The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

BT TW ------ > 16 - "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2000 (NC)-Many of you may be considering buying a used car, now or jn the future. Asking the right questions, and getting some independent advice or an independent inspection can be the con- UNTIL 2001! ON ALL 2000 FORD FOCUS SE. alo, pow, A/C only | Wha | 1998 FORD CONTOUR SE TOURING CW, a tin, rye oe 1996 FORD AEROSTAR XLT SPORT i WMC 7 ps, aly 0500s | busais § Sudo, apie da kis poliiih a ¥ 1996 FORD TAURUS 6L WAGON : sumers' best defence against ending up with a vehicle that has been in : an accident, and poorly repaired. After an accident, cars are written off by an insur- ance company if the cost 1999 FORD ESCORT WAGON oul, M/C, cast, only 24000kms 1999 FORD TAURUS SE COMFORT DOHC 6, 200 2, odd, su, hoy wes to repair would be higher than the value of the vehi- cle. The owner's claim is settled by the insurance company and the vehicle is either sold to an auto recycling business or at an auction. As it stands now, many of these cars are bought, fixed up and then resold to either a dealership or to an unsuspecting con- sumer. You could be driv- ing one of these cars and not even know it. ®* Down! ® Payments ® Interest - v4 \. gL 1°? ---------- ee 8 = | 200 FORD FSO LARA 414 5/C leather, CD, copioin chairs, . now or pre-owned USED AAS 1 [OF I S35 IN- STOCK! SE oe Po ESCORTZX? RE 1998 JOD RANGER XLT S/C Auto, 6, on" 17° YOUR YRLEVISION Soto sysom wih he or Jease of hie) "Insurance companies as a whole agree that once a car is written off for sal- vage, it uld be indicat- ed on the registration. Otherwise, at this point the vehicle's history as a wreck disappears," says David Campbell, national fraud manager for Co-operators General Insurance. "We would like to see legislation that requires the ownership registration to specify that the vehicle was previously salvaged in place." At first inspection, the car may have a nice finish, the doors fit well and it handles fine. But these exterior features do not mean that it has a sound © body. In fact, these vehi- cles are often dangerous. By. dangerous, we mean situations where these cars have been known to break in half when they hit a large pothole or worse, crumble in an accident. Today, most cars use a unified body construction where the body and the frame are all one piece (rather than the tradition- al separate body and frame bolted together). Although difficult to meas- ure until tested in a crash, the structural integrity of a car is changed once bent, straightened and welded. Severe damage to the frame makes restoration of the original strength very difficult and expen- sive. This provides the opportunity for someone to cut corners by just mak- ing cosmetic repairs. Right now, a wrecked car can be rebuilt and sold legally. Canadian provinces have no title separate from the regis- tration, and therefore there is no way to trace a wrecked car. British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec have the toughest laws, but even they are fraught with loopholes ~ and minor penalties, and none of them deal with vehicles that come from outside = of their own province. So for most Canadians, there's no way of finding out if a vehicle has been salvaged. Keep your eyes open for out-of-province identi- fication - like a dealer sticker on the rear, .a licence plate frame - revealing where the vehi- cle was once sold. To tell if a car may have been rebuilt, there are Used Car Buyers Beware many telltale signs which can be spotted by a trained eye: ® paint over-spray around the edges e paint on plastic panels, which was not originally painted e paint quality and check- ing door jambs, hood, etc.,, where most body shops do not bother to repaint e body panel surface rip- ples will appear if it's been repaired e body panel fit - should be an even fit around each panel e trim on and around body should also fit prop- erly and symmetrically e a good fit for the front grill and tail lights e door locks - key for one should fit 'all the other ~door-locks - if not, might -mean théiock cylinder or entire dor +has been replaced. # Wey - © glass réplacement is an indication of repair due to vandalism or crash. e tire.and wheel match etrunk "inside seams should be symmetrical ¢ dash-to-window fit (nor- mally there is no gap). Where to check: * on level ground e inside wheel wells * in engine compartment * in bottom of trunk e under body e door jambs It's not recommended that you look at it in the rain or at night as visabili- ty is poor. It's a good idea to have a licensed techni- cian check'it over. A vehi- cle inspection service can be arranged through the Canadian Automobile Association at a nominal cost. Be very specific: tell him you want to verify what kinds of things you're going to have to have repairs done for in the future; if the vehicle has been in an accident and - damaged; that you want a complete mechani- cal report and want to ensure there are no prob- lems. Consumers have made it clear to the insurance industry that they don't want to pay for auto fraud. Because this crime goes mostly undetected, it's difficult to put a dollar fig- ure on the problem. So there is not only the potential of serious injury or the loss of lives, but it also ends up costing con- sumers through higher premiums.