Illustration: Matt Golding Picture this: you have a car you want to get rid of and you want cash for it. One phone call to an unlicensed scrap metal merchant can be all it takes to make it disappear, no questions asked. Of the cars stolen in 2015-16, more than 30 per cent vanished with a significant proportion ending up in the scrap metal market. So back to that car you want to get rid of.

How much you will get depends on the car. We rang one notorious dealer who offered $100 off-the-books for a Honda Civic. Industry veterans say a Toyota Hilux could fetch up to $2000 and luxury cars $3000. The cheap cars are used for scrap metal, while earlier model cars are shipped whole offshore or broken into parts for sale domestically or overseas. The greater police focus after the 2014 report by Taskforce Discover has led to more cases filtering through the courts. In the County Court in July, father and son Hosney Yousef and Staven Matei were convicted of accepting 16 stolen prestige cars, mostly Audis, and disassembling them at their Campbellfield business, Northside Auto Wreckers.

Last year, Ali Dib was jailed for almost two years for stealing 48 cars, mostly Toyotas, for export as parts to Lebanon under his business Worldwide Spares. He made between $2400 and $5000 a car. Dale Imlach, who runs family business Imlachs Self Serve Auto Parts in Springvale, said the reputation of compliant businesses was not only damaged by rogue operators, but legitimate business were at an unfair competitive disadvantage. To be compliant, auto wreckers like his pay tax, licensing fees, employees and enormous dollars to dispose of cars environmentally safely. They also record details of every car that comes in.

"We are at an economic disadvantage because they [illegitimate operators] can pay more for a car," Mr Imlach said. He supported a tightening of regulation and a cash-for-scrap ban as long as it targeted unlicensed operators. He called for increased police powers so investigators can enter an unlicensed premise without a warrant. Currently, police and regulators are permitted to enter only legitimate businesses without a warrant. "If the status quo continues there won't be a licensed industry," Mr Imlach said.

The NSW Parliament passed a bill last month banning the use of cash, forcing dealers to keep records and giving police powers to inspect dealers without a warrant and enforce interim closures. Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce executive director Geoff Gwilym said if Victoria did not follow suit, car thieves will move across the border. "By the time government completes its analysis, pilot programs, talkfests and reports, the theft rate will have increased dramatically. It needs to take direct action immediately," Mr Gwilym said. A working group of industry leaders, government and police has been investigating regulation in Victoria after Taskforce Discover and recent recommendations of a Law Reform Commission report into organised crime. "We're are looking at ways to stop industries like scrap metal from being infiltrated by organised crime," a government spokeswoman said.

A pilot risk assessment is due for completion in early 2017.