Any way of checking a vehicles repair history?

[abi]

Hi,

I have a 5 year old monaro which i purchased recently, it appears to have had a rather good repair done at some stage in its life. I'm thinking the repair was done earliy in its life and am curious to find out the nature of the repair and the extent of the repair.
I have the original service booklet which has the new car buyers details, address and selling dealer etc and the car still has the original number plates, VIN and engine number. I'm about the 3rd (at least) owner. i have contacted the previous owner (prior to it coming to me via the dealer i purchased from) and he is happy to discuss the car in detail, problem is he did not have any repairs done during his time with the car. I dont want to contact the original owner as a google of his very unusual name has him in some serious, serious trouble with the law, not likely to be released for 20 to 30 years!

How can I snoop to find out the nature of the repair and the extent of the repair?

[HOTSV8]

Vehicle history check through the RTA website in NSW . Costs about 15 bucks or so . very glad i recently did one as car i was about to buy ended up being a repairable writeoff . http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/myrta/vehiclehistory.html It wont tell you what was repaired or damaged or who fixed it but a useful tool when buying second hand .

[abi]

Thanks Hot SV8, how detailed is this type of reporting? I was led to believe it only covers repairable write offs etc such as yours, my repair looks to be a lower cost value than that. The car has had the sides, bonnet and front/rear bars painted however all panels appear to be originals to the car and with no sign of panel adjustments being made. All the factory seam sealer is as applied by machine, the bolts have not been loosened and retightened on the front gaurds etc. The bonnet is original and the bars still have the factory decal indicating the colour of the car so all original.

[bush_basha]

that rta check only does NSW tho, it wont do other states. thats why people buy write offs from different states, get them in nsw, fix them up and sell them

[abi]

that rta check only does NSW tho, it wont do other states. thats why people buy write offs from different states, get them in nsw, fix them up and sell them

True bush basha, my car looks to have been a Sydney car for the 3 owners I'm aware of.

[VY_SS_*%]

funny u say that

i bought a car i was the 2nd owner first owner was a NSW owner n the car got sold to wa from him to a dealer but i did a revs check and it came up as a repairable write off ... so i called the original owner n he said his car was written of n taken to auction .... so this car yard i bought it of must of bought it smashed n fixed it but it still came up on the WA REVS check...

i sold it 2 days later hahha go tmy $ back inc stamp.



as for the monaro.... if all seems good then it prob had all that painted prob due to someone keying it or someone did some revenge to the original owner ( being in seriouse trouble) somone must scratched the hole car hence why new paint on them pannels

[abi]

I'm thinking vandalism, as he likely had some enemies and the like but am curious to know more details.

What about insurance claims, unlikely unless I knew the insurance company.

[LS1-5.7]

Psssst, check some of the hidiholes in the car, there may be lotsa moola in there lol or some funny tasting salt .........

[abi]

OK, I did the 'RTA Vehicle History Check'.

It tells me the car is not stolen and has not been recorded as a write-off.

It also shows the car has had '6 registered operators' since 1st registered. 1st rego (Dec 05) to end of May 09 recorded as Private use. From there the car was with 'Held for resale by a motor dealer' for 8 days and then private use to present.

So what does '6 registerd operators' mean? Wow, lots of owners for a 5 year old car!

[rgmast]

So what does '6 registerd operators' mean? Wow, lots of owners for a 5 year old car!

It went from Avis to hertz to budget to europcar to thrifty then sold off privately :jester:

[VY_SS_*%]

if its been used as a hire car for a dealer ship of somesort then it explains why it has been painted coz they painted the scratches etc so they can sell it

[cinndaz]

maybe 3 couples have owned it

its not uncommon for two people to be on the registered operators list

id say the origanal owner of the car had issues with the court then would of had to paid people to register the car for him as the courts probley wouldnt have let him register it

its a common problem for people with history of fines as the can still legaly drive just not register or renew there licence when the time comes.

[whitels1ss]

So what does '6 registerd operators' mean? Wow, lots of owners for a 5 year old car!

That number would include dealers.
Example...The car may have been a dealer demonstrator in the first place (operator 1,) sold to private owner (operator 2,) traded in at a Ford dealer (operator 3,) sold to car wholesaler (operator 4,) sold by car wholesaler to Holden dealer (operator 5,) sold to you by Holden dealer making you operator 6.
That would make you the 2nd private "owner" with all the other "registered operators"
This is very common and there is no problems with it! :)

[abi]

Thanks cinndaz and whitels1ss, I think you are both on the money. The car is a Nov 05 plate car sold in the 1st week of Dec so clearly went straight out into the market with the high profile crim. The service book indicates he kept it for 30K and 2 years and then the services stopped (and the trail stopped). I come along just the other day at 66K after buying from a holden dealer who had purchased the car from a young bloke who purchased it from another Sydney holden dealer in 09.

I guess the mystery is - how long did the crim (1st owner) own the car? Did he have it beond 32 years and 30K, choosing to have services done privately (or not at all) Was the car under his ownership for the repairs? As stated the repairs are confined to both sides and front/rear bars and looks to be very well done (best i've seen) and all the original cars panels including doors, guards and bars were retained (bars still have the stickers on the inside with the cars colour on the label to assist on the assembly line).

I had the rear seat out and found automotive window glass under the drivers side rear seat, I'm guessing from the drivers window or rear side window from a break in or vandalism.

Guessing vandalism