Warning To Purchasers

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31784, 14 September 1968, Page 42

Warning To Purchasers

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, Sept. 13. All registration papers of vehicles salvaged from the Wahine will be endorsed by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles as a warning to potential purchasers. The Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon) said today he had given careful thought to the potential hazards pre-

sented by the vehicles and after representations from the Retail Motor Trade Association he had asked the registrar to arrange for the endorsement.

“Before any of these vehicles are sold the present owners will be requested to submit the current registration certificates to the registrar who will then endorse both the certificates and the central registry record with the words *ex-Wahine.’ “Because of their long exposure to salt water and the battering they would have received before the disaster,” said Mr Gordon, “the salvaged cars must be regarded as potentially unsafe for further use on the road.” The Minister said “backyard” mechanics would quite possibly try to repair some of the retrieved cars. Trade Advice

As well as having the registration papers endorsed, he would advise the Retail Motor

Trade Association of the registration numbers, make, and engine and chassis numbers so that motor traders through New Zealand would be familiar with the care involved.

The decision permantely to identify the cars was welcomed tonight by Mr C. F. Stone, secretary of the Retail Motor Trade Association. “As a trade we are very pleased about this —not only in our own interests but also in the interests of the public,” he said.