Updates to flagging cars
The NZTA has made changes to improve awareness of vehicles flagged as damaged in New Zealand.
The agency says the alterations will help ensure this important vehicle safety information is more readily available, including for motor-vehicle dealers and the public.
There are two key changes, which are applicable for vehicles only damaged in New Zealand – and not imported damaged vehicles.
Safety flags, which are labelled as ban flags in the NZTA’s systems, are now automatically applied in the motor-vehicle register (MVR) when a car is written-off by an insurer and typically an associated reason is recorded, such as structural, water or fire damage.
Also, Motochek reports for relevant vehicles now include the ban flag and reason if one of the above, a recall or other reason is recorded. This means dealers and others who use Motochek are better informed. Third-party users of Motochek data may choose to display this information too.
The Rightcar website will continue to inform people about vehicles damaged in New Zealand and damaged imports based on the regularly updated list on the NZTA website.
The only change is the addition of “structural damage” as a descriptor to use in warnings about relevant vehicles damaged in this country.
An agency spokesman says: “As you may be aware, a safety [ban] flag for vehicles damaged in New Zealand, or a damage flag for damaged imports, prevents the vehicle from being issued a warrant or certificate of fitness until it’s properly repaired and inspected again.
“While the MVR will be updated as appropriate, repaired vehicles are not removed from the damaged vehicle list on our website.”
The NZTA advice to car dealers is to check their vehicles via Motochek and against the list of damaged vehicles on the agency website – they are updated on different timelines.
Traders must ensure consumer information notices accurately reflect whether a vehicle has been reregistered after being damaged in New Zealand or was imported damaged. For more details, visit the NZTA’s website on written-off and damaged vehicles.
