Tens Of Thousands Of Vehicles Damaged By Sandy Turn NY Airport Into Vast Used-Car Purgatory

[Purveyor]

By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, January 12, 2013 8:58 EST

Mother nature in all her fury tossed them about like toys. Now they fill two airport runways — parked, obedient and damaged — as they await nibbles from buyers.

Cars — thousands upon thousands of them, of every size, color, make and model — roughed up to one extent or another by Superstorm Sandy in October are crammed into a New York-area airport on Long Island.

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The vehicles were purchased by Insurance Auto Auctions, a link in the US economic food chain that feeds on this kind of disaster-born mess.

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IAA is getting rid of the vehicles at bargain prices, such as $2,025 for what was once a nice 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Many need lots of costly repair work.

MORE...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/12/tens-of-thousands-of-vehicles-damaged-by-superstorm-sandy-turns-new-york-airport-into-vast-used-car-purgatory/

Used car buyers beware! That said, I'm a pretty decent mechanic and wouldn't mind picking up a good buy to refurbish for personal use.

[TheGov97]

1. Ban all Storms

Its the only way to stop these senseless acts of nature

[SomethingFishy]

5. Bwhahahahahaha! That is so clever...

man you really got all those libtards with that one!

Gun appreciation day is only a week away, don't you have a Tank or some SAM's to polish up?

[TheGov97]

8. Maybe I do......

[spanone]

7. just absolutely fucking genius.

not.

[liberal N proud]

2. Unscrupulous dealers snapping them up and reselling to the unsuspecting buyer

They will take them to other parts of the country and sell them without telling they buyer about the history.

Hope all the vehicles get registered with CarFax.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. You have absolutely no way of knowing that unless you are in the business.

And I am, so I am telling you that what you are suggesting is unlikely.

The variation of damage in a situation like this will be large, with only a certain percentage having been flooded or affected by salt water. Many will have been damaged by simply having a branch fall on them, others in wrecks, still others because the owners did something stupid like leaving the windows open.

These days it is much harder for a dealer, "unscrupulous" or not, to simply "snapping them up and reselling to the unsuspecting buyer".

The fact that IAA has them pass through their system will flag the VIN with that fact and that is easy to discover with just a few moments online. IAA handles wrecks and non runners as a matter of course. When they sell a unit, either through an online auction or at a site, the title is noted with that fact as well as whether or not it is a "Salvage" unit.

As I said in my post below, I'll wager that large numbers of them will be bought for sale overseas, where the controls present in North America are not so stringent, not to mention they will be repaired and sold on the cheap.

[liberal N proud]

10. It does happen, and buyers must be vigilant.

Cars do slip through without being identified, fewer than a few years ago, but nevertheless, there are flood cars out there.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Not in this situation.

The article states that all the vehicles in this report - the ones parked at the airport - were purchased by IAA.

It isn't as if some guy wearing a bad plaid jacket walked through the neighborhoods, buying damaged cars.

The VIN of each vehicle is recorded, a survey is done on the vehicle, pictures often taken and other necessary records are kept.

I have dealt many times with IAA as well as their other major competitor, COPART.


While the automobile business is indeed infested with unsavory types, IAA and COPART do a damned good job. If a vehicle they sold shows up on a dealers lot somewhere, the title will show them as a seller. If a new title is issued, then it has the notation of being a replacement.

Buyers must be diligent of course, but it isn't as bad as you are making it sound.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. they are parked so neatly

[hobbit709]

4. I certainly wouldn't want to buy a car that's been under salt water.

Best thing to do with those is melt them down and reuse the metals.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. I'll wager a large number of these vehicles will end up overseas.

The number of wrecked and damaged vehicles shipped overseas to Central and South America, the Middle East and SE Asia is staggering.

I know because I have delivered many damaged units to the exporters. They put them in containers and off they go. If they are driveable, cars are loaded onto Auto Carrier ships, the same ones that bring imports into the US. It's profitable because the ships have a load going the other way.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Between Katrina in '05 and now Sandy, makes buying a used car an iffy proposition.

tho sounds like Sandy gave more wind damage than flood damage.

[1-Old-Man]

13. Do you know what immersion in salt water does to a modern electrical system?

Never mind the rust that will start showing up in the spring, just think about the 'computer' driven accessories and controls on modern cars.