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Home> AUTO LOANS > Used
Car Buyer ICBC VIN
USED CAR BUYER: Caught in middle of data
void after ICBC VIN check!
Adrienne Tanner
Vancouver Province
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Bob Werry received a disturbing letter from
ICBC this week informing him that the 1998 Subaru he bought in
September had a checkered past.
All of Werry's pre-purchase research had not uncovered the
truth - the Subaru Outback had been written off in the U.S.,
imported to Canada as a salvage vehicle and sold to him as
undamaged goods.
ICBC now tells Werry he will not be able to sell his
vehicle until he re-inspects it for mechanical flaws and
registers it a rebuilt salvage.
Even though one arm of the insurance giant knows the sordid
details for the Subaru's past, ICBC's accident history check
service still shows no record of the vehicle's problems.
That means vigilant consumers who spend $21.40 on an ICBC
claims history check have no way to find out if an import car
was hauled across the border as a wreck.
The same is true for more than 200 additional vehicles
identified by ICBC as undeclared salvage vehicles. (The owners
of these vehicles are, like Werry, all receiving bad-news
letters from ICBC).
Moira Welland, a spokeswoman for ICBC, could not explain
why the information about salvage vehicles is not shared
within the corporation. "That's very interesting
question. We have some people looking at whether that would be
possible to do."
(Editor's Note: Fortunately a North American VIN Check system is already in place here. Rather than waste more than $20 with ICBC, you can spend $19.99 USD for an unlimited number of VIN Checks on vehicles registered anywhere in Canada and the United States. CarFax gives you the information you need to protect yourself from buying a rebuilt lemon.)
ICBC conducts more than 800,000 used-vehicle transactions
each year, Welland said. It may not be worth altering a
massive information system for only 200 vehicles, she said.
Werry says his ICBC check did not serve him well. He also
wonders what police are going to shut down a ring of Eastern
European importers who do not declare as salvage the wrecks
they import and rebuild from the U.S.
"ICBC's got the information and this guy could be
rebuilding another car today and selling it," he said.
"They're doing nothing about it other than catching the
poor people who bought the car after the fact.
"A Province investigation in December revealed the
problem is widespread throughout the Lower Mainland. Police
say they are investigating, but urge buyers to conduct careful
research before purchasing a used car through a private deal.
Werry says he wants to know when ICBC found out his car was a salvage vehicle. If they knew before he bought it, ICBC should be liable for both his inspection costs and loss in value, he said.
© Copyright 2003 The Province (Vancouver)Copyright © 2003 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved. Copyright terms & conditions
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