Recirculating condemned cars

[Ridha]

Just to start the conversation, Is it legal to repair a condemned car, make it look like accident free from outside and resell it for the normal market value of non condemned version of the same car. Because a friend of mine just caught in something similar. 

Edited April 13, 2019 by Ridha

[iRage]

Should a condemned car be put back on the road ? In Sri Lanka...NO...if a vehicle is condemned then it is because it has had significant damage and not viable to be fixed. In some countries, like in the US...maybe...because some times insurance companies condemn vehicles that have not had any structural damage (but condemned because the parts and labor charge is greater than the market value of the car itself; for example...an old car....fixing it might cost 2000USD in parts and labor whilst the value of the car is only about 1500-2000USD itself). In Sri Lanka that hardly will ever be the case considering the cost of cars...so if it is condemned it is because it has had some serious damage.

Unfortunately, in SL, the legal framework does not protect anyone who gets swindled by such vehicles...you can try to lodge a complaint with bodies like the consumer affairs department (?); but I seriously doubt anything would happen....and if something was to happen it is going to take a long long time.

[Ridha]

This friend of mine bought the car from a place in cmb and after like 4months after buying it she has noticed that the air bag light was keep blinking and  she has gone to see a mechanic. There she has got to know that her car has had serious structural damage to the body which she was totally unaware of at the time of buying it and car sale people have sold it for the usual market price. They have perfectly hidden everything that some ordinary person could never tell that it has gone through a major accident.

So with the information from the garage she has visited Department of motor traffic to get the previous details on the vehicle. But surprisingly there had been no record regarding condemning the vehicle which people from garage thought a vehicle undergone a damage like this should definitely get condemned.

Next she eventually got to know about the insurance company that this car was insured previously from the department. She is apparently the 3rd owner which she was told by the car sale. Without stopping from there, she has dig into it's previous insurance records. And there you go they have all the records photos and dates of the car. And it says the car had been undergone a major accident and it has been condemned. 

The  controversial things is that after she bought the car she has insured the car from the same insurance company that this car was condemned couple of years ago. How ever the person who dig into the database to get her information didn't noticed that at that time. If he noticed he would have never showed the Information anyway.

Knowing how slow the legal things move on in SriLanka she has finally decide to go to the car sale and without delivering any information she knows, she has politely asked them that she got to know that this car is damaged and she wants her money returned which they refused and didn't agree and strongly denied the car is damaged. 

With thousand and one other problems to deal with she didn't want any more problems to go through so she was ok to settle this down even in expense of 2to 3laks loss. So she gave the car sale another offer that she would like to change the car to a one in for sale now. 

Which they agreed but buying the car 4laks cheaper to the amount they sold it for her. And they seems to be unusually increasing the prices of cars currently on sale too.  

So at the end of the story just asking for your thoughts. What are her best chances. What options she has.

[NPP]

Won't the book be updated when it gets condemned or have the insurance company as an owner?

[iRage]

  On 4/13/2019 at 2:40 PM, NPP said:

Won't the book be updated when it gets condemned or have the insurance company as an owner?

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It should...but with all these book sales and swaps...there is always a chance that they swapped the book...

[varotone]

  On 4/13/2019 at 1:42 PM, Ridha said:

She is apparently the 3rd owner which she was told by the car sale.

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The CR has the details of the latest 3 previous owners and the current owner including the dates of transfer. If an insurance company or leasing company has owned the car for a short time, it's can be suspected to be a condemned car. This must be easy to find out.

I'm quite sure that such a badly damaged vehicle will show signs of damage. Especially newer ones with crumple zones. Mechs here would do a lousy job.

I don't think the book was swapped as @iRagesaid. If the book was swapped, the registration number would be different from the one that was condemned. Digging the history of the car from the current number will not reveal the accident that happened under a different (old) number. I may be wrong. The car sales crooks might have a way to get it done.

 

Also, there are plenty of "ghost" books in circulation. Once a vehicle is totally destroyed (like written off) the registration should be cancelled. At least, that's the law. Literally no one does it. Quoting the DMT;

"In case a registered motor vehicle is removed from Sri Lanka, or destroyed or has been dismantled or rendered unusable  permanently, the registered owner should inform the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic within 14 days, for the cancellation of its registration"

[Hyaenidae]

Once she gets her replacement car take it to the social media with the evidence she has collected. Make sure another unsuspecting buyer won't fall into the same scam.

[PreseaLover]

  On 4/14/2019 at 12:39 AM, Hyaenidae said:

Once she gets her replacement car take it to the social media with the evidence she has collected. Make sure another unsuspecting buyer won't fall into the same scam.

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And I think the lady should reveal the name of the car sale too so that in the future people would think twice to buy from that sale. these car sales dudes are real crooks.. they can do this to any vehicle and not only this. 

[Hyaenidae]

  On 4/14/2019 at 6:25 AM, PreseaLover said:

And I think the lady should reveal the name of the car sale too so that in the future people would think twice to buy from that sale. these car sales dudes are real crooks.. they can do this to any vehicle and not only this. 

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Yes, by "it" I meant this whole fiasco, including the name of the car sale.