Newbie from Geelong, Victoria

[sycotix]

3 minutes ago, Kinkstaah said:

It sounds like the dreams have come true! (I am unable to resist)

Well nothing left but to laugh I guess...

[Kinkstaah]

In all seriousness what needs to happen is an amount of documentation as to "What it takes to fix"

"Damage" is super subjective. Something may be 1mm out, or utterly unrepairable. The people who would sign off on it should have been able to advise exactly what it needs to be, and where that item is, and who can sign off on it.

Example:
"Car not square by measurement"

It's still rough luck to get sent to "Failed Roadworthy Jail", first I've ever really heard of that. May be due to car coming from interstate.

[Duncan]

It all sounds fixable but I'm no smash repairer. I'd get a quote or 2 to get it repaired

[GTSBoy]

It can all be fixed, but if you've got multiple damage reports for chassis rails and floorpan and sills....I'd be expecting a $10k bill there. Alone.

[sycotix]

Yeah that's correct is why I feel a bit stuck. The shop estimated 7-11K to repair, but of course, they don't do those repairs themselves so it's not an official quote. 

Just a crazy series of events really. You don't know what you don't know.

I've just sent CarInspect my strongly worded letter to get an explanation but for now I've got this car just sitting there. 

Called a body shop that apparently deals with chassis repair to ask for a quote, said one word and got the reply "We only deal with insurance work, thanks" and hung up 👍

[Wazmond]

On 16/04/2024 at 4:55 PM, sycotix said:

Hi all

Finally about to achieve my childhood dreams of owning a Skyline. 

'96 R33 GTS-T is coming down from Queensland in the next week. 

I tried using a lot of the links in the stickied posts to learn more but they link to another domain that won't load.

Have these been moved somewhere so I can RFM and not bother people with basics questions?

Not a mechanic by any means so really trying to learn everything there is to know about my new baby. 

Thank you! 🙂

Hey man,

instead of www.skylinesaustralia.com/blah blah
change the domain to sau.com.au/blah blah 
and it should work

[soviet_merlin]

Man, that sucks.

Leaves a bit of a sour taste reading Carinspect's points on what they do:

Quote

Carinspect qualified mechanics work independently of any selling party, delivering you an unbiased report

Fully qualified and fully insured. Carinspect mechanic’s are the experts

Expert onsite vehicle inspections so you don't buy a lemon.

And in the list of things checked amongst others

Quote

- Evidence of Damage

- Visible frames & members
- Underbody
- Seats
- Seat belts

[sycotix]

28 minutes ago, soviet_merlin said:

Man, that sucks.

Leaves a bit of a sour taste reading Carinspect's points on what they do:

And in the list of things checked amongst others

Yep. Ridiculous mate. 

Kind of the whole point of the service really. 

[PranK]

Surely you have a fair claim with CarInspect. Try reaching out to Dept Fair Trading or similar if CI are no help. I would assume you'd have channels available here.

[PranK]

Note in @soviet_merlin's post above "Fully qualified and fully insured." - this insurance is what should cover you.

[sycotix]

8 minutes ago, PranK said:

Surely you have a fair claim with CarInspect. Try reaching out to Dept Fair Trading or similar if CI are no help. I would assume you'd have channels available here.

Thanks guys. Feels nice to hear from people who aren't just telling me 'bad luck' or 'buyer beware'.
I've initiated the complaint with Car Inspect. If I don't get a valid response I'll take it up to Consumer Affairs Victoria because the more I dig into it they didn't provide a satisfactory service.

If anyone is interested in reading the actual report they provided feel free to PM me. For one, it would help me sanity myself but also to protect anyone else who considers using this service. 

[PranK]

@sycotix can you please make sure you *cant* PM? 

There should be a restriction on you PM'ing until you hit 15 posts (your next one) - it will just help me ensure this is working as it is a new anti-spam restriction we introduced only a week ago or so.

 

[sycotix]

3 minutes ago, PranK said:

@sycotix can you please make sure you *cant* PM? 

There should be a restriction on you PM'ing until you hit 15 posts (your next one) - it will just help me ensure this is working as it is a new anti-spam restriction we introduced only a week ago or so.

 

You are correct, sir. It didn't let me PM you. 

[PranK]

11 minutes ago, sycotix said:

You are correct, sir. It didn't let me PM you. 

Perfect, thanks. 

[Akira32]

6 hours ago, sycotix said:

If anyone is interested in reading the actual report they provided feel free to PM me. For one, it would help me sanity myself but also to protect anyone else who considers using this service. 

Hey could you send me the report. I can't PM you as I haven't reached the 15 post limit yet! 

[sycotix]

Thought I'd give an update. There needs to be scarce details in some areas due to ongoing discussions. Here's the journey of trying to make the booked registration appointment (again).

• Sent a complaint to Car Inspect outlining the concerns and made some demands.
• Went to a service center in Geelong, got assaulted with bullshit items on the RWC, as you know. Tried to quote $2.5k AND wanted a structural report
• Only seemed to be one place around Geelong that does them, they demand $495 just to end up telling me it's f**ked, at least $11k to fix and tried to sell me his own Skyline in the process (bro, wtf?)
• Started stressing about what I'm supposed to do with this possible pile of steel.
• Awaiting that, I was sent an angel friend who works in Melbourne and knows real mechanics and body shops. 
• They laughed at the reported quotes (don't get work done in Geelong)
• Car underwent some front surgery and brought back better
• They then sent it to the mechanics for RWC
• Registration appointment is two days away at this point.
• Mechanics pointed out two issues: driver's seat and shocks - that's it.
• He offered couple options and I chose coilovers.
• Frantically I scoured the jungle realm that is Facebook Marketplace (again).
• Found what looks to be a decent Series 1 seat actually - $100
• Guy is friendly, offers to bring the seat with a colleague who's heading to Geelong (thanks man, that was cool)
• Seat arrived, looks good. Throw it in my car and drive to Melbourne and drop it to mechanic
• T-1 day, mechanic reckons job will be done for the fronts only, gets it done by 4PM
• Mechanic heads to get the coil-overs that night as a favour to help me make the appointment
• Get driven to Melbourne, drove the car back - RWC Unlocked! ✅
• VicRoads tomorrow, the goal is close now. 🙂

[Milkmun]

Wow mate that's huge, congrats. Glad you found better people to deal with and all seems like it's going in the right direction.

[sycotix]

13 hours ago, Milkmun said:

Wow mate that's huge, congrats. Glad you found better people to deal with and all seems like it's going in the right direction.

Thanks man, car is registered! Time to enjoy it. But if anyone has questions let me know happy to help others avoid my pitfalls.  

[Milkmun]

On 18/05/2024 at 1:48 PM, sycotix said:

Thanks man, car is registered! Time to enjoy it. But if anyone has questions let me know happy to help others avoid my pitfalls.  

Did Car Inspect get back to you?

How bad was the actual "structural" damage?

What front surgery was required?

[sycotix]

7 hours ago, Milkmun said:

Did Car Inspect get back to you?

How bad was the actual "structural" damage?

What front surgery was required?

They did get back to me. First response is from the mechanic that did the work. The problem is that the information that followed wasn't in the original report, which again, I let car inspect know should have been provided and influenced my decision to buy. Ball is back in their court and they have 5 more days to respond. 

The actual structural damage was not a complete write off as they had me originally believe.  It just needed to be corrected properly and cleanly as opposed to the botch job of whoever did it last on the rad support and undercarriage. Smoothed out the scrappy welds and did it properly plus painted.