BBC article on U.S. salvage vehicles being rebuilt in Georgia

[GON]

Interesting article in U.S. salvage vehicles being rebuilt and sold in Georgia. One statistic, which is somewhat erroneous but still interesting to see, is the article states it costs on average $1,000 USD to rebuild a vehicle in Georgia, about 80 percent less than the U.S.

Article also discussed the marketing and the location of the buyers for these rebuilt vehicles.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl8187l920o

 

[shortyb]

Interesting. But makes sense when you think about it. From all the videos I've seen about "driving" in Russia (or former republics thereof), it's like a constant 24 Hours of Lemons race. So why not get a "nice" disposable car?

 

[joekingcorvette]

I would think the hail and drive as is cars would be in high demand. We are kind of spoiled in the US driving nice vehicles when other countries would love to drive our trade ins and cast offs. I have taken taxi's in foreign countries that are barely road worthy.

 

[Hall]

In case people don't click the article, "Georgia" isn't the US state in the southeast, it's the former Soviet nation in eastern Europe.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I guess they are in competition with the Mexican Toyota Convoys.

 

[Escape08]

Little hey did not know. a lot of these cars came hurricane flooded incidents. Yes, they make the vehicle run, but the rust in the wirings, electronics, moving parts (such as wheel bearings, suspension, brakes, brake fluid, transmission fluid, etc and especially the engine have to be taken apart) that will result to future problems. For $1000 even in third world countrues, it's not enough to have the vehicle road worthy "again". My take on this.

 

[fdcg27]

We spent a week in Tbilisi last year and most of the cars in the city would be familiar to anyone from the US. Out in the countryside, you do see a lot of older Russian stuff, mainly Ladas. We did see a number of damaged cars undergoing repair that had apparently come from US auctions.
If the Suburban is the national car of the Lone Star Republic, the Prius is probably the same for Georgia. You see them everywhere and for our wine tour day, our guide drove us around the countryside in his Prius.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

From my POV many U.S. salvage yards receive cars from insurance auctions that are totalled due to airbag deployments. This leaves many good sheet metal and drive train components in these particular vehicles to be re-sold in the secondary parts market.

I do believe there are some wrecking yards that are selling and shipping whole unit cars where air bag deployment is the only superficial damages to the car in question. These yards are close to international ports or coastal areas.

I am not sure about the safety standards in any of the former Soviet Union countries mentioned, but I could see many of these cars ending up there, only to have the deployed air bags removed and cosmetic repair of the interior trim only so the the car could then be re-sold as a "as is driver" for that country.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

In case people don't click the article, "Georgia" isn't the US state in the southeast, it's the former Soviet nation in eastern Europe.

I've seen some of those "fixes" on youtube...
I don't think they'd be good for any sort of US inspection.

 

[Hall]

I do believe there are some wrecking yards that are selling and shipping whole unit cars where air bag deployment is the only superficial damages to the car in question. These yards are close to international ports or coastal areas.

Our son was in an accident and his car was totaled. We were curious what would happen to it afterwards and did VIN searches and kept seeing multiple results from Russian-language websites (they simply scraped salvage yard data) but it gave the impression that they did this for Russian / overseas parties that might be interested.

 

[Hall]

I've seen some of those "fixes" on youtube...
I don't think they'd be good for any sort of US inspection.

Yeah, I've seen those too. They're incredibly impressive looking end-results though !

 

[KrisZ]

When labor is cheap, all sorts of things are profitable.

 

[mrsilv04]

If any of you watch Arthur Tussik's videos on You Tube, a number of the vehicles that he rebuilds have come from the US. IAA Auction stickers on the windshields, license plates still on it...

 

[Urshurak776]

So, retired from the Navy in Kings Bay, GA (Camden County.) A fellow shipmate of mine married a local girl whos family does just this. They rebuild slavaged vehicles. They have been doing this for a long time. It's nothing new. I can say I have witnessed slavaged titled cars from them that are good cars. Some went for a long time. That being said, would I buy one? Depends. A local car, for cheap, maybe? Lots of variables.

 

[eljefino]

^ Or you could be some poor plumber whose truck wound up with isis.

 

[nthach]

We spent a week in Tbilisi last year and most of the cars in the city would be familiar to anyone from the US. Out in the countryside, you do see a lot of older Russian stuff, mainly Ladas. We did see a number of damaged cars undergoing repair that had apparently come from US auctions.
If the Suburban is the national car of the Lone Star Republic, the Prius is probably the same for Georgia. You see them everywhere and for our wine tour day, our guide drove us around the countryside in his Prius.

Cambodia too. My mom said she saw plenty of Prii as cabs in Phnom Penh. If you made it, the Camry is seen as a status symbol but now people are importing US-spec cars there.

Ghana and Nigeria is another popular places for wrecked/stolen cars from the US.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Many of the folks that attend the police auction I go to, assumed that a good majority of the crown vics ended up being exported to places like this for their durabilty. I personally bought back a perfectly good car that my dad hit a deer with, and the damage is very minimal.

We are pricing ourselves out of the repair business here in USA. Paint is an example of corporate greed. Too expensive for what it is.

 

[CKN]

Many of the folks that attend the police auction I go to, assumed that a good majority of the crown vics ended up being exported to places like this for their durabilty. I personally bought back a perfectly good car that my dad hit a deer with, and the damage is very minimal.

We are pricing ourselves out of the repair business here in USA. Paint is an example of corporate greed. Too expensive for what it is.

I would agree and because insurance companies are quick to total vehicles these days the rates are going up because of this.

 

[KrisZ]

We are pricing ourselves out of the repair business here in USA. Paint is an example of corporate greed. Too expensive for what it is.

The global economy seems to be driving this. US is not alone. Many countries are becoming “expensive” as the living standards improve there.

 

[CKN]

So, retired from the Navy in Kings Bay, GA (Camden County.) A fellow shipmate of mine married a local girl whos family does just this. They rebuild slavaged vehicles. They have been doing this for a long time. It's nothing new. I can say I have witnessed slavaged titled cars from them that are good cars. Some went for a long time. That being said, would I buy one? Depends. A local car, for cheap, maybe? Lots of variables.

We have large dealers in Utah that sell only
" branded"- (i.e.totaled) vehicles. They provide the VIN on their website site- when you google the vin most have suffered extremely serious damage. The customer reviews on various " review pages"
( goolgle reviews,etc.) are horrendous. They ask far more than the standard 50% off book.
Vehicles being totaled for " airbags" only especially for late model trucks and SUVs, while it does happen, its not everyday.