2018 Lexus 2018 GX 460 Salvage- two buyers that had to have it

[GON]

Yesterday, a 2018 Lexus GX 470 Luxury edition went up for auction as a salvage title in Seattle. State Fram owns the car, states the car is worth 39k at retail (undamaged) and has 37k in damage. I studied the car and came to the conclusion that from a visual standpoint, the is not a deep structural damage. But that is without pealing back the onion.

I did research as to how 37k of damage. Speculation on my part came down to high tech electronics. This SUV had all the safety bells and whistles, like a camara and a radar in the front grille, etc. Not a lot of these SUV with this option made, so a lot of (speculation) highly costly parts. A visual inspection shows needs condenser, air conditioner line, etc. I have no idea why the rear bumper was pulled. Bottom line, used parts will be very hard to find for this model.

As the car was close to me, decided to see if I could snag it. My limit was 14k. I was the high " pre bid" winner until a few minutes before pre-bid closed, then I was "beat". That was wacky. I went to work, and noticed pre bid then went all the way to 23k, Wow.

I watched the auction on this SUV. A bidder from NJ and a bidder from Armenia battled it out. Winning Bid: $25,475.00. With fees before shipping about 28k. WOW. Shipping to NJ, likely 2k. Shipping to Armenia, beats me but I suspect at least 3k. This is why auctions get so crazy, and Sellers love auctions. Two people that "get into it", and over pay, and overpay like crazy. I watched these two bidders go back and forth. On a car I suspect neither ever saw in person or inspected, and that the Seller disclosed has 37k in damage.

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[MrHorspwer]

@GON With as much as you bid on auction cars, have I got a podcast episode for you.



The scenario in the podcast is spookily similar to this exact scenario. It follows a salvage late model white Lexus SUV (an RX, not a GX) from a Copart auction in New Jersey to Turkmenistan, where it was repaired in a small shop that specializes in restoring salvage cars (mostly Toyotas, from what was reported) and sold for profit in a market that otherwise is pretty restrictive when it comes to new luxury vehicles.

 

[atikovi]

You're competing against buyers from countries where labor rates may be just a few dollars an hour.

 

[Kira]

Another informative, unique and thoughtful post from GON. Thanks

My plebian perspective jumped immediately to assuming that the white car's driver was texting.

 

[CKN]

You're competing against buyers from countries where labor rates may be just a few dollars an hour.

I suspect your observation is on point. Who is to say the bidder over paid when it can be fixed with ultra cheap labor rates? In addition I also suspect that getting all the safety features in good working order in a foreign country may not be a high priority.

Also-

Standard car shipping costs to Armenia fall between $2,000 and $5,000 for most vehicles. There have been recent changes to the value added tax that Armenia charges on vehicle imports so we encourage our readers to get a free cost estimate for the most accurate figures

 

[GON]

You're competing against buyers from countries where labor rates may be just a few dollars an hour.

Yes, but for this vehicle, it is the proprietary electronic parts that appear to be the why the ca was salvage, not the labor. Two things to study, the radiator support, and the bumper absorption pieces. Neith show a lick of damage or stress.

The repair on this vehicle, by appearance is very minimum and non-labor intensive. Just a lot of very expensive proprietary parts that may be very hard/ next to impossible to find on the secondary market.

 

[GON]

Another informative, unique and thoughtful post from GON. Thanks

My plebian perspective jumped immediately to assuming that the white car's driver was texting.

Kira,

"assuming that the white car's driver was texting."

That is a great point. This vehicle has automatic crash prevention. So I suspect the car was going pretty darn fast, but the automatic brakes and crash protection stopped what may have been a major accident into a loss of a front bumper, grill, hood, and most costly, proprietary and very pricey electronics.

 

[AlphaOmega]

You're competing against buyers from countries where labor rates may be just a few dollars an hour.

The more precise definition would be “countries where one buys result and not hours”. However many hours it will take is a service provider’s problem. An employer will hire a guy for this much for delivering 2 repaired cars a week or whatever it is, irrespective of hours involved. But yes, otherwise, the $ per hour earned is peanuts compared to US