Cars Not Moving
Cars are designed to do one thing and that is to move and get us and our passengers to our chosen destination safely. Of course when they are involved in an accident and can no longer move under their own steam, then how we transport our salvage project can add costs to the over repair costs.
Many of us use roadside assistance services to repair our car should we breakdown at the side of the road, but following a car accident where our car cannot be moved, it can be these same companies who bring along their breakdown recovery vehicle to recover the vehicle to a local garage or compound. Sometimes you need a recovery vehicle with arcane that can lift the vehicle on board rather than just pull it up a ramp.
Once the car has been assessed as insurance write off another recovery vehicle is then used to take the vehicle to a local storage place that tends to double as a salvage auction house. The car then stays there until it is released for auction.
Ironically after someone has won their salvage project through the auction, it is very likely they will also employ a breakdown recovery vehicle to transport that vehicle to their chosen destination to be repaired. And the process starts again.
The message here is that cars that cannot drive under their own steam need the services of roadside assistance vans to recovery vehicles, to get that car to the locations it needs to be sold and then repaired, before it will find itself back on the road. The costs of all this transport has to be costed in the final cost of the salvage project or by the buyer, during the calculation to repair or not.
Car Part Auction Sites
It isn’t just the vehicles you can buy at auction but also car parts too. Ebay has dominated this for many years and you get a mix of part time guys with a few parts to the big nationals all hoping to improve their sales.
For some being on Ebay is as much about promoting the services or parts, that selling anything, there is a strong possibility that once you have bought from one supplier, you will automatically go back to same person, if you received good service at a good price.
There are alternatives one being CarSpareAuctions that is an online car part auction site that only allows registered businesses to sell. There are not as many car parts on the site, but it does allow these businesses to show their phone number and addresses so their clarity before buying. In fact if you wish, you do not need to use the auction process, you can just ring up direct and process your request over the phone as us usual.
The car part auction sites are ideal for searching for salvage projects, as many of the parts are not new but from other cars. They still do come with guarantees, so you have as much warranty as buying new. In the case of putting repairable salvage cars back together, this may be the only cost effective way of doing it.
A Salvage Business Is Born
After a busy and often stressful week of driving and meeting people, it finally looks like the new auto salvage business is about to be born for real. With the LLC formed, licenses in place it is more about making it happen, rather than red tape.
We will be able to buy on you behalf a huge database of auto salvage that will be auctioned off through dealer only auctions. In better words, we will give access to these cars and take a commission for buying them on your behalf.
Of course we can’t sell auto salvage without titles to the USA, although these cars may still be available for export.
This service is not for everyone, there needs to be an understanding that these autos have been involved in an accident and in most cases will have more damage than the photos or description will allow. The cars are not sold like showroom models and those who think it is easy and cheap to buy and sell auto salvage should think again, unless they have the relevant experience of dealing with cars. Any it seems like it is FAB and Thunderbirds are go.
The USA Beckons
As a resident of Great Briton I always love the visits to the States, but this time there is different reason to Mickey Mouse and the beaches. It is in fact a research visit to see if it possible to repeat the successful internet auto salvage auction platform that has brought the public and repairable salvage cars together.
It may like a small job to make a website and populate it with car salvage, but if I was to say that we were able to add 9,000 cars just from one weeks sales in Florida from one salvage auction company, you will get the idea, that when all auctions that can be covered are, there will be a huge choice of vehicles for both USA residents and those wanting to Export from the USA to say Europe or South America.
I write this sitting on the plane that is taking me to Orlando that we think may become a local base, not because of the Theme parks, but because there are more flights from the North Of England than say New York or Boston.
There are rules to buying auto salvage in the States and the visit is to clarify these from a professional point of view, tax processes and legal, things that you may not just get the whole picture from websites alone. The system has been very successful in the UK and appeals to those who do not have the time to visit yards, or are unsure of the process fo buying there. There are some who may not need this process and will direct from the insurance companies, but even the trade often use Car Salvage Finder to purchase cars on their behalf, because of the time saving benefits.
You can’t have a blog, without writing about what is going on, so if and when I get time, I will write more and keep you all informed of the progress.
Buying Salvage in the 21st Century
How people and the trade buy auto salvage has changed over the years. It used to be closed shop, where only those in the know would be able to buy that vehicle being disposed by an insurance company in order to retrieve some of the insurance pay out.
This has traditionally been done at auto auction throughout the USA and only those with the correct licences and membership to an auction would ever get access. The internet like so many businesses has changed how we buy products, so a physical auction now tends to be put online also to become an online salvage auction where not just people from out if state can but out of country also.
In fact there are some vehicles that can only be bought out of country. These auto salvage vehicles have been deemed as not suitable for the American roads and therefore must be broken down into parts, by a trade person with the relevant license or can be sold to a member from another country and must exported out as scrap. When that vehicle arrives in the next country it then abides by those countries rules about auto salvage and road safety.
There are a few companies around that help with the purchase and export of auto salvage in the States, but a newcomer to this market is a company called AutoSalvageFinder. With proven success of selling salvage in the UK, they have now decided to expand in to the States starting with Florida.
Although they see a huge market in export they are well aware that there are many local Americans who also want to buy Auto Salvage from auctions but does not have the membership or experience to do it. AutoSalvageFinder will also do this for a commission fee, allowing any public person to buy a car from auction. This is coming soon and we are all looking forward to it.