Hail Damage During Delivery

They should seek legal advice. Anything on here is irrelevant. No second guessing or what ifs. Personally I would want a brand new van. I have not purchased repaired van. Let the legal eagles sort it out.

cheers

if thier a memeber of the states AA could be worth a ring

way back in the day they used to have a legal department that MAY have been some use if for no other reason than pointing them in the right direction.
I got legal advice from the RAA on a couple of occasions with motoring matters and they were helpfull on both occasions

just got a feeling they may not offer such services anymore

The van presented without hail damage will still be a new van with a first owner. I don't agree with the proposed insurance problem. If they were told they could pick up the van by the dealer, knowing the van was damaged and not likely to be accepted, they would have a claim for travelling expenses.

Iza

What brand is the van Des

Hi all, out of interest...not long ago, severe hailstorm in Perth damaged hundreds of cars, left many owners of cars denied repair or replacement as insurers apparently (hearsay) argued it was cosmetic damage and didn't effect the vehicle from performing the task for which it was manufactured. I still see hail damaged cars on road here in Perth now. agree legal advice sounds way to go.
MG.

hi ken 8
back in 1979 my new 26ft jayco caravan was on rail together with several other vans to dealer in perth when they were badly stone damaged by our indigenous friends east of kalgoorlie
i had paid a deposit and i agreed to have new windows and complete front end and one side alum sheets replaced it took a couple of weeks but in the end made no difference to the van or quality of it in the long run to me it was still as good as a new van and was received a van in new condition
the trouble is these days everyone wants to take everyone to court and line the pockets of solicitors
i'm sure there is a sensible outcome to be agreed to if the owner wants it and the fight will prolong the eventual results once you drag solicitors into the equation
cheers

Lots of people sell cars and vans to others that have been damaged and properly repaired. There is no problem getting them insured, the insurance value is based on purchase price of the vehicle (unless the price is inflated above the Redboook value.)

If your friends ordered van is repaired to as new condition it will still be a new undamaged van as he has not taken delivery yet. He will be able to get it insured with an agreed value of the purchase price.

Why are you putting the question to unqualified punters? The people to ask for advice is the intended insurance company. They will advise if there is any hitch in insuring it. They are the arbiters of whether they will accept the risk or not. If your mate makes a full disclosure to them and they accept the policy then things will be OK. The only time things are not OK with insurance companies is if full disclosures are not made (ie don't try to hide things.)

Hi all,
I purchased a "hail damaged"Coromal from a Mandurah dealer after the big hail storm in Perth a few years ago. I viewed the van with the damage. Agreed to pay the asking price provided it was all made good as new and had it delivered about 10 days later. To me it was still a new van. No problem with insurance. No leaks. I kept it for 4 years then sold it and now the proud owner of a new Elite van. If the dealer hadn't told them about the damage and had it all repaired prior to them taking delivery I wonder what would have happened. To me its up to them if they want it repaired or money back. Wouldn't hold it against them either way. At the end of the day you have to be happy and comfortable with your purchase other wise it will just make retirement a misery.

Ken H8

Thank you for your comments.

One of their main concerns is the lack of communication with the dealership in not returning their phone calls etc. The rightly asked to be kept informed which has turned out to be not the case.

Regarding insurance. Their insurance company advised them that any policy with them would mean if the new van was written off in the first two years it would replace it with a new van. Apparently that is not the case with a repaired van.

There are other factors that would indicate the dealership has been slack. They failed to inspect the vans when they were being off loaded, apparently the driver shot through without telling them about the hail storm.

One would have thought the consignment would have to be signed for and at least a visual inspection carried out rather than finding out an hour or so before the new owners arrived to pick it up.

They will be getting legal advice tomorrow.

Thanks again.

Ken H8

The old adage " ignorance is bliss" doesn't apply in this case, but many brand new cars & I assume caravans, are damaged prior to sale & repaired without the knowledge of the purchaser!

Ken,
Tell your friends to see the positive side of this. Had the van been damaged prior to loading at the manufacturer's yard, there's every chance the repair job may have been done there and your friends would have been none of the wiser until it was too late.

Me personally, I'd thank them for their honesty, decline to take delivery of the van and insist on a new one. Taking back the deposit will achieve very little. They'll still have to wait for a new van to be built where ever they take their hard earned to and hope that the next manufacturer is as honest and transparent as this one.

At the end of the day it's hail damage, NOT poor workmanship. As the old saying goes poo happens. Maybe just hit them up for some upgrades to compensate your friends for the additional time taken. Once all is said and done, they may just end up with a better higher spec'd van for the same money......play it to their advantage.

Fab.

The whole problem centres around who actually organised and paid for the transport of the 'van from Victoria to Brisbane.
If the purchaser arranged it, and paid the carrier, then the contract is between the purchaser and the carrier.
If the purchaser paid the manufacturer for delivery to Brisbane, and the manufacturer organised the carrier, then the delivery contract is between the manufacturer and the carrier.

Keep in mind at all times, that trucking crowds are nearly all classed as "common carriers" and as such, take no responsibility for damage during transit.
If you organise for an item to be transported, you need to arrange transit insurance.

The caravan manufacturer should have either had transit insurance, or they should carry the cost of damage in transit themselves, if they failed to organise transit insurance.

I've no doubt many manufacturers choose not to carry transit insurance and run on good luck, hoping the truckie won't damage their item. In many cases, that's a false hope.

The problem with hail damage repairs, is that they are NOT superficial repairs.
Repair of hail damaged panels generally involves a serious dismantling of the van structure - and the replacement of major panels after the 'van has been built is generally a difficult task - because so often, panels are installed first, and then the 'van is built around them.

This exercise is a good reminder to pay deposits and even full purchase amounts with credit cards.
When the company refuses to co-operate with reasonable requests to refund a deposit, when the purchaser exercises his right not to accept the purchased item because it has been damaged and then repaired - or offered to be repaired - then the purchaser can institute a chargeback, and get his money returned that way.

Purchasers have to remember that at all times, once the item has been purchased, the point where actual ownership handover takes place, is crucial.

Despite my long experience in dealings with businesses (over more than 50 yrs), I've been caught recently with an auction house.
I bought a big lathe from an online auction held in S.A., and spent considerable time in inspecting, bidding on, winning, and organising transport for the lathe.

The auction house then offered to deliver the lathe to my transport company yard in Adelaide, because of a delay caused by the auction house, that messed up my plans to pick it up from the auction house premises.

The "professional" craneage crowd hired by the auction house (and I use this "professional" word in very loose terms), then managed to drop the lathe in the process of lifting it onto a truck, thereby totally destroying the lathe in the process.

I was absolutely furious with the entire cock-up, and demanded some compensation for all my time and effort wasted - but the auction house refused point blank to accept any responsibility for any losses.
They merely refunded my purchase money and essentially told me to rack off.

No doubt, if I wanted to spend some serious money on lawyers, I could probably get a win over some "duty of care" angle - but we all know what happens when lawyers get involved.
They're the people who referee the fight, and get to keep the purse.

Cheers, Ron.

Ken

your friends should look on the bright side. Why do they put dimples on golf balls? A hail damaged van will have less wind resistance, and not cut or slice as badly as a smooth one.