NSW BUYERS BEWARE

funny mine is comm na and my brothers was brand new but we still pay the same?

sorry wasnt lookin properly were in lay back wa

Yes , that would be correct.. Its missing the intrusion bar for passenger safety. Probably figure that no passengers equals no need for the intrusion beam, and now more chance of passengers getting hurt in a side impact thus it costs more to insure!!! Maybe you should check inside the doors, the beam may be there and the RTA are only assuming that they have been omitted. Michael

Paul
You got me worried, as I have an ex cop GU series 3, so I went to the NRMA website to get an estimate on the CTP greenslip, came to $336 !!.
I rang NRMA personaly to confirm this, they read back details of the car, yes $336
?????

Rob

Thanks Paul,
I have a day off next week and will go in to NRMA and do another estimate.
If it comes up the same, will pay there and then.(rego is due end of this month).
I'll keep you informed.

Rob

Maybe this is the time to start our own campain
and tell the general public,

DON'T BUY AN EXGOVERNMENT CAR
er: 4WD,panelvan, light goods van etc....because of .........

This might get through to the fools in govt when they can't get rid of the backstock when it starts to accumulate.

Cheers Aston

I'm just glad I don't work for the Government!

Paul,

Have you ever checked the engine number on your Patrol. I purchased an ex police Gu Patrol. Before driving out of the auction place checked the engine number. It was different to the Rego papers. It had a new engine but the engine number had never been changed with the RTA. Had to get a blue slip and verification from the dealer about the new motor. Plugger

Gee - we've bought a few vehicles through Govy auctions in WA, not aware that there could be differences. One was a landcruiser ute - ex Telstra. 5 years old, low kms. BUT it was registered as a wagon. It had never been converted - it was a tray top ute alright. Local licensing inspectors couldn't believe it when they saw the papers and the vehicle. What about non 4wds - cars, wagons, any difference in them? Usually anything ex Police is greated with less enthusiasm from the bidders; I thought because they'd been caned.

I use govt 4wds a fair bit and see a heap of them and I wouldn't touch them with the proverbial barge pole.

They do a nice job washing and polishing at the end replacing broken bits etc but the treatment they cop doesn't mean that the supposed low k's are worth it. These vehicles are cheaper for a reason, THEY'VE BEEN FLOGGED!!!!!!!!!

In a work vehicle, speed bumps=launch pads.

This sort of attitude pisses me off because I try to look after the cars but I'm the only one in the fleet. How many times have I jumped in to find 4wd locked on the bitumin..........., and I know it's been that way for 150+ K's. Repeatedly past the service date by 10s of thousands K's. Drive softly till warm, yeah right. Speedo broken for months = @50,000+ K's by my estimate, so yep it's got low K's. etc etc

If the vehicles were treated with respect I don't think the govt would need to sell them at such low K's.

I know some people do OK from the auctions, you gotta check which dept they come from but I've seen the flogging from all depts. Police vehicles while may be a bit harder life are treated a bit better from what I've seen, gee thats a good trade off.

So how do ex govt fleet purchasers fare in the long run? Do you guys also run them for a year and then pass them on?

Dunno about Police vehicles. Can anybody imagine a radio conversation like:

"Sorry, Sarge, we know it's an emergency but we're waiting for the engine to get up to operating temperature before we can run it any harder".

Or the news report:

"Police abandoned the pursuit when they realised that they were in danger of causing excessive wear and tear on the mechanical components of their vehicle".

LOL

Hi Paul,

It certainly is something to be aware of.

I can only speak for Queensland and in fact most Queensland government vehicles are now leased and not owned. I can tell you that with police and emergency services (excluding ambulances and fire trucks and other specialist vehicles), most others are changed over at 40,000klm. In some cars this can be reached in a matter of months as the wheels do not stop turning.

General duties cars get flogged. If you get an emergency at the start of your shift on a cold winter morning, you don't hang around for the engine to reach a good operating temp before responding. Its 0 to full on in a matter of seconds. We have vehicles that get new brake pads every couple of weeks etc so they have a very hard life. On top of this you get some people who just don't care about the car and this also reduces their life.

The cars to try and get at the auction are those that have been used by senior staff etc who do not routinely respond to incidents as these don't cop such a harsh life. The trick is that you have to know who has had the vehicle and its history so that you can track it to the auctions. I know a lot of people who have done this and have ended up with a good car, generally about twelve months old with low mileage. Two friends have picked up great Landcruisers that have been great but as I said they were fully aware who had them and how they looked after them.

Then there is always the lemon factor. My current work vcehicle is a new Holden Commodore. With 200klm on the clock the engine died and was fully replaced so you just never know.

I know this doesn't help you a lot but just wanted to add a bit of input.

Cheers

All,

Here is the final entry to my story.

Rang an Engineer.....had no idea what I was talking about......I quote him "a doors a door isn't it mate?" suggested I ring Nissan and check for different part numbers

$440 for an Engineers certificate.

Rang Nissan part to find out the different types of doors available.

They had no idea what I was talking about. They had 5 doors listed...... (I don't know where the 2nd part of the split rear door went).

I'm guessing the doors on this car come out of the factory without the side intursuion bar but if they need replacing they are replaced with doors that have them.

Anyways

$920.15 FOR "ONE" DOOR without Paint, Labour and fitting.

So thats a total of $4120.60 plus Paint, Labour and Fitting (If I got Nissan to do it)

For the extra $110 you have to pay for the green slip......i'll be coughing up !!!!

Paul