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Vicky4me

Hi. I am interested in a Honda Stream 2001. The person selling the car has a car wrecker business and sells cars. He said it had a cambelt sticker and that it has been changed but it must have been waterblasted off by the person who tidys the car up. How can I find out if it has been done. I have called Honda but they dont have that history on this car. I have called NZTA for the history of who owned it before and they said you have to pay for the information and it is not guaranteed that they will give you the information.

Anon

Hi there,
The only way to be sure is to have a mechanic look at it , they will advise on if it looks new/ factory or indicates a recent replacement. They can't guarantee how long it will last or when the next one is due unless a sticker is found or the previous owner supplies a record.

Vicky4me

Thank you for your reply. I am wondering because it has done 167,000 that surely the cambelt must have been done once or the car would have had problems in this area?

Anon

Yes, if the cam belt wasn't replaced yet it would potentially not last more than 130k.

Vicky4me

Thank you. Do you have any idea how I can find the history with the car. eg what km the cambelt was done? I can see Carjam lists when the warrant of fitness has failed or passed, I would think something like when a cambelt might be important information to record as well. Especially if it is so easy for the sticker can be waterblasted off.

Anon

Hi there,
A WoF and registration is an NZTA requirement and all issuing centres are linked so every WoF and registration is recorded in the NZTA database. But vehicle servicing is not mandatory nor are all workshops linked, and anyone can fix a car at home etc. So there is no way of telling who replaced what on a car. The only way records are kept is if the vehicle spent its entire life being serviced by the one shop/dealer and they would have a database linked to the customer. But this would be private information and only the previous owner could give that out.

Vicky4me

Thank you for all your advice. It has been very helpful.