Flood-affected vehicles hit the market

The RACQ and Motor Trades Association of Queensland have warned interstate buyers to be wary of any second-hand vehicle that appears a bargain. RACQ spokesman Steve Spalding said at least one purchaser in Tasmania unknowingly bought a flood-affected vehicle.

The new owner found out when he unsuccessfully tried to get it registered. MTAQ spokesman Richard Payne said the problem would be solved if all states and territories could agree on a single definition for a flood-damaged vehicle.

"Queensland is about to tighten their definition, but we want them to go further like NSW," he said. NSW has changed its Statutory Write Off Laws so all written-off light vehicles will become non-repairable write-offs and not able to be registered anywhere in Australia.

"Queensland's current definition of flood damage is submersed for 48 hours. Who determines that?" said Payne. "With our recent spate of flash flooding, you could have a vehicle that went under but wasn't under for 48 hours so it doesn't have to be declared as a stat write-off."

Payne sad he had heard reports from other state industry body representatives that Queensland flood-damaged vehicles had been offered for sale. "The VACC for example said they felt that some might have come south, but I can't put an exact figure on it," he said.

"A lot of flood vehicles have been written off, but a lot haven't been and they are the concern. There are about 6000 vehicles flood affected in Queensland, but I'm not sure how many have been written off.

"So it could be in excess of a thousand that are being put through the auctions spread out over a period so as not to flood the market if you'll excuse the pun. Our concern is that these vehicles are back yard repairs and are of dubious quality and have had no checks before they go back on the road."

Payne said their members were "gun shy" of buying cars for fear of buying a flood-damaged vehicle. "So if they can't find a market here, guess where do they go?" he said. "Vehicles don't have any boundaries and the wholesalers will go anywhere to find a market so there is the potential for them to be shipped around a bit."

Spalding said consumers faced two risks with buying flood-damaged vehicles. "The first is if the seller doesn't declare the car a write-off, and secondly a purchaser not taking the steps to protect themselves by making enquiries with the final seller," he said.

"As always it is in the buyer's interest to protect themselves by making their own necessary checks regardless of what legal onus is on the seller to disclose the car's flood or write-off status."