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    Elections 2024

    Dawie Roodt returns with some in depth economic analysis regarding the GNU and its future!

    Dawie Roodt returns with some in depth economic analysis regarding the GNU and its future!

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    SAIA decision deals new blow to South African used-car buyers

    According to the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (Sambra), the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) has confirmed that its VIN-Lookup website will not include Code 2 for potential used-car buyers.
    84-year-old Leon Bredenkamp | image supplied
    84-year-old Leon Bredenkamp | image supplied

    This means that a potential buyer of a used car can't check on the website if a vehicle is too uneconomical to repair as a consequence of an accident.

    At present, SAIA's website covers cars when it comes to Code 3, Code 3A, and Code 4. Code 3 vehicles are involved in an accident, and subsequently unfit for use as a motor vehicle.

    Code 3A vehicles have the status of permanently unfit for use and are not to be re-registered after deregistering as being permanently unfit for use.

    Code 4 vehicles are scrap cars that are no longer fit for the road.

    Marcia Modiba, acting national director for Sambra, said:

    “On 15 April, Sambra met with SAIA once again regarding the publication of Code 2 cars that had been deemed uneconomical to repair.

    “SAIA confirmed that after extensive internal engagements by the relevant SAIA Committee structures, they have decided that Code 2 vehicle salvage information will not be included in the VIN-Lookup website.

    “SAIA is of the view that providing general access to Code 2 salvage records would compromise those who buy these vehicles and safely undertake repairs to the manufacturer's specifications.”

    Sambra has called on SAIA to consider adding Code 2 to its website and has highlighted a recent scenario where an 84-year-old pensioner was alleged victim of an unscrupulous dealer.

    “An 84-year-old pensioner in Bela Bela has not only lost his original Toyota Corolla which he trustingly traded into a dealer online, but has also been unwittingly sold a 2021 Suzuki Brezza with just 28,525km on the clock for R230,000.

    Image supplied
    Image supplied

    “What looked like a dream car at the initial physical inspection in Johannesburg, has been found, on subsequent inspection, not only to be a Code 2 vehicle which was previously written off but literally a rolling deathtrap on wheels," said Sambra.

    According to Sambra, A full report by a specialist independent forensic inspector was commissioned by an accredited repairer and it found that the car had been declared a Code 2 insurance write-off in 2022 and subsequently handed contractually to a salvage yard.

    “Based on the current example Sambra questions again why SAIA is not equally concerned about compromising the safety of the end consumer.

    “The bottom line is that once a vehicle has been declared uneconomical to repair by an insurer and ends up at a salvage yard, it is then fair game for anyone and that is where we lose total control,” Modiba concluded.

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