Wicked campers off the road

Mick themungrel · Senior Member

Wicked campers off the road

pricey43 · Guru

Damn. I enjoy playing 'Spot the Wicked'.

dave06 · Guru

whilst I agree that these things should at least be road worthy a lot of infringements were for very menial things, like a minor oil leak, how can this make the vehicle unsafe??

the rental industry has been for years a very lucrative business for a minority of companies, the wicked line is aimed primarily at backpackers, I use to love reading the sometimes foul language on the sides of these things but obviously they are becoming a threat to the major players

I have often seen them touring way outback with no supplies or spares and very little backup, I have seen them broken down and being repaired by the local mechanics who then happily send the bill to "wicked" campers knowing full well that payment will be forthcoming

these are a very low budget group who cater very well to a "certain" tourist and in so doing are upseting "the establishment" this is why they have come under scrutiny and for no other reason!

in a lot of cases the major players wont allow these backpackers to rent out their units this leaves the backpacker nowhere to go!

and in all cases the backpacker cant afford the major players extravagant costs!

I say leave the wicked campers alone!

JRH · Guru

Fully agree Dave0, I have seen some damn funny sayings on the side and back of some of these vans and the backpackers actually help the economy quite well.

Yep leave Wicked alone.

Mick themungrel · Senior Member

dave06 wrote:

whilst I agree that these things should at least be road worthy a lot of infringements were for very menial things, like a minor oil leak, how can this make the vehicle unsafe??

A minor leak as you well know David can and mostly does develop into a major leak if not fixed .
I have no problem with the vans themselves or the kids that hire them but would you want your kids hiring a van that had bald tyres or other problems that made them unroadworthy . Yes I also know that the kids buy clunkers and head off themselves . I bought 1 off some Irish lads that had 4 bald tyres and not a straight panel left on it . trailered it home .

Firefly · Guru

When we were up north in 08, we were at a few vanparks that refused admittance to the Wicked campers. One reason was the things written on them. Just flat out refused to give them a spot.

I guess complaints about the company may have come in more forms than just the road worthiness of the vans themselves.

dave06 · Guru

yes fly and those messages have since been removed, they were there to attract the younger ones but frowned on, and quite rightfully so, by other campers who simply had to read them

a bald tyre is a long way away from an oil weep and is dealt with by the company very quickly, I have had a front seal weep for the last 150,000 kilometres and I am not about to replace it anytime soon, as it involves total removal of the engine, for a $2.00 seal it has not got any worse and will not get any worse

this is common amongst hi-aces and causes absolutely no threat to man or beast but given the gestapo qld laws it would be put off the road

I can only pray that this over governed rubbish doesnt cross the borders from nsw or qld and gets into south australia, if it does then 70% of all vehicles including trucks will be put off the road for menial things, almost every truck that I have driven has had a small leak of some kind somewhere

my bil lives in cairns his cruiser was put off the road for a small weep out of the fuel pump, no danger to anyone and not likely to get worse but it cost a lot of time and money to put it back on the road

safety yes, commercialism no!!!

jimricho · Guru

To quote from the link above:

"When they investigated in Cairns, they found such a serious rate of non-compliance they conducted a state-wide blitz," she said.

"Some of them were rusty, some had problems with their tyres, but overall the rate of non-compliance is very much a concern."

Mechanical faults included structural rust, defective seating, oil leaks and severe accident damage.

end quote

I wouldn't regard that degree of non compliance as trivial. Anyone renting a vehicle is legally and morally entitled to a roadworthy one regardless of the price even if the rental company does fill a market niche not catered for by others.

dave06 · Guru

I still think commercial interests drove the initial investigation and given the draconian laws of qld that is all that is needed to remove the fleet vehicles
scrutinise any fleet and you will find defects, some large some small

we hired a motorhome whilst in tassie a few years ago from a reputable hire firm, it had quite significant engine oil leaks as well as gearbox oil leaks and the driver and passenger door hinges were worn out to the stage we had to lift the door to close it, (350,000 on the clock) if this vehicle and others in its fleet were put through qld inspections they certainly would not pass!

I wonder how many other hire firms would pass! why only pick this one!!

funny how the "structural rust" has only just turned up now, what happened in the regular 12 month pre registration vehicle roadworthy checkup,

rust anywhere doesnt move that fast unless you're over at useless loop on the salt pan!

-- Edited by dave06 on Sunday 10th of January 2010 04:13:57 PM

goinsoon · Guru

Dave you have totally missed the point here because when Wicked found out that they were going to have a roadworthy inspection they decomissioned and deregistered 77 of ther fleet and made only 9 available for inspection. Queensland transport found 5 of those unroadworthy.
Vehicle defects folubd were, broken windscreens broken lights, rust, fuel and oil leaks, faulty suspension, brakes, inoperative seatblets - need I go on as there is more.
These bloody things are a danger to other road users as well as the poor buggers who are stuck with them and often left stranded.

dave06 · Guru

actually i fail to see the point as I pointed out all these problems exist in other companies why arent they picked up

the wicked campers would have to undergo annual inspections the same as any other vehicle so why werent they picked up in that inspection and why now

someone somewhere has dropped the ball in the inspection game and it is they that should have their license revoked for not doing the job in the first place

all the wicked campers that I have seen down here have been quite good vehicles and certainly in what "appears" to be road worthy condition

if wicked did as you stated and withdrew the vehicles prior to inspection then I would like to know how they escaped the normal pre reg inspection in the first place

but look thats fine, I really dont care if they are banned or not but what I am saying is good for one then good for all, lets keep it fair!

goinsoon · Guru

Well Dave I am really glad that the wicked vans you have seen are in good condition, because I can assure that the ones that I have seen here in Qld and Northern NSW have been nothing more than death traps.

I a stickybeak and I have had a good look at quiet a few, most had bald tyres, rust you could put your hand through and seats with almost no upholstery (driver and passenger sitting on frame of seats) and seatbelts worn almost to threads.

As I like a chat, especially with our overseas visitors most told me they were not happy driving them as they felt unsafe, but they were cheap so they had no option
Cheers

Brian

Smokeydk · Guru

Down where I am...........every few days a week a Wicked...would pass my home...

goinsoon · Guru

Lucky they made it past

justcruisin01 · Guru

QLD does not have annual rego inspections .

goinsoon · Guru

It does for commercial hire vehicles - I guess someone stuffed up!!!! furious

Mick themungrel · Senior Member

justcruisin01 wrote:

QLD does not have annual rego inspections .

As far as I know NSW is the only state that has annual inspections

goinsoon · Guru

Well Mick we all learn something every day dont we.
Queensland has annual and semi annual inspections for trucks, taxis,hire cars,hire limos, hire campers etc. only PRIVATE vehicles are exempt

Mick themungrel · Senior Member

goinsoon wrote:

Well Mick we all learn something every day dont we.
Queensland has annual and semi annual inspections for trucks, taxis,hire cars,hire limos, hire campers etc. only PRIVATE vehicles are exempt

I wasnt sure on Queensland re hire vehicles but I do know that NSW has annual inspections on all vehicles over 5 years old

pawsoz · Senior Member

I am with Dave here, the young and in some cases not so young people from overseas that rent the Wicked Campers are usually a great bunch!
As it happens with a little inside knowledge the vans that were de commisioned were due for that anyway and it had been planned months before all this came up.
The privately purchased older vans that may not have been serviced at all are more of a worry to me I can tell you.
Yes some of the things written on the vans are a bit saucy but I have seen worse written on t shirts in the shopping mall....

Annie

pricey43 · Guru

The Northern Territory has annual vehicle inspections. I don't know how some of them you see around Alice pass.

jimricho · Guru

pawsoz wrote:

I am with Dave here, the young and in some cases not so young people from overseas that rent the Wicked Campers are usually a great bunch!
As it happens with a little inside knowledge the vans that were de commisioned were due for that anyway and it had been planned months before all this came up.
The privately purchased older vans that may not have been serviced at all are more of a worry to me I can tell you.
Yes some of the things written on the vans are a bit saucy but I have seen worse written on t shirts in the shopping mall....

Annie

Aren't we getting a little confused between the rental company and the renters? I've seen no suggestion either here, or in the news coverage of this issue, that the renters are anything other than a great bunch. Nor is the "saucy" comments on the vans at issue. The Advertising Standards Board (a voluntary non-government body) did ask Wicked to remove some of the more suggestive ones in 2008 but this has nothing to do with the road-worthiness of the vehicles.

Unfortunately the backpackers who have their travel plans disrupted by this event will in the short term be the losers but this is no excuse to permit unroadworthy vehicles to be rented out. I can only imagine how appalled some of these people must be when they have reserved their van, "site unseen", when making their travel arrangements from back home.

If the long term outcome of this is for rental firms at the cheaper end of the market to lift their game then it will be good all round.

Rather than making unsubstantiated allegations about the behaviour of the inspectors surely the criticism should be directed to those who allowed the issue to develop to this point.

goinsoon · Guru

At last Jimrico,

Someone who recognises this discussion for what it is "dangerous and unroadworthy vehicles on our roads"
I cant understand why anyone here would want to cloud the issue with all the other stuff about good ole backpackers etc. etc. that is not what this is all about
Lets keep our roads safe, surely we can all agree on that!

brickies · Guru

Some years ago the Queensland government ignored the safety of back packers living in fire traps we all know the result , too many back packer of late have kill and injury in hire cars and panel vans I believe the government has a duty of care to hirer , the hire company in question Is a brisbane based there for it Is under the rules of the state of Queensland .

dave06 · Guru

where are all these folks killed by unroadworthy vehicles, I've yet to see a vehicle be involved in an accident purely because it was unroadworthy, this law is simply an anti "bomb" law brought in to tidy up the streets of qld and NSW and a way also to boost new car sales

I have already stated if the vehicle is to be hired then it should be in roadworthy condition at all times and if it's not then why hasn't the coppers pulled more of them up

my allegation is not unsubstantiated if at its last inspection it was allowed to pass with "serious rust" in chassis members, this takes years not months to achieve

accidents are caused by inattention, speed, drink driving, hooning and tiredness

I have attended hundreds of accidents and fatality's and I have yet to find ONE that is put down solely to an oil leak or a bald tyre or rust, in nearly all cases just pick one of the above, they will say it "may have been a contributing factor" but the main factor was one from above

if wicked had all these failures that are causing accidents and or deaths then they would have been out of business years ago and sued for eveything they had

if any fleet in any state was scrutinised in the fashion that wicked has been then there will be enormous failures

even the numbers are still being argued about by the government and the owner of wicked, so the original article is incorrect

I seen the story on the news last night and they showed wickeds "dump" of old wrecks and said how terrible it is! that these are allowed on the road, well the ones that were filmed were not on the road they were in the scrap yard but that doesnt stop a good story

I simply feel that one of the larger rental companies has placed words into a politicians ear and is trying to demolish the opposition

I am not saying anything about the backpackers apart from they need a cheaper alternative to the hire companies

we need competition in this world, and yes it must be safe competion but also fair! and reasonably priced

Delta18 · Guru

Ok, you have read, and considerably discussed the Qld Govt story.

Now read the story from the hire company point of view.

It is all very well to bag the company for not having an 'all new' fleet of vehicles but if they did they would be called Avis or Apollo or such like and the young (and not so young) people coming to this country would not be able to afford to hire a vehicle to travel.

If this were to happen they would be forced to hitch-hike as was often done in the past, to their peril.

Good on Wicked I reckon for having a go. Untidy, bit of rust, who cares as long as safety is not compromised.

My 2c worth.

Cheers Neil

goinsoon · Guru

Delta,
I think you are missing the point here, the discussion hasnt been about untidy vans but outright dangerous ones.

I have looked a many vans in Parks along the Queensland coast and wouldnt drive the ones I saw for anything.

Rust you say if there is rust in a van you can put your hand through well thats bloody dangerous, so are baldy tyres, cracked lights, worn seatbelts, broken seats.
This is not hearsay it is what I have seen.

The company says they are going to rectify this and good on them for finally realising there is a problem. (even if it took government action for them to do so.)

dave06 · Guru

I can only comment on the ones that I have seen in south australia, N.S.W., victoria, tasmania and kangaroo island, whilst looking "scruffy" because of all the writing on them I have not seen any as described

the inhabitants however are a different story, we have shared "happy hour" with quite a few sitting right up next to the vans and not seen any obvious unroadworthiness

if they are that bad then why hasnt the previous inspections found the errors,

if this is truly the case then there is corruption down the line!! including government inspection bodies who license the inspectors, why isnt THIS headline news and not some small fish trying to make a go of it!

I still feel that wicked is the meat in the sandwich here, the truth will out eventually!

goinsoon · Guru

Dave I agree on all points, except the last but I wont comment due to libel laws
Cheers

-- Edited by goinsoon on Monday 11th of January 2010 11:17:37 AM

dave06 · Guru

well if its the case then it will come out eventually, my B.I.L. reckons they are pretty strict in cairns, I dont know all the ins and outs, I mistakenly thought they had annual inspections for all vehicles

I know when he bought his hot rod off his mate who builds hot rods for a living it had to undergo stringent safety and roadworthy criteria,

his boss bought one of those highly modified six wheel drive toyota landcruisers, a feller in cairns does them, it had a weepy fuel pump and it took ages for them and a lot of doe to get it to roadworthy!

I understood the queensland authoritys were very strict on roadworthy, and given that all inspection sites must be licensed to do the inspections,

these licensee's are themselves privvy to an inspection and must meet certain criteria to keep their license,

something stinks somewhere, but as you say if I say too much then I guess I will no longer be roadworthy

but I agree these vehicles must be in a roadworthy and reasonable condition as with all vehicles currently on the road