He told me that many of the repos have been thrashed to death by their previous owners. There are many people out there that buy cars they clearly can't afford, and knowing that the car will eventually be repossessed, do not treat the cars very well. Well for Victorians, you could do a pre-purchase check of the vehicle in question through VicRoads so you can at least get some idea if there is money owing on the vehicle. This service is free and completely automated so it is available 24x7x365. Simply give it the license plate number and you'll get all the important info you need including the validity of the rego, the VIN and engine serial number! need to pay for that, not necessary for ex-government.