Extensive hail damage

[Ozram]

Are you sure he'd be able to get comprehensive insurance even after he has the repair done?
Many (all in Sydney?) insurance companies will not give comprehensive on a car which has previously been written off...

I think that is just a NSW think Corey. The government have made a regulation for NSW only, so that means all the write offs will be repaired and registered in other states and then probably brought back in.

[cameronp]

I went to one of the hail-damaged car auctions out of curiosity see what my old would sell for after being written off due to hail. There was a huge variety in the prices people were willing to pay for very similar cars - some people got bargains, some people got ripped off. I paid attention to a few of the more interesting ones: my '06 Focus XR5 (with both windscreens smashed and water-damaged interior) went for $12500, an '06 Golf GTI (slightly dented on every panel but otherwise looked okay) went for $14500, an almost new but very badly damaged Mk6 GTI went for $31000 (!). There was also an Audi TT V6 that went for $22k or so, an oldish badly damaged Porsche convertible that went for an obscenely large sum of money, and several WRXes that went for way more than I would have expected too.

[Corey_R]

I think that is just a NSW think Corey. The government have made a regulation for NSW only, so that means all the write offs will be repaired and registered in other states and then probably brought back in.

Oh, I wasn't talking about that government regulation banning re-registering of written of vehicles in NSW. Even pre that, as in a few years ago after the NSW hail back then. If the vehicle is written off, and you by it back and repair it, it can't be reinsured with comprehensive, only for theft and fire etc.

[gareth_oau]

surely there is a difference between if a car is written off for economic reasons, versus a car written off because of structural damage/safety reasons.

if an insurance company decides to write a car off, i.e. it chooses not to repair cosmetic damge, for reasons of profit, then why can you not re-register it?

dont tell me, government bureaucrats making up flawed legislation again????

[Corey_R]

That's a topic for other discussion. But to summarise, what's been happening is that in over 60% of "repaired write offs" which are re-registered in NSW, the parts used for the repair cannot be accounted for. In other words, dodgy people are going to the auctions and buying these financial write offs, stealing identical cars, using the parts from the car they stole to repair the financial write off, registering that and then selling for a massive profit. There were articles and things about it a few months ago because it's become such a large issue over here.

But that's a seprate topic from someone owning a new car, it being written off due to hail damange, them buying it back, repairing it, and then whether they can get comprehensive insurance or not. If ANYONE is in this position, I would strongly advise you to talk to your insurance company BEFORE purchasing the write off if comprehensive insurance is important to you, because from personal experience in my family - comprehensive insurance cannot be obtained. Back when the first storms occured in Melbourne, there were posts from other members with the same story from previous storms, so I know it's not just a one off thing.

[Flighter]

my '06 Focus XR5 (with both windscreens smashed and water-damaged interior) went for $12500

I think I saw that one in the yard in Welshpool - was it right on the fence line on Gt Eastern H'way?

I went there to check out a 118TSi with a mere 127km on the clock in order to compare the extent of the damage to mine. Never did find out what it sold for though.