15,000 Hurricane Sandy cars up for auction.

[elsolo]

Originally Posted by GreenEnvy

This was what you said... think about how anyone else would read it.
Originally Posted by elsolo
So you want the government to pay the current owners of the vehicles, or should they be forced to lose their investment?

Should this be done only for big floods, or anytime insurance totals out a vehicle?

What other personal property rights do you favor eliminating?

you make it sound like the owners are going to lose everything on their vehicle if the govt doesn't step in and do something.

And then you turn around and say the same thing I did... scrap. you just put it as scrap value. I said turn itno metal shards... a scrap yard would do that now wouldn't they, or does your neighbor happen to have a shredder in his back yard? (even if he did he sell it for scrap).

Maybe I have lost the ability to clearly explain simple things.

The insurance companies OWN those junk cars.
They can sell them at auction as "parts cars" or whatever you want to call recovering maximum scrap value from their investment. That does not imply that they need to sell them as scrap steel shreds.

The owners (insurance companies) would lose their investment if the government did step in and make some dumb law about flood damaged vehicles not being able to be auctioned off as salvage vehicles.

I don't know how this is confusing to you.

[GreenEnvy]

Originally Posted by mac.mogul

If you're able to, buying a salvaged car with flood damage can be a good investment.

I've seen people buy Shelby GT500's that were salvaged because of flood damage. The only thing wrong with them was the electronics. Replace that and you've got a 500+hp muscle car for a fraction of the cost. Do you run the risk of future problems? Yes of course, but buying a 50,000 dollar muscle car at an auction for less than $20k with $2k of repairs seems like a bargain, yeah? You won't be able to get full-coverage insurance, but you may be able to get collision coverage or at the very least liability so even that will be cheaper. You don't pay property tax on salvaged titles either.

Good thinking... if you have cash in your pocket to get liability.
Banks aren't going to give you that kind of money and say "sure, we'll trust you. go ahead and get liability".
And finding full coverage on a performance car like a gt500 you repair yourself... good luck, performance/exotics/specialty they'll usually want an itemized repair list (usually one of their appraisers) and certified repairs (someone they can go back at if a problem arises. I.E. electrical fire). Or they will only cover what you paid for it, no more. Each insurance is different however.
A low dollar car, insurance probably wouldn't have that big of an issue with.

Now if your looking for a cheap track car... game the hell on! strip it and flog the hell out of it

[GreenEnvy]

Originally Posted by elsolo

Maybe I have lost the ability to clearly explain simple things.

The insurance companies OWN those junk cars.
They can sell them at auction as "parts cars" or whatever you want to call recovering maximum scrap value from their investment. That does not imply that they need to sell them as scrap steel shreds.

The owners (insurance companies) would lose their investment if the government did step in and make some dumb law about flood damaged vehicles not being able to be auctioned off as salvage vehicles.

I don't know how this is confusing to you.

My bad... musta been this line which you so clearly put.
I took it you were talking the owners losing their investment, or who were you talking lose their investment?

So you want the government to pay the current owners of the vehicles, or should they be forced to lose their investment?

[elsolo]

Originally Posted by GreenEnvy

My bad... musta been this line which you so clearly put.
I took it you were talking the owners losing their investment, or who were you talking lose their investment?

So you want the government to pay the current owners of the vehicles, or should they be forced to lose their investment?

The current owners of those vehicles are the insurance companies that bought them from their clients.

The current owners have all the right in the world to return as much value from those junk cars as they can, by auctioning them off for scrapyards or restoration.

If there were some law preventing flood damage vehicles from being sold as flood damaged vehicles (as was suggested), then the current owners of the junk cars get screwed when $2000 junk parts car becomes $40 worth of junk steel.

[Focus YBTC]

Originally Posted by elsolo

The insurance companies own the vehicles, that's what they do when a car is "totaled", they buy it off you.

So you want the insurance companies to eat a huge loss by not recovering scrap value for the property they own.

That is your call for government involvement, making the government force the insurance companies to crush their junk cars.

You want dramatics, how about a poorly thought out appeal for more laws and regulations to protect stupid people from their own stupidity.

P.S.: I don't buy salvage vehicles. If you don't know what you are looking at when buying used equipment, go lease a new Kia. Call you insurance agent and tell him you are going to buy a salvage vehicle, see if you will be saving any money, you won't.

My son bought a salvage titled vehicle a few months ago and the insurance company (USAA) was FINE with it and his rates were very reasonable. He knew the seller though, who owns a shop specializing in Subarus and the car was an Imprezza repaired by the shop and the car has been fine. I think if the sellers want to sell the vehicles after being submerged they should be required to be disassembled to parts and any electrical parts should be required to be smashed and recycled.

We've been through this situation after every major hurricane and salt water flooded cars HAVE BEEN SOLD later to unsuspecting buyers, often in different states where the "flooded" status of the car may not be apparent with a title from that different state. In cases like this the government (aka "We the People") is not an enemy and can help protect citizens from unscrupulous sellers of flooded cars.

[elsolo]

Glad your son called his insurance agent, some companies won't insure salvage vehicles, and you want to know that before buying.

I don't think the government has any role trying to enact laws to protect consumers from their own stupidity.

If you can't evaluate a used car properly, have a pro give it a look over. If you do neither of those and buy junk, well that's your own fault. If it is still too frightening or risky, buy or lease a new car with a warantee, even if it is a cheap econobox.

Every single person I have known that bought a salvage vehicle did it because they wanted what is too good to be true. They had a Kia budget but wanted a Cadillac, so they buy a "smoking deal" salvage vehicle so they can drive more car then they could have afforded. Some had major problems, some did not. All of them were told by the seller that the car was salvaged due to a "minor accident" which required a willing desire to believe on the part of the buyer.

[GreenEnvy]

I've got an idea... lets ship them all to long beach. let the buyer beware there

[Capt. Obvious!]

These cars still have a purpose to serve, some may make perfectly fine daily drivers others could be good for projects, and yet others could be used for parts. Any time you are buying a used car you should inspect it thuroughly, especially if buying from a used car dealer as they tend to get most of their cars from auctions.

water damage is generally pretty easy to spot. first look for obvious things like a water line staining the interior or light housing full of water on a car too new to have bad seals, then of course look for rust or corrosion. Check the oil to make sure it isn't milky (and trans fluid if automatic). then look for sand, silt, and mud hiding in crevisis. don't be afraid to pull the carpet in the trunk/cargo area back either, a lot of times if you pull the liner away from the sides in those areas you can fit you hand down in the rear quarter panel, these areas will often collect water or mud in a flood car and it will stay there forever if no one pulls the carpet back. Another easy thing to check is the drain plugs, Most cars have drain plugs on the floor boards and throughout the enderside of the chassis. Normally these will have some undercoating on them, If you look carefully you may notice signs that they have been removed, this could indicate a flood car.

Now these things don't necessarily mean it was in fact a flood car or even that it is not a good car, but they are signs of a possible flood car and should definitely be used as leverage for a better deal.