Advice on chasis tag after panel beating

RiaX

RiaX

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hello all im in need of some advice.

Some time ago I was in an accident, long story short guy shot a stop street and took me out. Took the car to ross champion panel beaters. They had to cut and weld and they needed to cut right through where the chasis tag was located. So what they did was cut the chassis tag out and give it to me in my hand.

Now I was a bit surprised about this and i asked them why didnt they put it back and their answer was they "couldnt" as the new part does not come with a tag and they threw around some panel beater jargon and said they required my permission to weld it on.

So apparently its illegal to duplicate a chassis tag (yet other panel beaters do it they 'copy it' and its apprently legal according to them). So what I know is its illegal to duplicate a chasis tag without the original chassis tag

Does anyone here know what is the correct procedure and laws regarding this and what should I do with my original chassis tag? I was a little confused because what if your car got shot up and the bullets damaged the chassis tag then what ? the car cant be a write off with minimal damage or the tag is bent
 
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Ask the police they will give you the right answer since they deal with this stuff.
 
If your chassis was chopped for ANY reason your number would have to be re-attached. You would need to declare it and your car would have to be re-classified to a rebuilt or code 3 car
 
Go and chat to the police, and your insurance company.

You are currently driving a vehicle on our roads that is illegal since it doesn't have all of its identifying tags.
 
funkzar said:
If your chassis was chopped for ANY reason your number would have to be re-attached. You would need to declare it and your car would have to be re-classified to a rebuilt or code 3 car
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whats a code 3 car ?
 
RiaX said:
whats a code 3 car ?
Click to expand...

A Code 3 car is basically a car that has been written off and re-built - any serious surgery can result in that.

Not worth very much if you ever try and sell it....if you can sell it..
 
Contact a Vehicle Theft Unit. They will advise you on what you need to do to get another chassis number re-stamped.
 
Pitbull said:
I read this as being tagged on system as S - Stolen recovery.
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They also issue chassis numbers for re-built vehicles. Normally starting with AAPV....

Speaking under correction but if I remember right they used to stamp the number on themselves.

Or maybe I should not have said re-stamped. They will be stamping a new number :o
 
I would be wary about what insurance says about this.

They've repaired your car yes, but they've left you in a worse position because the vehicle is technically now a Rebuild rather than just Used.
 
I went through this last year as my car that was given back after it was repaired "they changed the chassis" was effectively a code 3. Unless you agreed to taking a code 3 and your bank was made aware of this (if your car was still financed) this is not on.

There is a clause in the short term insurance act that says the car must be repaired to as close to possible blah blah blah, but it must be roadworthy your car is not roadworthy.
It took visits to the police pound in isipingo, the police clearance yard in Pinetown and eventually lodging a complaint with the Insurance ombudsman to get mine sorted out.

The outcome was the insurance company took the vehicle away from me and paid me out the book value of the at the time of the accident which was a year earlier after paying the bank.

have you been to RTI in to have the log book updated ? As you have a "new" chassis, this is were my issue started as when i went there they told me they had to scrap my vehilce and re-register it as a "built up" code 3.
 
Precisely what web says...

If they've changed the Chassis number then the insurance company should have written the car off and paid you the book/trade value at the time of the accident.
 
spiderz said:
Why wasn't the car written off?
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because it was a small dent it just happened in a very odd place so they had to cut and weld to do the nature of panel. Im no panel beater so when they said they needed to replace it I had no choice and the insurance assessor also agreed it needed changing

they havent changed the number of the chasis they just gave me the tag in my hand and said they need my permission to mount it on the car. I dont know why they cant just put it back where it was >.<
 
RiaX said:
because it was a small dent it just happened in a very odd place so they had to cut and weld to do the nature of panel. Im no panel beater so when they said they needed to replace it I had no choice and the insurance assessor also agreed it needed changing
Click to expand...

Legally the car must be re-registered as a Code 3 as far as I understand...
You really need to discuss this with your broker, and if they try and fob you off, request documents etc etc from the insurance company, panel beater and assessor that they've followed the letter of the law.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Legally the car must be re-registered as a Code 3 as far as I understand...
You really need to discuss this with your broker, and if they try and fob you off, request documents etc etc from the insurance company, panel beater and assessor that they've followed the letter of the law.
Click to expand...

Ok so i unleashed the brokers on the guys and the panel beaters claim the new part did not have a 'place' for the chassis tag and they were willing to weld it anywhere on the car of my choosing (I decline this option when i collected the car because this is a very strange problem so i needed to check it out also I have no idea where to weld it).

Does it matter if the chasis tag is welded elsewhere ? the insurers are confused im confused the panels beaters are now confused my friend who works for a panel beater (and gave me advice to check this out) is also confused.
 
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RiaX said:
Ok so i unleashed the brokers on the guys and the panel beaters claim the new part did not have a 'place' for the chassis tag and they were willing to weld it anywhere on the car of my choosing (I decline this option when i collected the car because this is a very strange problem so i needed to check it out).

Does it matter if the chasis tag is welded elsewhere ? the insurers are confused im confused the panels beaters are now confused my friend who works for a panel beater (and gave me advice to check this out) is also confused.
Click to expand...

Either go and ask at RTI or go to the police pound in Durban and they will tell you, they haven't replaced your whole chassis, your chassis number should also be stamped on the actual chassis, normally one of the rear wheel arches, look there and see if you can see it. My broker, The insurance company and panel beater all told me i was fine. It was onlt when i went to RTI did I get the whole story.

Check you wheel arches for your chassis stamp the number should be there somewhere.
 
thats where i got hit on the left rear arch. It was a small accident
 
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