USA/Canada totaled Tesla's are showing up in Ukraine

[Mainia]

The shipping vessel must be at very high risk carrying multi compromised EVs.

Also here too.

https://www.wired.com/story/why-teslas-totaled-in-the-us-are-mysteriously-reincarnated-in-ukraine/

 

[skyactiv]

I sometimes see double decker auto transports hauling wrecked vehicle's of various makes and wonder where they end up. Maybe some of you remember the plumber in Texas that sold his truck which ended up in Syria.

 

[Kira]

On removing one's name and phone number from a traded in vehicle, I can see the industry wanting to remove any lettering professionally rather than have a previous owner/lessee take a belt sander to it.
However, if it was my contact info, I'd make sure it was off.
"Oh, we'll take care of it", are words which hide a lot.

Hmmm....Is there an established practice for sign removal in the car industry?

There were smaller docks in Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.
You'd often see smaller freighters being loaded with an eclectic mix of vehicles.
These docks were visible from the BQE (a highway).

IN FACT: There's an episode of McCloud (NBC's Friday Night Mystery Movie) in which Eddie Albert (Green Acres) plays the leg man for a large stolen car ring.
One scene has McCloud scrutinizing the vehicles on a Brooklyn dock and adding impossible last-minute conditions in order to force a meeting with the big boss.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

A lot of totaled cars end up in eastern Europe, where it's cheaper to do the work. Cars not worth fixing here are often worth fixing over there.

 

[Hall]

However, if it was my contact info, I'd make sure it was off.

That's the only sane option. The people buying these cars don't want to spend an extra minute or an extra penny doing any "work" at all to them and what do they care if there are decals for a plumbing contractor or delivery courier on the vehicles.

 

[97prizm]

The shipping vessel must be at very high risk carrying multi compromised EVs.

Also here too.

https://www.wired.com/story/why-teslas-totaled-in-the-us-are-mysteriously-reincarnated-in-ukraine/

Theautopian has a great article about this.
Tesla ended up in Ukraine with spotofy still active Apparently a Tesla owner didn't recognize an account tied to his phone. Apparently his Tesla which was deemed a write off reactivated and was shown between Kyiv and Lviv. The new owner had accessed his spotify account and was listening to Drake ( of all the music out there to choose?). Lots of foreign countries have stupid archaic taxes based on engine displacement, and really high import taxes. If you buy a vehicle on Copart etc and ship it in, it's no longer considering new. The issue with buying a broken Tesla is bad enough in the USA or where there is manufacturing and a service network. Add in Tesla's constant changing of parts, poor fit and finish, and lack of parts, rebuilding a Tesla in the Ukraine would be a nightmare. The industry calls them "cut and shuts" as you try to cobble together one good work vehicle from several broken ones.

 

[97prizm]

NPR has a really neat article about this from back when the hurricane hit New York. An NPR journalist found a mechanic in Tajikistan who posted online that he had a client who bought a one-year-old Lexus RX350 with 7k miles on it with no interior water damage, but had been mildly submerged. Why would an American throw out such a nice vehicle? Tajikistan has a crazy dictatorship still and things like vehicle color are highly regulated (That's why they're 3rd world but have a ton of oil money). It's worth the listen.

 

[Hall]

with no interior water damage, but had been mildly submerged. Why would an American throw out such a nice vehicle?

Well, it's almost certainly the insurance company that decided this plus can you be 150% certain of the extent of water intrusion ?

 

[97prizm]

Well, it's almost certainly the insurance company that decided this plus can you be 150% certain of the extent of water intrusion ?

Apparently the Turkmenistan mechanic (I mixed up my Stan country) tore the vehicle down and noticed very little water damage. Check out the npr story The salvage car Silk Road
Newer vehicles have more and more electronics which is an issue if submerged in water. Again Turkmenistan is ran by a wacky dictator who sets bizarre rules making it difficult for people to get decent vehicles. Second true it's difficult to get a complete scope of the damage as the hurricane in New York was mostly fresh but likely had a decent amount of salt water. One of the Car Trek series, Ed Bolian picked up a "Flood Lamborghini Gallardo" apparently there was very little carpet staining showing that most of the damage was to the exhaust and underside. Not all "flood" vehicles are completely submerged.

 

[Hall]

apparently there was very little carpet staining

I've seen videos where water on the inside, but only in the footwells, caused all sorts of problems because there's still plenty of wiring and harnesses under the carpets. People always thought as long as it did rise up enough to reach the ECU or fuse boxes that are mounted a little higher, they'll be okay.

 

[Torrid]

I've seen videos where water on the inside, but only in the footwells, caused all sorts of problems because there's still plenty of wiring and harnesses under the carpets. People always thought as long as it did rise up enough to reach the ECU or fuse boxes that are mounted a little higher, they'll be okay.

The problem is that water/fluids do weird things when it gets where it's not supposed to be. VW has had what they call a coolant migration issue where a coolant leak happens at the point of an electrical plug and the coolant flows through the harness itself ruining the wiring and eventually causes all kinds of warning lights and occasionally will stop it from running/starting.

 

[Hall]

and the coolant flows through the harness itself ruining the wiring

I started typing about a similar instance with wheel speed sensors that got submerged and the mechanic indicated deeper problems caused by the water somehow going through wiring upstream.

 

[Pew]

The battery packs could make a great addition on top of some c4.

 

[97prizm]

I've seen videos where water on the inside, but only in the footwells, caused all sorts of problems because there's still plenty of wiring and harnesses under the carpets. People always thought as long as it did rise up enough to reach the ECU or fuse boxes that are mounted a little higher, they'll be okay.

A recent article showed a guy who put his Plymouth Roadrunner and Dodge Daytona up on a lift in his garage to hopefully keep them dry from the latest hurricane in Florida. They both ended up outside. Both are going to take a specialist and alot of money to make right. He cut part of the quarter panel and was shocked that so much sand and silt worked its way into just about everything.

 

[KrisZ]

Our tax dollars at work…

 

[nickaluch]

Apparently the Turkmenistan mechanic (I mixed up my Stan country) tore the vehicle down and noticed very little water damage. Check out the npr story The salvage car Silk Road
Newer vehicles have more and more electronics which is an issue if submerged in water. Again Turkmenistan is ran by a wacky dictator who sets bizarre rules making it difficult for people to get decent vehicles. Second true it's difficult to get a complete scope of the damage as the hurricane in New York was mostly fresh but likely had a decent amount of salt water. One of the Car Trek series, Ed Bolian picked up a "Flood Lamborghini Gallardo" apparently there was very little carpet staining showing that most of the damage was to the exhaust and underside. Not all "flood" vehicles are completely submerged.

All water damage was salt water in the NY hurricane. Rain water/wind wasn't the issue salt water surge from the Atlantic ocean n long Island sound did all the damage

 

[andrew_j]

The Russians just after communism collapsed used to buy up all under $1000 cars (decent then) locally in our port town in NH and load them into their empty road salt ships holds.