Trailing car deal crooks to court

CRIMINAL prosecutions are being prepared against 82 dodgy car salesmen who sold potential death traps to unsuspecting buyers - mostly in western Sydney.

In the past two years these alleged shonks offloaded 1240 dodgy vehicles. Many were "cut-and-shuts" - cars on which the faults were concealed with cosmetic repairs.

Some odometers had been turned back and others were stolen vehicles that had been "rebirthed". None had come with a warranty.

The prosecutions stem from a Department of Fair Trading blitz on eight car auction houses in western Sydney. Records were scrutinised in search of people who had bought a lot of vehicles.
Under the Motor Dealers Act, anyone who sells, or offers to sell, more than four vehicles in 12 months must have a licence.



But Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge said: "Some of the unlicensed operators identified by Operation Winner had purchased up to 55 vehicles in a year and sold up to 52 over a two-year period."

Motor Traders Association of NSW chief James McCall said cars sold by unlicensed dealers were often "potential death traps".

He said many of the vehicles were previously "repairable write-offs" purchased at car auctions.

"The RWOs are then mended in a backyard in a way that is incredibly dangerous and they are going back on the road in droves," he said.

More than 13,000 RWOs are put forward for re-registration annually, according to the RTA.

Mr McCall pointed to German crash testing which compared "cut-and-shuts" to properly repaired vehicles. In the cut-and-shuts, crash-test dummies were garotted.

"It's the difference between being injured and killed," Mr McCall said.

He said RWOs should be banned. This was under consideration by the NSW Government as part of an RTA discussion paper.

Insurers oppose a ban - they receive the proceeds from the sale of RWOs. While the Insurance Council of Australia would not comment yesterday, it has said selling RWOs reduced insurance premiums and that a better solution would be more rigorous safety checks on RWOs.

"The RTA discussion paper is calling for public and industry comment on ways the Government can make it harder for criminal syndicates to reconstruct written-off wrecks with stolen parts and sell them on," Ms Judge said.

"This practice has serious repercussions for consumers who may be driving an unsafe vehicle."



More than $100,000 of fines have already been imposed on 21 people as a result of Operation Winner.


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