Although there have been many changes that appeared to have erased that possibility, we have introduced some new features that will see an eventual return to free reports whenever we can do that, which are explained at the end of this email. Please read the following information carefully as all of these changes affect you, our valued customers.

Over the past five months the NZTA have introduced many new changes to the way in which Carjam can provide vehicle data. These changes have at times produced confusion and disruption to our Users, and we have decided to write this release to clarify exactly how these changes affect what you receive in your reports.

On January 1st 2011, the NZTA imposed a “User Pays” system to access vehicle data from the Motor Vehicle Register (MVR). This ‘public’ register is paid for through licensing, WOF and other vehicle fees. As you are aware this created significant outrage and together with our Users we created a petition which gathered more than 25,000 signatures and more than 5,000 personal emails to Minister Stephen Joyce. Although our voices were – quite incredibly – not heard, your support was overwhelming and humbling.

The result of these changes meant that Basic Facts data incurred a fee. To offset this, we decided that we would give our Users 3 free reports per month, for which we would absorb the cost as a sign of good faith and appreciation for all your support. We also introduced business accounts at a considerably reduced rate to ease the burden on our frequent users who were now faced with extra running costs for their businesses and were reliant on that information to survive.

On May 1st 2011, the NZTA introduced a new law, an amendment to the Land Transport Act, which would ‘significantly restrict access’ to ownership information. This new law means that full ownership information can only be given for the following purposes:

• enforcement of the law
• maintenance of the security of New Zealand
• collection of charges imposed or authorised by an enactment; and
• the administration and development of transport law and policy.

If you are registered under the Motor Vehicle Trade Register (MVTR) or the Financial Services Provider Register (FSPR), you can apply through us to have access to that information under terms and conditions set by the NZTA. You can now also find these in our Terms & Conditions.

What does this mean for the casual public user?

Under this new law, the public no longer has access to personal information. You can however use Carjam to “Confirm Ownership”. To do this, click on the link shown on our home page and you will be asked to enter: a) an owner’s surname, and b) their first name or date of birth, and you will receive confirmation of whether the ownership identity is correct. Company details will remain available.

On May 1st 2011, the NZTA also introduced additional fees for ”Outstanding Road User Charges and History (RUC)”, which has always been included in the Basic Facts reports.

All these changes forced us to rethink our pricing many times this year – as a result the following table outlines all the prices for report components from Carjam as of today:

This means our Registered Users will now be getting a comprehensive vehicle report for $9.97 – less than $10.00!

Despite having to charge for things that we don’t want to, our goal remains to provide the public with as much free vehicle data as we can.

Therefore, we have introduced some changes of our own!

Over many months, we have been ‘storing’ all the data from the reports our Users have queried. From now on, when you enter a number plate into our system, it will search this database, and if we have it – we will give it to you for free.

Many of our Users want static information – things that do not change over time, such as VIN and chassis numbers. These free reports will fulfil that function where we can provide them.

However, as this data is stored at the time it is queried, some ‘non-static’ data (such as license and WOF expiries) may be out of date. Please check the timestamp at the top of the report carefully to see how old it is. If you need an updated report, you can still purchase this or use a free lookup by clicking on ‘update’ in the report.

Our ‘Stolen Check’ information is automatically updated in both free and paid reports. There is no additional charge for this information.

Changes to our site: www.carjam.co.nz

You will have noticed changes to the way our site looks and operates. We understand that the integration of these new NZTA changes has at times produced frustration and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

However we have taken your comments on board, and have now created what we hope is a more user friendly tool to access vehicle data.

Your feedback is important to us, so please continue to let us know how we can improve and serve you better.

Kind regards,

The Team at Carjam

No more FREE vehicle information from the Government

As many of you will be aware, on the 1st January 2011 the NZ Government’s New Zealand Transport Agency (“NZTA”) introduced fees for what was previously free vehicle data – which CarJam sources from the NZTA Motor Vehicle Register (MVR).

We, motorists of New Zealand, have already paid for the maintenance of MVR through registration, license and other vehicle fees and taxes.

These fees make it impossible for CarJam to continue to provide unlimited numbers of free reports to our users and still keep our prices for paid reports as low as they are.

Continue to voice against government decision:

– Email the Minister of Transport

– Sign the Petition please ignore the donation payment to the petition website

CarJam FREE vehicle information

As a direct result of these changes, CarJam will now provide up to 3 free vehicle lookups per month for each registered user. You will also earn free lookups while purchasing CarJam Reports. This allows us to continue to provide the best available free vehicle information, albeit at significant cost to us.

If you are likely to want more than 3 free lookups per month then registering and/or setting up an account once registered will render you some discount options. The best discount is being “on account” but it requires a minimum of $20 top-up.

CarJam Full Reports

The cost of the full reports will stay the same.

Accounts for everyone

We have reduced the minimum top up for accounts from $100 down to $20. This will make it economical for everyone to maintain an account. You can also share an account with your friends.

Jamlerts

Now default to 3 months. Existing jamlerts are reset to one month.

Other minor changes

The NZTA changes have also required us to move to a system which does not allow computerised access to our system to make sure we are not liable for charges generated by screen scraping or other fraudulent access. This system will require site users to identify some letters from a graphical representation.

Happy New Year!

All the best for 2011 and wishing we could continue as we were but the government appear to be intransigent on this issue. If you wish to protest to the government over these changes see the box below …

Consumer Information Notice now includes a Fuel Economy Label. And it’s free with every  CIN which is free with every full CarJam Report.

Stolen vehicle can now be checked for free

Previously only available for purchase this free information represents a breakthrough in crime prevention.

If you are purchasing a vehicle or worried about dodgy vehicles in your neighborhood then what could be more useful than quickly and freely determining if a vehicle is stolen as reported to the police. Only from CarJam!

Consumer Information Notice

Also available in this site upgrade when you purchase a Security Interest report a free Consumer Information Notice – mandatory if you are a dealer and very, very useful if you are selling privately to reassure your prospective buyers of the reliable facts about your car.

Odometer history and vehicle usage are now eye-candy

Odometer and usage graphs now show the basic history of a vehicle in an easy to understand visual format with any irregularities highlighted to avoid confusion.

In another market changing innovation from carjam.co.nz, the fastest growing automotive site in New Zealand, we are offering a special introductory promotional pricing of $6.85 for Account holders (excluding Dealers Guide module). This compares to our retail pricing of $12 per report and is the cheapest way to buy multiple complete reports for businesses available in the market place today.

Read more on our Accounts Program

Also in this site update:

• Increased promotional discounts for one off report purchases – $9.85 for registered users (excluding Dealers Guide module)
• Smart phone friendly layout for the mobile CarJammer on the move
• New CarJam page on Facebook where we’ll be making all our pre-release announcements first in the future and linked to our Twitter account if you prefer tweets. Become a fan today!
• Valuation report module turned on providing the most cost effective “Dealers Guide” vehicle valuation available to the public

CARJAM (New Zealand’s number 1 source of vehicle reports) and the TSI group of companies (New Zealand’s number 1 provider of Dealer Management Software) are proud to bring to the public, for the very first time, access to the same information used by vehicle dealers nationwide to understand and assess the value of the vehicles they trade.

Ever wondered how dealers establish their pricing? Now you can find out exactly what a vehicle is worth in the eyes of the industry directly from CARJAM at http://carjam.co.nz, this is not a guess at the value from an uninformed source, the Dealers’ Guide is based on hard data sourced directly from within the automotive industry and compiled by TSI.

Not only is the data the most accurate guide to New Zealand trade pricing for the public, its the best value with an introductory price of just $5 when purchased as part of a standard CARJAM report.

Established in 1959, to provide Estimated and Actual pricing statistics for the Motor Industry, the Dealers’ Guide has grown to become one of New Zealands largest collections of Motor Vehicle Sales Statistics.

Click here : http://www.carjam.co.nz/cms/dealers-guide/ to learn more about the Dealers’ Guide and how it can help you assess the true value of any deal trade or private.

About CarJam: http://www.carjam.co.nz/cms/about/

About TSI Group: http://www.tsinz.co.nz/aboutus/

January marked the introduction of the CarJammer as a registered user of the CarJam site – its FREE to join and there are immediate benefits:

• Get a $1 discount off all reports this can equate to as much as a 25% saving on the Basic facts report!
• Manages your previously purchased reports for all vehicles in your JamShed – which is your landing page when you login — essential for the regular user, private or licensed vehicle dealer or fleet operator
• Automatically adds the details of every car for which you purchase a report to your JamShed for easy access
• All purchased reports in your shed will have free and Basic facts automatically updated every time you review them from your JamShed. this means you can find out with a single click what’s the current status of all your cars

We will be bringing you a JamShed load of features in the future and will be listening for your feedback as to what you want to see.

• money owing section is back;
• one report to rule them all;
• fixed a few bugs including the most popular one: when printing in Internet Explorer the very first page came out blank

Carjam want to give you what you want – we’re not here to waste your time or money. We’ve had many requests to include PPSR (“money owing”) in the reports to simplify your life. We have added it back and included a simple report interface so you can de-select anything you don’t want.

Checking a vehicle couldn’t be simpler or cheaper – just Jam It!

• Carjam Silver Report is now report with “Basic Facts” and is cheaper at $4 (instead of $6)
• Carjam Gold Report is now report with “Basic Facts” and “Ownership history” with the same price tag of $9
• Plus now you have an option to have money owing (registered debt) section in your report for an additional $3

If there’s anything you want to see us doing differently just let us know info@carjam.co.nz – we’re here for the New Zealand car/bike/truck/scooter user.

We are busy working on some new features. One of them — historic and estimated fuel cost for vehicles. This and some other changes are just around the corner. Stay tuned.

We are equally excited and frightened of what’s lying ahead. But we will always aim to keep website a useful part of the informational cloud.

We are drivers and vehicle owners too — let’s make it into the pearl of the auto websites!