I visited a large wrecking yard in western Sydney a few days ago.
 
After a few minutes of walking around rows and rows of dead cars it dawned on me that most of the cars there were much better than the old cars I own and struggle to keep running.
 
One car in particular drew my attention was an FG Falcon XR6 probably only 6 or so years old in the gorgeous light metallic blue colour. I walked around it wondering what on earth it was doing there. Not a mark on the paint which was glistening in the early morning sun. Finally realised the drivers front guard had a slight dint on it which could have been easily been removed and repaired in a few hours. There was no apparent structural damage. Even the air bags had not gone off.
 
On the windscreen was a large notice saying this car was a statuary write off in NSW and all states of Australia.
 
I can't get my head around why such a car was considered a write off, and of no value except in parts......
And why old car enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars and thousands of hours on the old cars struggling to keep them going.
 
Seems weird that the newer (and better) cars retain very little dollar value after only a few years.
 
I just don't get it......
 
 
 

Maybe it's run over something and had chassis damage, or it's had some drivetrain failure. Otherwise, it certainly sounds good.

I'm guessing the threshold for Stat. writeoff is lower than it once was?

I thought I read somewhere that if the car has any suspension damage at all then it is game over for the whole car.

I was always of the opinion that cars were written off when the cost of repairs exceeded the value of the car by a certain percentage.  On the other end of the scale when you look at how V8 supercar teams rebuild whole cars, including chassis straightening, makes you wonder about the structural integrity of new cars to write them off with minor damage.  Maybe with the modern push to have lighter and faster cars they are becoming more and more a " throw away item." Len

waterdamage?

All above is correct, PLUS the majority of the public have too much money and too little patience to bother with all the faults that develop in these modern cars. It's likely they've decided that what it needs to make good, is money they'll never see again, or fear that other things will go wrong, and hey, "I was getting bored with that car, and want something different".......cars have NEVER been cheaper; new or used ! I too was shocked at the prevalence of current models in all brands in seemingly as-new condition I see at Simsmetal every week...................except Toyotas and their ilk.
The wreckers even take just the fast-selling "trinkets" off and Simsmetal the other 90% of the entire car
Get a shock and check the new AND used car market for "common cars"...........mind-blowing!
 
One example: 4 years ago (2012), a client sold me an as-new Luxury full-house BMW E39 525i for $500 for a car that cost over $100,000 only 10 years earlier. His daughter wanted something different after Mummy handed it to her when it was 5 years old! Four years later & is still driving faultlessly.  Not an isolated case by a long shot. I could narate another dozen or so similar cases thru F&F proving the market and free-flowing money is distorted to blazes...........do this: save your bucks for the big "melt-down" which is coming who knows when, but when it does, those "cashed-up" will get unprecedented bargains at their feet that you could only dream of now. 
 

"save your bucks for the big "melt-down" which is coming who knows when"
 
Interesting you are feeling the same way too.
I am studying the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901. Interesting to learn about how many laws we all abide by every day which are in fact unlawful, and consider how the country is held together under a very thin veil of smoke and mirrors. We are not as safe and secure as we are taught to believe.
 

"In the UK, most people lease cars now and change them every couple of years."
 
Does that mean they are not able to pay cash for them?
 
Seems counter productive to pay interest and taxes on a rapidly depreciating liability which has little net value after only a few years.

(deep and meaningfulls on CF?)
 
If you are holding onto your cash for 'the big meltdown" then how exactly do you do it?
We've never had lower interest rates ( and my first mortgage went through 18-20% interest rates), so my money in the bank is earning nothing. Super  regulations are being played with daily, and negative gearing (rightly) is being looked at.
Getting further OT, interesting times in the US make me hestitant to look at stockmarket, so ideas ???

wovr inspectors were being threatened and couldnt be guaranteed safe in the work place hence the total write off of all cars in nsw.