What will happen to these flood-damaged cars

Hurry, hurry, hurry! Cheap cars! Or are they? NSW MTA?s Matthew Perfrement and Greg Preston issue a warning about vehicles damaged in the recent Queensland floods.

Thousands of mud-caked, water-logged cars, damaged by the recent flooding in Queensland, are not even good for salvage. But instead of being scrapped and sold for parts only, some of these cars will be presented as a ?bargain car? to unsuspecting consumers already reeling from the flood?s effect on their lives.

After being submerged and written-off by insurance companies, these cars will be sent to auction houses and it is here where the old saying comes into play: ?Let the Buyer Beware?.

Prior to being sold at auction, whether it is sold onsite or online, these vehicles will be ?cleaned up? before buyers inspect them, to achieve a higher price at auction.

This is certainly not illegal by any means, but it?s not a true representation of the car at the time of damage. The assumption many buyers have is that auction houses will present damaged cars in their true incident condition ?as at the time of damage?, and this should be the case.

At these auctions, there are scammers who will purchase these cars, clean them up even more and sell them to unsuspecting consumers at a time when many may still be recovering from the floods, or shipped interstate to others in need of a ?cheap car?.

One of the very real concerns is that parents or first-time car buyers who are looking to buy a car may be duped into buying one of these bargain vehicles.

Unlike hail-damaged vehicles where the damage is plain to see, these cars may initially look and seem to run well but the issues often faced with water-damaged cars is that problems aren?t initially visible and could take months to appear, just like a cancer eating away under the surface. Once found, they are often hard to fix.

These cars are bought with no warranty ?as it is?, so buyers need to be able to view the car ?as it was? at the time of the incident.

Amongst many challenges facing the Queensland government is the need to legislate urgently to protect Queenslanders (as these auctions are now web-based) and Australians in general, against these types of scams.

Flood-damaged cars potentially represent a very serious safety risk as well as an economic burden for those unfortunate enough to buy these types of cars.

Once a vehicle has been a written-off it should only ever be used for scrap and sold for its parts; it should not be allowed to be re-registered.

Quick action and leadership is needed from the Queensland government, which is now faced with this tremendous responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of its community and the many struggles they will have in the time ahead.

The banning of repairable write-offs (as NSW has done) will greatly assist in the protection of communities across Australia for many years to come.

Matthew Perfrement is chairman of the Auto Parts Recyclers Committee with the Motor Traders? Association of NSW and Greg Preston is the NSW MTA?s senior division manager.