Warning Issued to Repair Facilities

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has announced new policies for the registration of certain imported vehicles and motorcycles that will have the effect of making them irreparable or parts only and not eligible for licensing or plates for road use.
If repair shops are currently repairing these vehicles or motorcycles, they should advise their customer that these rule changes might mean that the repaired vehicles may never be licensed for road use.
If shops are fixing these vehicles now, they should cease repair work until the customer is advised that these vehicles, even if repaired, may now not be allowed license plates in Ontario, warns Tony Nigro, President of www.ciia.com,(Collision Industry Information and Assistance)
The association presented the salvage branding industry workshops on behalf of the Ministry of Transportation in 1998 and again in 2003.
Impacted vehicles are those that are imported into Ontario as salvage but have been identified as fire or flood damage on the registration or title.
These vehicles previously had been legally registered in Ontario as salvage and were eligible to be repaired and inspected, with a successful inspection qualifying the vehicles to be Rebuilt and license plates issued.
These vehicles will now be branded as irreparable or parts only when registered in Ontario.
It is also expected, although not identified in the governments documentation, that if a vehicle was branded salvage due to fire or flood and then subsequently repaired in the States, and after that, sold to a consumer who eventually brings it to Ontario through a legitimate import or through a household move, that the vehicle will still be irreparable or parts only.
As well, total-loss Ontario vehicles that have or appear to have had their air bag or wheel sensors immersed in liquid may be branded as irreparable flood vehicles, based on a recent appeal to the Ministry.
Shops should be cautious when repairing these vehicles.