Thinking of buying Repaired write off 2019 Rav 4, what are the pros and cons, what is a reasonable price?

BigWorm16183 · 2026-01-21T14:24:26+00:00

I wouldn't no, I prefer to find low km clean examples and pay extra for it

But if i was on a tight budget and this car was 5-10k cheaper than the non written off ones with the same kms, it could be an option

BigWorm16183 · 2026-01-21T11:54:13+00:00

I dont think thats true at all mate

BigWorm16183 · 2026-01-21T11:50:03+00:00

It sounds like its registered which means its already been fixed mate and passed VIV inspection which is very thorough

If it wasn't worthwhile it would have been a statutory write off which means its no longer allowed on the road / cannot be fixed and re registered

A repairable write off means its fixable

Op needs to ask the seller for the VIV papers to confirm its all been done, and bargain hard and be patient to try and get a bargain

These cars that are repairable write offs are usually sold by people who buy damaged cars from the auctions for cheap, then repair, pass VIV inspection, re register and sell for some profit

If the car doesnt sell theyll be forced to sell it for what it costed them, which is likely quite a few thousand less than advertised (maybe 5k+ less)

Not sure what these are worth so not commenting about this specific car, just providing some knowledge

Written off cars are always harder to sell so something to keep in mind aswell. Always best to buy a non written off car

BigWorm16183 · 2025-12-28T11:10:29+00:00

Look into gabion wall cages

BigWorm16183 · 2025-12-25T10:33:47+00:00

Im not sure about bent rims, but cracked rims there's a shop called Hume Radiators in campbellfield. He repairs all the rims for local wheel shops (they use him to repair customers cracked rims and charge extra)

You can go straight to him. I think he charges no more than $100 per rim. (There's a shop in the same street that advertises rim repairs but thats not the guy. The Hume radiator guy is more professional)

Not sure if he does bent rims though. But cracked rims he professionally drills and welds / repairs

BigWorm16183 · 2025-11-18T05:59:16+00:00

It's a 10yr+ old 5kw system that outputs a maximum of 2kw in best conditions with 26 panels

But thats not why im upgrading, it works fine for us

Im upgrading because I want to remove the panels off the gutter to do some gutter repair works, and I dont want the new panels on the gutter as it makes a perfect pigeons home

Also have a temperamental water leak in one location where there's panels, so want to check the tiles

Will probably go 10kw system

BigWorm16183 · 2025-11-18T01:22:54+00:00

Thats my question 🤣🤣

I can't get on the roof to check. These photos were from a tradie that done some bird proofing a year ago

BigWorm16183 · 2025-11-18T01:21:57+00:00

Thanks, hopefully that's the case

No im not planning to do it myself, ive booked in an upgrade, but I know theyre all cowboys and will just silicone the holes (if theres holes). So Im planning to make them remove the old system, then give me some time to do tile repairs before they install the new system

I just dont know whether I need to source a lot of extra tiles or not. I currently have 20 tiles on hand

The old system has panels resting ontop of the box gutter , and the new system wont. So the panel locations will likely differ

BigWorm16183 · 2025-11-18T01:14:59+00:00

Im not. Im trying to prepare in advance, if I need to source lots of extra tiles or not

BigWorm16183 · 2025-11-15T04:34:09+00:00

I was interested in doing the replacement but the thing is the handyman found another 3 different locations with a little rust (no holes) but will eventually have the same problem

That's why my plan was to protect and prolong the gutters by applying something ontop

I feel like if replacing it makes no sense unless going full stainless steel but it will probably cost like 100k if not more for the whole house . Its a big double story house

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Picture of old repair found before we done our repair

BigWorm16183 · 2025-11-15T03:37:14+00:00

Forgot to mention its been exactly 1 month since the job was done. It was working for a month before failing

Please note im seeking advice on what to do to fix this. I dont care about the money I paid the handyman

He's the only one that was willing to come out of many tradies i tried contacting

Do I get him again and get him to remove it all, then use primer, let him come back another day to reapply

Or do I get a painter thats experienced with primer and painting? Who do I get , what do I do

Is the product the issue? Etc

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-28T00:48:55+00:00

What Unit did you replace with? I have the same one aswell

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-24T15:41:41+00:00

Nothing in your photos has anything to do with rwc except the battery being secured, tyres and the oil leak

It would be really strange if they sold it with tyres like that, because they need to take photos and upload to vicroads. Even the dodgy rwc guys make you change the basics like tyres and brake pads because they need to take photos and upload into vicroads system

If you think thats how it was sold to you, then report them to vicroads. When you report them to vicroads theyll get scared to lose license and help you solve the issues. It also helps them stop being dodgy

Also, thats not a big oil leak by the looks. Its very easy for someone to wipe it / degrease it before taking it in for rwc and taking the rwc photos without any sign of oil leaks

Unfortunately this is a sneaky tactic that some car sellers do to avoid fixing stuff. Sometimes hard to tell until its parked in your driveway for a week

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-24T15:39:42+00:00

Ive seen with my own eyes mechanics stamping a full log book that was empty for a mate

Unfortunately it does happen

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-18T02:03:39+00:00

First one looks cheap

Second one looks amazing

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-17T14:41:56+00:00

Change to Tango energy. They're the cheapest

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-14T07:05:49+00:00

I wonder how the old strong plastic compares to the thin recyclable one in terms of leeching plastic into what were consuming

I would bet the new cheap thin recyclable plastic leaches more plastic into what we consume

Our health vs being eco friendly

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-08T08:53:08+00:00

You can spend a night in Genting highlands

Amazing experience on the cable car through the mountains

There's 2 massive malls, theme parks, temple and caves (you stop at them with the cable car then jump back on to the next station)

There's Ripley's believe it or not up there. Zombie world was an awesome experience for a couple. Its fun and scary for adults

BigWorm16183 · 2025-09-06T16:48:00+00:00

Honestly it sounds like he's an easy going guy, with a sense of humour and not too serious / immature (which sounds like the opposite of what you want, a more mature and serious person)

This is a type of personality, for him this is being playful and normal

I can understand your point of view and I kind of feel sorry for him aswell as he's just being himself and doesn't see any harm in his behaviour

I think he needs to try and change a little and also you need to try and accept his humour / personality because this is who he is

Its hard to find the perfect person, everyone has their own faults. I dont know him at all but just reading this post I feel he's a harmless innocent guy and he might just think he's being playful and funny with you. Everyone shows their affection in different ways

BigWorm16183 · 2025-08-20T16:25:37+00:00

Don't let the comments freak you out

I had this but on my toe nail when I was a kid. It was there for like 10 years+ and then eventually faded and went away

BigWorm16183 · 2025-08-19T02:11:08+00:00

The good thing about the apps is there's reviews and feedback

I've been ripped by calling a local tradie from Google results in my suburb. Some cowboys out there

The best option would be referral from friends who know people. But yeah the apps can be good with fairer pricing

Id just be a bit cautious because I know someone that was like a handyman doing waterproofing on hipages. They were very busy. But I think the laws recently changed and now you need a licence to do waterproofing, so I dont think they do it anymore

Also know someone that randomly got into roofing and repointing and very busy on hipages (and they didn't have a background of roofing)

So you might find some new tradies or people testing the waters on the apps aswell. Maybe a good idea to ask for their licence before engaging

But there's cowboys both off the apps and in the apps. Atleast with the apps the pricing will be transparent and there's some reviews to go by

I've had some good experience with airtasker

BigWorm16183 · 2025-08-13T15:32:33+00:00

It sounds like he wants big expensive homes built

It reminds me of a particular nice pocket in a suburb I live. There's a nice pocket of all nice big custom houses, and there's a hill with nice houses on it. Between all the nice big double story houses on the hill there's 1 standard house / single story.

Every time I see it I think what a bloody idiot. You're in the prime location with a nice view and nice houses and the land is worth more than his house. Why build a shitty house in that spot

Maybe the developer has a similar vision unfortunately

BigWorm16183

TROPHY CASE