Ask an expert

I recently bought a car at auction on a whim based on a friends advice. Turns out he hadn't paid close attention and noticed that there was a box ticked that said it was "imported as a damaged vehicle".

The car appears to run very well and I've not picked up on any problems thus far after about 600km. I am worried that there could be some future issues with the car however, but don't know how to find out.

Should I just ask a mechanic to look over the car to see if they can find any obvious problems?

Since the car had suffered structural damage, how did it pass a WOF on entry to NZ?

Paul

To be honest it’s not all bad news.

Used imports that come across the border as damaged vehicles must be repaired, inspected and signed off by a repair certifier as part of the compliance process.

This inspection is based around the structural integrity of the repairs to ensure the vehicle has been repaired to the highest possible standard. There is also a well documented paper trail on these repairs to refer back to if required.

I have to say in the main there are few problems with that side of used imports.

The same rule does not apply to a car currently registered in NZ that happened to be involved in a major accident but was not written off. Those vehicles can be repaired and resold without any independent sign off or documentation being recorded against them.

The only down side is your vehicle is tagged forever as being imported damaged and future buyers can see this if they carry out a Vehicle History Report.