Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Just a smile.

I had the misfortune to buy a third series Series 5 BMW that had been imported from England to Australia (not so easy these days). I needed an automatic because I was recovering from a rather nasty bike accident. As a car I liked it but I discovered that this particular car had a number of problems that resulted in water coming in, the main problem was rusted out drains around the sunroof, and some other rust issues, so I decided to get rid of it. I was lucky to get back the money I had paid for it.

A month later the young guy who bought it contacted me. Apparently he had had a minor accident and whilst the insurance company agreed to fix the damage they cancelled the future insurance. The reason was that inspection revealed that not only was it two cars that had been put together as a "cut and shut" but that the work was so dodgy that the car was potentially dangerous. His body shop said that the work could be fixed but the cost was probably more than the car was worth!

Naturally the buyer was very upset but I knew nothing of this when I sold him the car so, particularly given the low price, it was a matter of “caveat emptor” . I imagine that he would have either had the minor accident damage fixed and sold it on, or taken the insurance money and sold it as was.

I later learned that cars were often stolen and chopped up to provide parts for accident damaged vehicles. The "repaired" car with a shiny new coat of paint and underseal to cover the underbody welds is then put on the market, or in this case exported, and purchased by an unsuspecting buyer.