Is there a way to find out if a car has been written off / badly crashed before buying

[CrossBones]

Is there a way, apart from careful insepction to know if a vehicle has been an insurance write off in the past? Badly/ crashed damaged vehicle.  Its not possible to finance a wrecked vehicle even if its perfectly repaired. Is there a list i could get access to when buying a second hand car

[ezzra]

I don't think that there's a data anywhere where you can find the answers for all the above, the best you can do is give the details of the intended car and ask your insurance if they will insure it and see what they say... 

[Bday Prang]

Are you referring to a list similar to the UK 's H.P,I.   (hire purchase index) ?    I'm not sure that such a list exists, in which case it would be possible to get finance on a repaired car. I suspect it actually is possible to get finance, who told you otherwise?    your wife  ??   Many things are "possible" here !

 

 If such a list actually does exist it could obviously only include damaged cars that were recorded and put on the list  so it would probably only include cars that were damaged whilst on finance, or cars for which repairs were paid for by insurance companies.

 

It is certainly  possible to insure a damaged & repaired car as i have done that several times

Easy enough to find out, If you find a damaged and repaired car that you want 

just apply  to  a finance company giving them the registration no of the car and see what they say

 

Of course as a foreigner you will find it VERY difficult if not impossible to get finance on any car   even a brand new one

[KhunLA]

One reason why only buy new.  Why we waited till 2012 to buy new car, as well after 2011 floods, and the new models come out late.   So no worry of being one of the new ones that were flooded, seen in news-blips

[Liverpool Lou]

On 10/2/2022 at 3:42 AM, CrossBones said:

Its not possible to finance a wrecked vehicle even if its perfectly repaired.

Says who?   Do finance companies here conduct vehicle inspections before they agree to the financing?  I don't think so.

[CrossBones]

I bought a car, drove for a year and just found it its been in crash before. Drives perfect.

I want to buy a pickup now and dont want to make the same mistake because the retail price on a previously crashed car is much less..

[HauptmannUK]

Short answer to OP......No.

[ThailandRyan]

Unlike the west, buying a used car here comes fraught with the unknowns. At least in the US there is a system or two, like CarFax.

[seedy]

9 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Unlike the west, buying a used car here comes fraught with the unknowns. At least in the US there is a system or two, like CarFax.

However, CARFAX Reports only show what is reported to CARFAX itself by the Department of Motor Vehicles, auto auctions, and insurance companies, for example. Notably, organizations are under no legal obligation to report their findings to CARFAX. That is why CARFAX Reports include the disclaimer language the Report “is based only on information supplied to CARFAX.

https://www.autofraudlegalcenter.com/info/auto-fraud/are-carfax-reports-reliable/

 

[ThailandRyan]

47 minutes ago, seedy said:

However, CARFAX Reports only show what is reported to CARFAX itself by the Department of Motor Vehicles, auto auctions, and insurance companies, for example. Notably, organizations are under no legal obligation to report their findings to CARFAX. That is why CARFAX Reports include the disclaimer language the Report “is based only on information supplied to CARFAX.

https://www.autofraudlegalcenter.com/info/auto-fraud/are-carfax-reports-reliable/

 

However, it is better than you have here in Thailand which is Zilch, Nada, Nothing.....

[BKKBike09]

On 10/2/2022 at 3:42 AM, CrossBones said:

Is there a way, apart from careful insepction to know if a vehicle has been an insurance write off in the past? Badly/ crashed damaged vehicle.  Its not possible to finance a wrecked vehicle even if its perfectly repaired. Is there a list i could get access to when buying a second hand car

There are no comprehensive databases of crashed vehicles because the insurance companies still don't share info.

 

Assuming the vehicle isn't older than say five years or so, consider:

 

1. Look at the service history - where has it been serviced? Call the dealer that's done the servicing and ask if any history of repairs.

 

2. If it has first class insurance, for how long and with which companies? If it has always been insured with Company A, that suggests it has not been badly damaged. Call the company and check. If it has only recently been insured with Company A, ask seller who it was insured with before and why did they change company. Then call the previous insurance company.

 

3. Go to a larger dealer for that brand and ask if there's any record of the vehicle in the company's service history database (some brands - Honda for instance - will have service history etc for all of their vehicles that all dealers can access).

 

Easiest option is, as you note, careful inspection by someone who knows what to look for.

 

 

 

[seedy]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

However, it is better than you have here in Thailand which is Zilch, Nada, Nothing.....

But your eyes ...

Put car up on a lift - all is revealed

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, seedy said:

But your eyes ...

Put car up on a lift - all is revealed

Only if you know what your looking for or at. Hard to tell for water damage without tearing off rubber boots etc...

Also hard to see if the airbags have been replaced or removed.

[rankric]

Get mrs to search on youtube for the subject matter, in thai. The videos are there, water damage ones are informative. Definitely helped. 

[LosLobo]

Get a crash repair shop to give it a check. They know the telltale signs.

They may have to remove some plastic covers to check the inside of the panels properly.

 

I had a crash in my Toyota Corolla which had been repaired quite well.

 

On picking the vehicle up from the repairer, he mentioned something about this being the vehicle's second accident.

 

This was a surprise as I had the car from new and as far as I was concerned this accident was the first and only one.

 

He went on to say that sometimes new vehicles have bad accidents before delivery and are repaired and sold by dealers as new.

 

When new vehicle had been delivered, I noticed some overspray on the car's doors handles but the dealer had lied and told me the car had been stored near the paint booth in his workshop out of the sun, the week before delivery.

 

 

[BostonJoe]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Only if you know what your looking for or at. Hard to tell for water damage without tearing off rubber boots etc...

Also hard to see if the airbags have been replaced or removed.

 

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

However, it is better than you have here in Thailand which is Zilch, Nada, 

 

19 hours ago, CrossBones said:

I bought a car, drove for a year and just found it its been in crash before. Drives perfect.

I want to buy a pickup now and dont want to make the same mistake because the retail price on a previously crashed car is much less..

Unfortunately if the truck was in accident and repaired at a quality Collision Ceneter the average person can never tell it was repaired   I owned a Collision Center in the United States for over 30 years   Not all shops do proper repairs 

[ThailandRyan]

2 minutes ago, BostonJoe said:

 

 

Unfortunately if the truck was in accident and repaired at a quality Collision Ceneter the average person can never tell it was repaired   I owned a Collision Center in the United States for over 30 years   Not all shops do proper repairs 

Yes, my Uncle had a collision repair center at Browning Oldsmobile, and then opened up his own with my Father.  Any work done was done to OEM specifications and paid for by the insurance companies.  If folks did not have insurance, back in the day, they used after market parts to get the vehicle back up and on the road as well as a hell of a lot of Bondo......

[DaRoadrunner]

As a former car salesman it was part of my job to appraise trade ins. Yes, it is possible to tell if the car has former accident damage but you need to be expert at it. The Thais are too good at covering up damage with bodged repairs. Either take an expert with you or buy a new car.