A cracked chassis, missing dashboards and suspension held together with rope are just three defects found in cars stopped by police in a warrant of fitness crackdown in Rotorua.
Ten cars were found to be so dangerous they were immediately ordered off the road.
Rotorua police teamed up with the New Zealand Transport Agency for Operation Waltz, a night-time check of 552 vehicles.
The agency's Midlands manager David Pearks said there was a noticeable improvement in compliance by "boy racer" vehicles but they were disappointed by the discovery of many cars that did not comply with warrant of fitness standards.
"Some of the faults we found included a vehicle driven by a dad taking his son to the ball that had a cracked chassis, no approved seatbelts, the air ram unit protruding through the floor and it had an unapproved suspension unit, all of which resulted in it being unsafe for those riding in it as well as to other road users," Mr Pearks said.