hoist to check any under car damage when doing the insurance quote. It gets stranger by the day.
I cant see it being that bad , but after seeing the blatancy with which this car yard has acted in performing a dodgy RWC , I really dont know what to think. We are going to have to have a look at it soon ( its in Melbourne ) so I will be taking the camera and sending some photos to the car yard.
It really looks like a big legal shitfight is going to erupt if they dont take the car back and refund his money as clearly the car wasnt RWC as agreed as possible has some rust which would require a full chassis rebuild or replacement which would probably cost more than what its worth.
Just a suggestion, get the panel beater to repair the body damage, take it to a RWC tester, point out what you know is wrong and tell him to test/fix and pass it legally on behalf of the caryard and let them take care of the cost.
Let the caryard deal directly with your RWC tester, bills and all.
The only thing id be worried about is that the car may be repaired and the caryard may refuse to pay.
Then its a major problem.
$15k sounds like a new fiber glass front and spray.
If it was just panel damage i doubt the repairer would have put it up to check it on a glass car.
If the accident did cause damage under it he could always have called the racv back and ammended his quote.
Obviously the accident had nothing to do with the rust, he is only pointing it out.
The roadworthy was the one supposed to catch it.
I doubt the chassis is rusted through, maybe surface rust that could be removed unless it was driven on snowy roads coated in salt.
My guess is that the tee top or windscreen may have been leaking and in turn the floor pan has rusted through and im sure the section can be cut out and a new piece mig welded in.
If it is just the floor pan she can be repaired as good as new, its a easy fix for a panel beater and some mechanics with a grinder and a mig welder.
Its more a matter of can you trust the caryard to keep their word.
A car pulled in front of it at around 60-65 k , so it has hit a stationary object at that speed. Surprisingly , no new front , they are repairing the old one.
I personally cant see the chassis rust being that bad , but my mate quoted a few things the repaiirer said which are of concern ( such as " get rid of it to someone while you can " - " its ****ed "" )
If this car yard has got a dodgy roadworthy , its possible the chassis is ****ed....its not something I would write off as what the card yard has done so far is absolutely unbelievable as to the amount of unroadworthy items. Its the kind of shit you see on a current affair etc.
Oh well , we will find out when we see it I spose but I can see a shit fight coming up over it. The car yard has most to lose so hopefully they realise that.
Ive had here in Vic 2 x times now when a road worthy was done on VN Commodores we purchased and passed the road worthy . Some one has done a dodgy on the steering rack and used a short joiner clamp. There by causing the intermediate shaft to pull its rubber part out of its socket above enough to disengage it from the top section.
The result is a intermediate shaft steering a car with just a rubber molding in a cylinder which slips in the upper part of the intermediate shaft .It holds for a while till the rubber gives and the rubber turns.
My son went to turn left the car went straight ahead.
Very easy to eye ball when doing inspections.
The bastards were more worried about door rubbers .
Crikey pieces, whomever the hell did that job needs to be hunted down - and shut down - before he kills someone.
Any chance at all of finding the dunny-door modifying clown ?
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