I noticed that my CEOs car had a personalised plate, so I ‘carjamed’ it because I was curious about the engine displacement and then happened to notice that his WoF had expired 1 day ago.  The next day, I bumped into him in the lift and reminded him that he needed to sort his WoF out.  lol.  Then I showed him the free carjam report for his car on my phone and, being the techie that he is, he was pretty impressed with your site.
— by John

It’s also a good idea to check the WOF odometer reading the very next day in case the inspectors put in the wrong reading. It’s so much easier to come back to them the next day for an easy fix than going through a formal NZTA’s process of fixing the old records.

For some types of vehicles the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) , shown in our lowest priced Basic report, can be used as a guide and the 10th digit represents the “Model Year”. This however is not always entirely reliable either as different manufacturers in different regions can sometimes use a different encoding in the VIN including vehicles imported from Japan before 1999 for which the VIN usually begins “7A8″ as stamped by the LTSA at that time.

A physical inspection or pre-purchase will often determine the actual year of manufacture from additional build data in various places on a vehicle.

The Sunday Star Times ran the story “Car dealer conceals crash histories” on August 23rd 2009.

It includes the following advice to buyers in side panel of  the print version to check CarJam to look for any evidence in reports of vehicles being written off:

How to spot a car that’s been in a crash
Have the vehicles ownership history checked out by doing an AA LemonCheck or visiting carjam.co.nz. If it says anywhere on the history “registration has been cancelled”, that is a telltale sign the vehicle could have been written off by an insurance company.

Check how AA and CarJam prices compare.

In many cases the chassis number recorded differs due to spaces, dashes etc – this was one of the reasons VINs were introduced. When these older vehicles with incomplete or vague history are presented to an inspector for registration, the NZTA will provide a search service to look for the old registration plate and record. This is only provided for the inspectors and will typically only be done when you present the car for re-registration. As there are some potential security issues if we inspection, VINing and document checking are not all done together.

• CarJam – $12 ($11 for registered users)
• AA – $25
• VIR – $30

For vehicle valuation data compared to the competition:

• CarJam Valuation – $5
• Redbook Valuation – $19.95

Land Transport supply the registration information, odometer readings, fuel efficiency and pollutant information for vehicles manufactured on or after 2000.

The Ministry of Economic Development provide fuel price figures.

The data that makes up a CarJam report comes directly from the Land Transport NZ. CarJam is unable to make changes to a vehicle’s data. Land Transport New Zealand has kindly advised us of the above procedure to follow in the case of incorrect vehicle details.

In all cases the vehicle must be identified by providing a registration plate number or VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), the prescribed fee paid and identification produced. Currently, there is no restriction ion the Act about who can access this information, nor what can be done with the information once obtained.

The legislation which provides for the release of information from the MVR is currently under review. The Government has agreed to improve the privacy of the MVR by clarifying the purposes for which information is collected, and tightening up public access to it in accordance with the Privacy Act 1993. This change may take some time, but it is being progressed.

If any person considers that the supply of their name and address may be likely to jeopardise their or their families personal safety (i.e. threat to life or property), they must put their request in writing to apply for confidential status. Applications must include their full name, address, phone number and the plate numbers of the vehicles involved. Each application is assessed on its own merit.

The applicant must also supply either:

• a protection order
• written confirmation from a Police Officer to the effect that the officer believes that the personal safety of the applicant and the applicants family could be jeopardised by the supply of the applicant’s name and address
• evidence of a threat to their safety

Please refer to the Land Transport Privacy Page for further information.

Please note that CarJam do not give out the full street address of ownership data. We provide only the suburb and name which in the interests of balancing privacy with the right for a purchaser to know they are buying from the real owner should be sufficient. This policy is in line with that of similar service providers.

If the checksheet also displays the incorrect reading or if the checksheet is unavailable you would need to take your vehicle into a WoF agent so they can sight the current odometer reading. They would then need to fax LTNZ stating they have sighted the vehicle, the odometer, provide the odometer reading, advise the incorrect odometer reading and request this is amended.

The fax number to send this to is 06 953 6406.

The data that makes up a CarJam report comes directly from the Land Transport NZ. The odometer readings are recorded whenever the vehicle is tested for a WOF/COF at a vehicle testing station. CarJam is unable to make changes to a vehicle’s data. However the vehicle testing station that issued the WOF may be able to help you correct any problems with the odometer reading. Land Transport New Zealand has kindly advised us of the correct above procedure to follow in the case of an incorrect odometer reading.