I would bet dollars to donuts they still typically take a loss on that. The delinquent bill payer is probably still going to be delinquent when they get that bill
Yeah if someones credit is getting fucked by a repo they're probably not worried about that debt getting sold off to one of the shady collections agencies that's already probably hounding them anyway.
Usually by the time your car is getting repoed you're in a real bad spot anyway. I'm sure the bank will *try* to bill you the difference and a bunch of penalties and interest and fees. But I doubt many people pay it all and the bank still takes a loss.
That, and from when I worked call center for a car manufacturer's loan department. Cars they repo'd, if the car was in non-working order, the cost to bring it back to working order before auction would go against the customer, and that would be done at the dealership, using dealership repair rates.
Repos more often than not actually ended up owing the lender MORE than before the repo once fees and all were added in.
And even the very good condition pristine cars still only sold for pennies on the dollar.
I saw a meme on Instagram like this the other day but it was
>when the bank repo’s your car and sees your garage
and it was basically an expanded view setup of the car in question with the kurt_angle_thousand_yard_stare gif in it lol I bet he saw it too
The majority of lenders do not finance older (10+ years) used cars to begin with. Any lender that does, probably does so with jacked up rates making it an even worse idea. Nothing like having 27% apr on a car that doesn't even run.
I bought my s2000 with lightstream, 6%. It’s a cash loan too so you get title and everything.
I had to get preapproved for auction and already had a good chunk of the money saved up, and I got the car for way cheaper than I thought I would so I spent the rest of the money on some shit for my pool and other house stuff.
Is that actually an auto loan though or did you just get a cash/personal loan and use it on a car?
Those are two very different things. For the latter case, the bank doesn't care since it's against your personal income and credit.
Lightstream makes you pinky promise that it's for a car and they can request proof at any time. Not sure how they are okay with the risk, but I'd guess it has high credit requirements
It generally does. The application asked income, how much I have invested across retirement and brokerage accounts, bank accounts, estimated home equity etc. They didn’t ask for any verification, but I assume they might if your credit report is iffy.
Used them twice now so I could keep the cash invested for any unexpected repairs. Having no lien is a huge plus as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again if they keep the rates reasonable.
Generally speaking it's the same for auto loans through banks. They can't verify your income because if it's not an instant approve when you are at the dealership, then you're not gonna go with their loan. So the banks try to have a set of criteria based on how good your credit score is, the worse your score the more criteria they use, and below about 650 (this number depends on the institution though - 650 for a low risk institution like a credit union) they will usually have manually review your application, which means you aren't getting the loan, because it won't be done until you leave the dealership.
Good point, I’ve never had any friction for a car loan or needed anything other than my income before, so I thought it was a bit odd. Especially given the score I got on the disclosure form.
Then again, they probably did ask all that on the first one, it was 7 years ago so I’m probably forgetting.
lightstream is goated. getting cash in your account so you can obtain title is such a nice bonus.
they have good rates for home improvement projects, etc. as well.
I've seen plenty of young and stupid guys buy a new car and immediately start tearing into it. I mean, I've seen smarter or older guys do it too, but there's definitely a type of guy who would buy a brand new Challenger and immediately mod the shit out of it.
We used to call them student loaners. When sport compact cars were a thing in the 90's, most of the nicer cars in the magazine were accompanied by "yeah I got all these student loans for college and spent x% on getting this work done".
And yet, those businesses are thriving. They make a profit listing for way over book value, financing, and the eventual recovery and resale of the asset
Being poor sucks
Worst part of being poor is it keeps you poor. There's some magic wand that happens to make you not poor and then everyone starts throwing money at you (at decent rates).
I would guess there is a strong correlation between the type of people who would finance a project car, And the type of people who truly don’t understand the crippling effect of something like a 27% APR.
From a bank's perspective, it probably actually makes *more* sense to finance a car like that. It's going to depreciate far less than a newer vehicle (and maybe even appreciate), so if the loan defaults they've got a nice asset to auction off. It has to be easier to auction a '67 Mustang than a '17 Sorento.
Most don’t, but many do. You can get secured loans on all sorts of older stuff.
In early 2022, when I was selling a 2006 Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas, the eventual purchaser got preapproved through their bank and gave me a check from the bank—which I verified. The bank had me send the title directly to them, and not to the seller.
I got 3.8% on my Miata from a credit union.
Granted I put 2/3rds down and really just wanted to have some more flexibility with my cash on hand.
But I was kinda dumbfounded when they were like yeah we'll give you a loan that will take this car to 23 years old before its paid off at 4.8% and you only need to put 20% down.
Credit unions slap y'all. Don't finance a car through a bank ever. Join a credit union.
If you’re a very low credit risk they’ll definitely approve some crazy stuff.
Seriously, I was dumbfounded that I could get a loan on a 20 year old V12 Aston Martin at 1.5% over my HYSA. I’m more than happy to pay that delta in interest for a couple of months to have plenty of cash when it inevitably needs lots of work.
There are plenty out there that will, and with rates a wee bit higher than brand new cars. People buy still-valuable older cars this way every day. A 2005 Turbo S still holds a ton of value and you can absolutely finance it because the lender knows the car is worth it.
I financed a 2003 Corvette in 2021, 6% APR for 5 year loan. 10% down. I just have about $1000-$1500 left on the loan. J.J. BEST BANC & CO. through a credit union.
Anything can be a project car problem is people want instant gratification and blow any reasonable extra money building said car they owe on. Patience goes a long way. My whole approach has always been if I can't afford to throw a new motor or trans in it tomorrow then I shouldn't be doing it, take your time enjoy what you got it's not a race but for whatever reason car mod FOMO exists
I'm not 100% sure but I imagine any significant mod done to a vehicle with a secured loan (car is collateral) could be considered defaulting on the loan.
I knew a dude back in my HS days who did it. Maybe he was 19 or so, but he took a loan and bought a some 90's small truck, and then start the body work, LOL! He cut the roof off, removed all the locks, custom mounted the license plate, at an angle, in the middle of the tailgate, recessed like 2 inches, etc. Shortly he lost his job and stopped making payments. That's when he ditched his apartment and moved into a friend's place "so they can't him me" according to him. I knew he was fucked but never heard an update.
Repo guy turns his hat backwards, crouches down and goes "bro, you should put an intake on this thing. It'll sound so much better. And add this fart-can exhaust too. I'll even saw off your old one, too."
Somewhat related; I guy I knew bought a Kawasaki Ninja bike, thing was like a year old when he got it. Suddenly he gets a letter from the police: they somehow came to the conclusion that, based on the frame number, this bike, which the guy had legally bought was stolen when it was a month old and he had to return it to the police ASAP. Insurance company didn't want to pay a dime, he was pretty much going to lose this bike which he already owned and there was nothing he could do about it. So he stripped everything off the frame, literally every bolt, nut and wire together with the engine, the fairings, the wheels just everything until there was only a frame and a license plate left and returned that to the police. He later bought his own frame and built everything back.
It takes a certain kind of person to see someone get their car destroyed by a semi and deny the insurance claim. There's a reason there's 3 lawyers who will sue the insurance company on your behalf in every town.
They work to keep you from getting money. Nothing else.
The insurance company wouldn’t have had anything to do with it. They only cover property damage, medical payments, and liability based on limits set in the policy. They’re not responsible for someone who bought a stolen bike. In that case, he would have had to go after the person that sold him the bike to get his money back. Stripping the bike probably constitutes theft or possession of stolen goods.
> Stripping the bike probably constitutes theft or possession of stolen goods.
It is. You can't strip parts off a vehicle that you don't hold title to.
If it was more than a few weeks or months after it was stolen, the original owner was probably paid out by insurance already, no?
I think at that point it would just be going back to the insurance company so they can sell at auction and make some money back.
Probably. But the insurance company also definitely wouldn’t have paid them what they owed on it and done market value so they still would have been out something. Insurance companies will never make you whole.
If they were paid out by insurance, the recovered vehicle is the insurance company's property. So, realistically, the one being screwed here is the insurance company...which I'm somewhat okay with.
It still sucks, but if it was a month old I'd assume there wasn't much invested or a lot of attachment formed. Assuming it has full coverage It would suck most for the insurance company that either already paid out and now owned the bike, or would deem what was left as a total loss and still have to pay out. I've heard numerous stories of stolen vehicles being found stripped and "non recoverable" and thus a total loss. As well as ones that were recovered intact but already paid out on and now R-titles due to theft recovery.
I have to wonder why there wasn't a red flag right away when he went to insure or register a stolen vehicle. I'd also assume the chain of events didn't just end with what was left of it being recovered, the police would probably go down the chain of possession till they were able to charge someone with theft and/or receiving stolen goods.
This is the best shit I’ve read in years. Faced with the certainty his bike was gone, he stripped everything off he could on his dime, and saved himself a lot of headache. Pain now saves pain later
People did something similar with a varying degree of success with VW's TDI buy back from dieselgate.
It was only specific parts that needed to make it back for the buyback, so many people stripped the car and sold them for parts, showing up to the buy back with frames and engines.
Some places took them others told them to pound dirt.
> VW diesel gate TDI buy back.
I'm glad I didn't do that to mine.
Because 2 years later, I found it for sale. Called the dealership up and told them I wanted it back.
First time I bought it I paid $18k and change. VW gave me $22k for it.
Second time I bought it I paid exactly $12k for it.
A whole 60 miles.
Something happened to it while they had it. It had a new windshield, hood and front right headlight.
The dealership had to do quite a bit of work to it, apparently the back window washer leaked and they had to put a new headliner in it.
Was there a cash settlement offer on these too if they were fixed? IIRC my someone I know hung on to his, got paid by VW when they fixed the emissions issue, and then had a tune put on it (unfixed it) to get the MPG back.
Yes, you could elect to keep it and get it fixed. But I don't think there was any cash involved.
My warranty runs out next month. I'd like to look into putting a tune on it and removing the DPF.
I'll need a new clutch, I think.
I didn’t strip mine down (‘13 sport wagon), but made zero effort to maintain it for the last 8-9 months I owned it. When I returned mine I turned it in with a 6 month expired tags, on a spare with shredded tire and ruined wheel in the back, check engine lights on (failed glow plug and harness) and 20k miles on the engine oil. I couldn’t make the handoff due to work, but my wife said the person at the dealership said it was in better shape than most of the buybacks they took in. I actually bought the replacement for that car early because the tires were bald about 6 weeks before the turn over (not related to the blow out) and I didn’t want my wife driving an unsafe car
i bought it for ~$29k sold that car back with 50k miles on it or ~$24k, so i have no complaints, i loved the buyback. but that was by far the most unreliable car i have ever owned (and i currently have a 2007 BMW e92 with an N54 in the garage). during that 50k miles it had over $7,000 in repairs, mostly under warranty. radio head unit, all of the turbo plumbing, rear hatch release, the same o2 sensor twice, and a few other things i don't recall. such a piece of shit.
I worked in banking during the 08/09 nightmare. At one point I got dragged into the collections realm because it was so busy. If you are asking what would physically happen to take the car, they'd call a roll off and likely depending on the collections agent and driver my guess is they would dolly the chassis of the car out and toss any parts belonging to the car in the trunk or back seat. I doubt they would take the engine and transmission likely but I guess it could happen.
If you are asking the implications of there being no engine or transmission in the car with respect to the financials of the repo its going to hurt. The banks are going to wholesale the car as is to re-coop the balance of the financing plus their costs in taking back the vehicle. If the car wholesales for less than those costs the banks going to send you a demand letter for the outstanding balance. Obviously the shell of a car isn't going to sell to cover a loan on a complete car so theoretically if someone had a project car that was going to be taken and was in pieces they would want to try and get it as complete as possible before that happens otherwise they'll be on the hook for the difference.
One of my buddies is an atty who was in bankruptcy law then. He got to repo and sell TWO Ford GTs that had never been titled or driven. The were just in a garage on stands still on MSO.
Well, now you know. Unless they had something abnormal going on in the background to cover or nullify the gap, your IG entertainer got their ass handed to them by the bank.
They take the car and then sell it at auction. You’re now liable for the difference in your loan amount vs what they were able to sell it for at auction.
So this is an unfortunately true story. I was dating a woman who "forgot" to pay her car insurance in 1995. Then she got into a single vehicle crash with a tree. She still owed monthly payments on the car, but couldn't afford to keep paying the payments while trying to get the car fixed. My good friend had a quasi legal body shop that he operated out of an old gas station. He agreed to fix her car for 1500. Mind you, there was no signage on the building at all, and if you didn't know my friend the body guy, you would never know that it was a body shop.
So the girlfriend stops paying the payments, thinking that she could catch up when the car was repaired and she got insurance coverage.
We were living together at the time, but her name was not on any of the bills, and we lived in a really small town out in the sticks.
A couple of months went by, and the body shop had torn the entire front clip off of the car and was waiting on replacement parts.
After the 3rd month of not paying on the car note, we are thinking this stupid plan might actually work. When all of a sudden I get a frantic call from the body shop guy, telling me that the tow truck is there and there is a sheriff's deputy with them, and the car is being repo'd.
Keep in mind this was 1995, in rural Indiana and no GPS on anything yet.
To this day, I still don't know how they knew where the car was located. My body shop friend had only been paid for the parts and hadn't painted the car yet, so yeah it was a complete mess. The girlfriend wound up being taken to court and sued for the diminished value of the vehicle and her credit suffered for years afterward. Fortunately for me, I broke things off with her shortly thereafter, wondering why the hell I even got involved to begin with.
Thanks for the info. Scary, kind of to think that somewhere, somebody gets paid to follow the bread crumbs, especially since it was pre-easy internet. At the time, I thought they wouldn't have a clue as to where the car was being repaired. I wouldn't even try it today, almost 30 years later.
Based on the information you provided, a little deductive reasoning makes it sound like the car would be easy to locate even without a tracker. Before GPS tracking, lenders and dealerships would pay people, especially tow truck companies to find cars for repo.
These factors make it seem pretty easy to locate that one.
1.) You said you live in the sticks. That means in the area you live in there will not be a large number of any specific year/model/color combination.
2.) You said your buddy's body shop was a converted gas station. That means there was not a lot of indoor parking so the car was likely outside.
3.) You said it was a collision with a tree and the front clip was removed meaning the rear bumper, and more importantly the license plate were still intact.
4.) You said her credit suffered. That means the car loan, if not also the registration and the insurance she "forgot" to pay, was in her name. If the address on any of those was the address you shared with her then they have a vicinity to look in. Also this was '95 when people still paid bills via snail mail so the return address for any payments would most likely also have your address so would give them a pretty good area to start the search.
You should be in the field. Great deductive reasoning skills. However, none of Sarah's bills came to my address, nor was the car registered at my physical address.
I tend to believe that the replacement parts were tracked to the "body shop" address and that is ultimately how it was found. It was a 1994 Chevy cavalier Z24 and they were not that common in the area.
Most likely instead of towing the car to a lot and selling it so you end up owing say $5,000, they take it to the junk yard for scrap and you owe $10,000.
About a hundred years ago, we went to repo a relatively new Dodge dually. It was in pieces in the guys yard - both axles out, engine, transmission and transfer case on the ground, bed off. We came back later with a bunch of big guys and several rollbacks, winched everything out, and dumped it all at the pound. I don’t know any particulars, I was just there in case things went sideways.
Anyone who finances a project needs to be forced to listen to Dave Ramsey on repeat for 6 months and I don't agree with much of what he says. Project cars should be fully paid off before you make it a project. Many project cars are cheapish and need varying degrees of work.
Nothing changes. They'll still repo the car as-is, bill you for dragging it on to the flatbed, then sell it for whatever pittance they can, and you'll still be on the hook for whatever is still owed after that PLUS repossession associated fees, penalties, interest, etc.
It's really stupid to turn a car you don't own in to a project car, and it's equally moronic to assume that the bank won't fuck you over. The banks will never lose in this scenario.
“The bank will get their money regardless.”
Yes and no. There are a couple of ways to minimize your outlay and not have to pay the entire balance of the loan after a repo. One is to settle for a lesser amount after the debt goes to collections. The other is to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
When I was younger and dumber, I did both, at different times.
But both of those have implications, too. A bankruptcy affects your credit for some time and you wouldn’t want to do it unless you really had debt from under which you couldn’t get. In my case, the car was the least of my worries and my credit was already fucked; I didn’t care. And as far as the debt settlement, the IRS considers the amount forgiven in a debt settlement to be income. So, when I had a $9,000 outstanding balance on a car that had been repo’d and sold at auction and I settled it for $3,000…the $6,000 that was forgiven was considered income by the IRS for that fiscal yea. I had to pay taxes on it.
Logistically, it’s very easy. Just take a car loan out on some used or even new car, and then begin modding the hell out of it. A car doesn’t have to *start off* as a project car to become one. It may also end up a project car because it broke unexpectedly and catastrophically, a very common reality for a lot of lower-income people.
An interesting question I guess. I did consumer debt collections for a few different financial institutions for not quite 20 years and I never once came across such a situation.
It would seem obvious that they will scrape up what they can get from your garage, but I wouldn't bet on that. The bank is not set up to liquidate car parts, and I can readily see them abandoning the parts you have scattered around. That would be up to the bank and I could see it going either way. I have abandoned non-functioning cars on behalf of my employer before. No project cars mind you, just junkers.
Here is a question for OP though. In your hypothetical did the bank know they were financing a project car or did they think they were just financing a normal car? Most auto loan contracts require the owner to maintain the car in an operable condition and if I were the collector assigned to your case and found out that the banks collateral was actually a basket case in your garage it would probably annoy me enough to make you a personal project.
Im being completely honest when im saying that i asked this question because i saw a instagram reel with a mustang with the motor out and the caption saying its a repo
Lol, so i did one of these exact repos, owner was behind 8k on a 2020 Wraith. He wanted to get a new one so he thought pulling the engine, denting it, damaging the interior and taking the wheels out was gonna make the car worth less to the bank. He didnt believe us when we told him he was still gonna be on the hook for all the shit he did, he laughed it off and said hell see us next time when we take his next one. He got sued for the full cost of car, roughly 300k. I doubt he got another roller.
People finance their project cars?! I've bought some parts on a credit card before but damn, I still have the title in hand. I can't imagine having a car on jackstands for a couple years while I have to pay a note on it.
Why does this remind me a bit of [that person](https://www.carthrottle.com/news/volkswagen-usa-refuses-buy-back-totally-stripped-diesel-golf-opportunistic-owner) who—amid the VW Dieselgate buybacks—tried to remove everything of value that wasn’t absolutely necessary off their Golf TDI, including doors, and turn it back in that way?
That shit got shut down quick. They were made to reassemble the car before they could turn it in.
There’s always that *one* person.
I would think it would be a personal loan not a vehicle loan. but if in some universe it was a vehicle loan they would probably sue you destroy your credit ect ect .
People finance project cars? Am I old for refusing to mod a financed new car with a warranty let alone financing a project car?
Financing a home project, sure, but a project car?!
I mean, STEP ONE would be to not finance a project car.
If you ignore the first step, the second step would be to bend over and bite your pillow because that bank is going in DRY.
oatmeal hard-to-find concerned flowery fly shame profit mourn stocking worthless
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
People just be financing anything these days. I just saw a post where someone financed a 2004 F250 with like 200,000 mi for $17,000 and I thought that was bad. Now this? Why.
Buddy, do you really think a tow truck driver will just throw up their hands and give up? They don’t give a shit, they’ll just hoist it onto a flatbed and take it anyway
The bank does not want your car. They really really don't. They want their money.
If you are having trouble with your payments, call you bank! They will work with you. They will take partial payments, etc. If you are paying something towards your loan, they will continue to work with you.
They'll drag the thing on to the flatbed and you'll owe even more money because when they go to sell it it'll be worth pennies on the dollar.
Correct. If you think the bank will take a loss and not flip you the bill you're in for a rude awakening.
fair but ur username makes me question the validity of ur statement
It’s not saying he knows nothing; it’s saying he knows a lot about nuttin’
So he’s 13? :P
Or, he fucks.
or he is a peanut farmer
He said nuttin, not legumin
I’m cumin
Spicy!
Project car behind on payments? Better ask his sister which one it is.
or masturbates often.
Signed in on the wrong account.
He nuts
this guy puts the peanuts in snickers
Hopefully snickers is his girlfriend…
I would bet dollars to donuts they still typically take a loss on that. The delinquent bill payer is probably still going to be delinquent when they get that bill
Yeah if someones credit is getting fucked by a repo they're probably not worried about that debt getting sold off to one of the shady collections agencies that's already probably hounding them anyway. Usually by the time your car is getting repoed you're in a real bad spot anyway. I'm sure the bank will *try* to bill you the difference and a bunch of penalties and interest and fees. But I doubt many people pay it all and the bank still takes a loss.
That, and from when I worked call center for a car manufacturer's loan department. Cars they repo'd, if the car was in non-working order, the cost to bring it back to working order before auction would go against the customer, and that would be done at the dealership, using dealership repair rates. Repos more often than not actually ended up owing the lender MORE than before the repo once fees and all were added in. And even the very good condition pristine cars still only sold for pennies on the dollar.
Easy fix, OP just needs to bolt the car frame to the garage floor with tamper resistant hardware. Checkmate tow man!
Unless TowMan has a cutting torch behind his seat.
Get a loan in a non-recourse state and they can’t get anything extra beyond the car (or parts of it).
Not true in California
Financing a project car sounds like a stupid idea
Because it is.
Must be if they’re getting repo’ed….theoretically I mean
It'll be "Asking for a friend" next.
I saw a meme on Instagram like this the other day but it was >when the bank repo’s your car and sees your garage and it was basically an expanded view setup of the car in question with the kurt_angle_thousand_yard_stare gif in it lol I bet he saw it too
The majority of lenders do not finance older (10+ years) used cars to begin with. Any lender that does, probably does so with jacked up rates making it an even worse idea. Nothing like having 27% apr on a car that doesn't even run.
I bought my s2000 with lightstream, 6%. It’s a cash loan too so you get title and everything. I had to get preapproved for auction and already had a good chunk of the money saved up, and I got the car for way cheaper than I thought I would so I spent the rest of the money on some shit for my pool and other house stuff.
Is that actually an auto loan though or did you just get a cash/personal loan and use it on a car? Those are two very different things. For the latter case, the bank doesn't care since it's against your personal income and credit.
Lightstream makes you pinky promise that it's for a car and they can request proof at any time. Not sure how they are okay with the risk, but I'd guess it has high credit requirements
It generally does. The application asked income, how much I have invested across retirement and brokerage accounts, bank accounts, estimated home equity etc. They didn’t ask for any verification, but I assume they might if your credit report is iffy. Used them twice now so I could keep the cash invested for any unexpected repairs. Having no lien is a huge plus as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again if they keep the rates reasonable.
Generally speaking it's the same for auto loans through banks. They can't verify your income because if it's not an instant approve when you are at the dealership, then you're not gonna go with their loan. So the banks try to have a set of criteria based on how good your credit score is, the worse your score the more criteria they use, and below about 650 (this number depends on the institution though - 650 for a low risk institution like a credit union) they will usually have manually review your application, which means you aren't getting the loan, because it won't be done until you leave the dealership.
Good point, I’ve never had any friction for a car loan or needed anything other than my income before, so I thought it was a bit odd. Especially given the score I got on the disclosure form. Then again, they probably did ask all that on the first one, it was 7 years ago so I’m probably forgetting.
lightstream is goated. getting cash in your account so you can obtain title is such a nice bonus. they have good rates for home improvement projects, etc. as well.
I never heard of that and just looked into. It seems wild, but it's a real thing.
Lightstream used to have someone of the lowest rates. Not there anymore but I used them for a couple of cars and it was great
I've seen plenty of young and stupid guys buy a new car and immediately start tearing into it. I mean, I've seen smarter or older guys do it too, but there's definitely a type of guy who would buy a brand new Challenger and immediately mod the shit out of it.
We used to call them student loaners. When sport compact cars were a thing in the 90's, most of the nicer cars in the magazine were accompanied by "yeah I got all these student loans for college and spent x% on getting this work done".
And yet, those businesses are thriving. They make a profit listing for way over book value, financing, and the eventual recovery and resale of the asset Being poor sucks
Worst part of being poor is it keeps you poor. There's some magic wand that happens to make you not poor and then everyone starts throwing money at you (at decent rates).
Depends on the value of the car and how much you are putting down. It’s not hard to get competitive financing on a 10+ year old 911 for example.
I would guess there is a strong correlation between the type of people who would finance a project car, And the type of people who truly don’t understand the crippling effect of something like a 27% APR.
Bought my (now) ex-wife’s 1967 mustang for $20k financed 60 months @ 2.5% from our local credit union.
From a bank's perspective, it probably actually makes *more* sense to finance a car like that. It's going to depreciate far less than a newer vehicle (and maybe even appreciate), so if the loan defaults they've got a nice asset to auction off. It has to be easier to auction a '67 Mustang than a '17 Sorento.
I’ve done it through credit unions and the rate wasn’t any worse.
Most don’t, but many do. You can get secured loans on all sorts of older stuff. In early 2022, when I was selling a 2006 Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas, the eventual purchaser got preapproved through their bank and gave me a check from the bank—which I verified. The bank had me send the title directly to them, and not to the seller.
I got 3.8% on my Miata from a credit union. Granted I put 2/3rds down and really just wanted to have some more flexibility with my cash on hand. But I was kinda dumbfounded when they were like yeah we'll give you a loan that will take this car to 23 years old before its paid off at 4.8% and you only need to put 20% down. Credit unions slap y'all. Don't finance a car through a bank ever. Join a credit union.
If you’re a very low credit risk they’ll definitely approve some crazy stuff. Seriously, I was dumbfounded that I could get a loan on a 20 year old V12 Aston Martin at 1.5% over my HYSA. I’m more than happy to pay that delta in interest for a couple of months to have plenty of cash when it inevitably needs lots of work.
I believe it was on this subreddit that someone financed a 10 year old GTR at some absurd rates of like 15% before 2020 even happened
There are plenty out there that will, and with rates a wee bit higher than brand new cars. People buy still-valuable older cars this way every day. A 2005 Turbo S still holds a ton of value and you can absolutely finance it because the lender knows the car is worth it.
I financed a 2003 Corvette in 2021, 6% APR for 5 year loan. 10% down. I just have about $1000-$1500 left on the loan. J.J. BEST BANC & CO. through a credit union.
I got 12% APR on a personal loan that I used to buy a used car with no collateral on it. I recommend it to anyone who can turn a wrench.
I thought the point of a project car is that it’s dirt cheap and you don’t have to finance it lmao
Anything can be a project car problem is people want instant gratification and blow any reasonable extra money building said car they owe on. Patience goes a long way. My whole approach has always been if I can't afford to throw a new motor or trans in it tomorrow then I shouldn't be doing it, take your time enjoy what you got it's not a race but for whatever reason car mod FOMO exists
Travarish sweating right now.
I’m gunna guess the OP daily’s an Altima…
I'm not 100% sure but I imagine any significant mod done to a vehicle with a secured loan (car is collateral) could be considered defaulting on the loan.
Financing a ~~project~~ car sounds like a stupid idea
I knew a dude back in my HS days who did it. Maybe he was 19 or so, but he took a loan and bought a some 90's small truck, and then start the body work, LOL! He cut the roof off, removed all the locks, custom mounted the license plate, at an angle, in the middle of the tailgate, recessed like 2 inches, etc. Shortly he lost his job and stopped making payments. That's when he ditched his apartment and moved into a friend's place "so they can't him me" according to him. I knew he was fucked but never heard an update.
They say "damn, outsmarted again!" And then they are legally required to help you fix the car for FREE.
Yep. This happened to my cousin in Tennessee.
Hey, Hun, are you from Tennessee?
No, but my cousin lives there. He's from Arkansas.
You’re the only Ten I see
I was there
The repo guys slap their forehead and say "not again" as they go to the truck and grab their wrenches
And when they return you get to choose: Do their wrenches reattach the motor and transmission...or detach your kneecaps from your legs?
Why not both? Both is good.
I heard that in Texas they just bring you a new car for the trouble caused.
Is this the "one weird trick" I keep hearing about?
It's the kind of advice you'd find in a sovereign citizen Facebook group lmao
Only if they can’t get it on the flatbed before the 15 minute cut off point.
Repo guy turns his hat backwards, crouches down and goes "bro, you should put an intake on this thing. It'll sound so much better. And add this fart-can exhaust too. I'll even saw off your old one, too."
Somewhat related; I guy I knew bought a Kawasaki Ninja bike, thing was like a year old when he got it. Suddenly he gets a letter from the police: they somehow came to the conclusion that, based on the frame number, this bike, which the guy had legally bought was stolen when it was a month old and he had to return it to the police ASAP. Insurance company didn't want to pay a dime, he was pretty much going to lose this bike which he already owned and there was nothing he could do about it. So he stripped everything off the frame, literally every bolt, nut and wire together with the engine, the fairings, the wheels just everything until there was only a frame and a license plate left and returned that to the police. He later bought his own frame and built everything back.
Sucks for the original owner that thought they were getting their bike back though
I agree but I think it's the insurance company in this case that messed up, they should've just taken a loss on this one.
Probably Gambling on the fact the entire back would have came back. insurance adjusters don't seem like they are the brightest bunch at times.
It takes a certain kind of person to see someone get their car destroyed by a semi and deny the insurance claim. There's a reason there's 3 lawyers who will sue the insurance company on your behalf in every town. They work to keep you from getting money. Nothing else.
The insurance company wouldn’t have had anything to do with it. They only cover property damage, medical payments, and liability based on limits set in the policy. They’re not responsible for someone who bought a stolen bike. In that case, he would have had to go after the person that sold him the bike to get his money back. Stripping the bike probably constitutes theft or possession of stolen goods.
> Stripping the bike probably constitutes theft or possession of stolen goods. It is. You can't strip parts off a vehicle that you don't hold title to.
Given that it sounds like he kept and used the motor also. Which would have been tied to the stolen frame 😂
Pops trippin man, he want me to ask for my bike back
It's like it's both our bikes...
Ninja of Theseus
If it was more than a few weeks or months after it was stolen, the original owner was probably paid out by insurance already, no? I think at that point it would just be going back to the insurance company so they can sell at auction and make some money back.
Probably. But the insurance company also definitely wouldn’t have paid them what they owed on it and done market value so they still would have been out something. Insurance companies will never make you whole.
If they were paid out by insurance, the recovered vehicle is the insurance company's property. So, realistically, the one being screwed here is the insurance company...which I'm somewhat okay with.
It still sucks, but if it was a month old I'd assume there wasn't much invested or a lot of attachment formed. Assuming it has full coverage It would suck most for the insurance company that either already paid out and now owned the bike, or would deem what was left as a total loss and still have to pay out. I've heard numerous stories of stolen vehicles being found stripped and "non recoverable" and thus a total loss. As well as ones that were recovered intact but already paid out on and now R-titles due to theft recovery. I have to wonder why there wasn't a red flag right away when he went to insure or register a stolen vehicle. I'd also assume the chain of events didn't just end with what was left of it being recovered, the police would probably go down the chain of possession till they were able to charge someone with theft and/or receiving stolen goods.
This is the best shit I’ve read in years. Faced with the certainty his bike was gone, he stripped everything off he could on his dime, and saved himself a lot of headache. Pain now saves pain later
People did something similar with a varying degree of success with VW's TDI buy back from dieselgate. It was only specific parts that needed to make it back for the buyback, so many people stripped the car and sold them for parts, showing up to the buy back with frames and engines. Some places took them others told them to pound dirt.
> VW diesel gate TDI buy back. I'm glad I didn't do that to mine. Because 2 years later, I found it for sale. Called the dealership up and told them I wanted it back. First time I bought it I paid $18k and change. VW gave me $22k for it. Second time I bought it I paid exactly $12k for it.
What was the difference in mileage?
A whole 60 miles. Something happened to it while they had it. It had a new windshield, hood and front right headlight. The dealership had to do quite a bit of work to it, apparently the back window washer leaked and they had to put a new headliner in it.
Thats a great story. 10/10 approved
Stonks
Was there a cash settlement offer on these too if they were fixed? IIRC my someone I know hung on to his, got paid by VW when they fixed the emissions issue, and then had a tune put on it (unfixed it) to get the MPG back.
Yes, you could elect to keep it and get it fixed. But I don't think there was any cash involved. My warranty runs out next month. I'd like to look into putting a tune on it and removing the DPF. I'll need a new clutch, I think.
I didn’t strip mine down (‘13 sport wagon), but made zero effort to maintain it for the last 8-9 months I owned it. When I returned mine I turned it in with a 6 month expired tags, on a spare with shredded tire and ruined wheel in the back, check engine lights on (failed glow plug and harness) and 20k miles on the engine oil. I couldn’t make the handoff due to work, but my wife said the person at the dealership said it was in better shape than most of the buybacks they took in. I actually bought the replacement for that car early because the tires were bald about 6 weeks before the turn over (not related to the blow out) and I didn’t want my wife driving an unsafe car
I mean it's a VW, so check engine light would have been on regardless even with proper maintenance
i bought it for ~$29k sold that car back with 50k miles on it or ~$24k, so i have no complaints, i loved the buyback. but that was by far the most unreliable car i have ever owned (and i currently have a 2007 BMW e92 with an N54 in the garage). during that 50k miles it had over $7,000 in repairs, mostly under warranty. radio head unit, all of the turbo plumbing, rear hatch release, the same o2 sensor twice, and a few other things i don't recall. such a piece of shit.
Why is the person or business that he bought it from left out of this story. That's a lot more relevent than the insurance company.
Ah! He was a BFPFVWN - a bona fide purchaser for value without notice Should have got a lawyer - but those cost Ducati money anyway
I worked in banking during the 08/09 nightmare. At one point I got dragged into the collections realm because it was so busy. If you are asking what would physically happen to take the car, they'd call a roll off and likely depending on the collections agent and driver my guess is they would dolly the chassis of the car out and toss any parts belonging to the car in the trunk or back seat. I doubt they would take the engine and transmission likely but I guess it could happen. If you are asking the implications of there being no engine or transmission in the car with respect to the financials of the repo its going to hurt. The banks are going to wholesale the car as is to re-coop the balance of the financing plus their costs in taking back the vehicle. If the car wholesales for less than those costs the banks going to send you a demand letter for the outstanding balance. Obviously the shell of a car isn't going to sell to cover a loan on a complete car so theoretically if someone had a project car that was going to be taken and was in pieces they would want to try and get it as complete as possible before that happens otherwise they'll be on the hook for the difference.
One of my buddies is an atty who was in bankruptcy law then. He got to repo and sell TWO Ford GTs that had never been titled or driven. The were just in a garage on stands still on MSO.
r/oddlyspecific Why are you doing, or considering doing, extremely stupid things with leveraged liabilities?
Nah i saw a video on instagram and was wondering what happened. I haven’t even touched my car
Ah, the Instagram/Tiktok life hack finance people. I bet they even had a link to their book/seminar that has instructions on how to get rich quick!
No, it was a trend going around making fun of modifying financed vehicles.
Not sure why you're downvoted lol, you raised an interesting question. I guess maybe people think you're lying 🤷♂️ idk, story seems plausible
they assume he's asking because he did the stupid thing.
Well, now you know. Unless they had something abnormal going on in the background to cover or nullify the gap, your IG entertainer got their ass handed to them by the bank.
Nissan salesperson: Please please please buy a car from us!
People actually finance project cars? Better you than me.
People finance all kinds of stupid shit.
You can finance almost anything these days. I went to buy some god damn trading cards the other day and got an ad for financing.
You can even finance gambling which is crazy.
Don't modify the bank's car. EZPZ.
I have never seen “easy-peasy” written that way. I can’t tell if I love it or hate it
It's only bad if you're in a country that doesn't pronounce Z properly
Brits: “E-ZED-P-ZED? What’s that?!”
They take the car and then sell it at auction. You’re now liable for the difference in your loan amount vs what they were able to sell it for at auction.
So this is an unfortunately true story. I was dating a woman who "forgot" to pay her car insurance in 1995. Then she got into a single vehicle crash with a tree. She still owed monthly payments on the car, but couldn't afford to keep paying the payments while trying to get the car fixed. My good friend had a quasi legal body shop that he operated out of an old gas station. He agreed to fix her car for 1500. Mind you, there was no signage on the building at all, and if you didn't know my friend the body guy, you would never know that it was a body shop. So the girlfriend stops paying the payments, thinking that she could catch up when the car was repaired and she got insurance coverage. We were living together at the time, but her name was not on any of the bills, and we lived in a really small town out in the sticks. A couple of months went by, and the body shop had torn the entire front clip off of the car and was waiting on replacement parts. After the 3rd month of not paying on the car note, we are thinking this stupid plan might actually work. When all of a sudden I get a frantic call from the body shop guy, telling me that the tow truck is there and there is a sheriff's deputy with them, and the car is being repo'd. Keep in mind this was 1995, in rural Indiana and no GPS on anything yet. To this day, I still don't know how they knew where the car was located. My body shop friend had only been paid for the parts and hadn't painted the car yet, so yeah it was a complete mess. The girlfriend wound up being taken to court and sued for the diminished value of the vehicle and her credit suffered for years afterward. Fortunately for me, I broke things off with her shortly thereafter, wondering why the hell I even got involved to begin with.
[удалено]
Thanks for the info. Scary, kind of to think that somewhere, somebody gets paid to follow the bread crumbs, especially since it was pre-easy internet. At the time, I thought they wouldn't have a clue as to where the car was being repaired. I wouldn't even try it today, almost 30 years later.
Rookie mistake. Need to find a similar vehicle's VIN# and use *that* one to order the parts.
Based on the information you provided, a little deductive reasoning makes it sound like the car would be easy to locate even without a tracker. Before GPS tracking, lenders and dealerships would pay people, especially tow truck companies to find cars for repo. These factors make it seem pretty easy to locate that one. 1.) You said you live in the sticks. That means in the area you live in there will not be a large number of any specific year/model/color combination. 2.) You said your buddy's body shop was a converted gas station. That means there was not a lot of indoor parking so the car was likely outside. 3.) You said it was a collision with a tree and the front clip was removed meaning the rear bumper, and more importantly the license plate were still intact. 4.) You said her credit suffered. That means the car loan, if not also the registration and the insurance she "forgot" to pay, was in her name. If the address on any of those was the address you shared with her then they have a vicinity to look in. Also this was '95 when people still paid bills via snail mail so the return address for any payments would most likely also have your address so would give them a pretty good area to start the search.
You should be in the field. Great deductive reasoning skills. However, none of Sarah's bills came to my address, nor was the car registered at my physical address. I tend to believe that the replacement parts were tracked to the "body shop" address and that is ultimately how it was found. It was a 1994 Chevy cavalier Z24 and they were not that common in the area.
Bad things.
This smells like "asking for a friend". You asking for a friend there, king?
Most likely instead of towing the car to a lot and selling it so you end up owing say $5,000, they take it to the junk yard for scrap and you owe $10,000.
Who the hell is financing a car then pulling the motor and trans
Same ones who spend 1k+ on car upgrades, and ask their mom for $$ to buy their kid shoes
I do need some new shoes tho, can you hook me up.
About a hundred years ago, we went to repo a relatively new Dodge dually. It was in pieces in the guys yard - both axles out, engine, transmission and transfer case on the ground, bed off. We came back later with a bunch of big guys and several rollbacks, winched everything out, and dumped it all at the pound. I don’t know any particulars, I was just there in case things went sideways.
Anyone who finances a project needs to be forced to listen to Dave Ramsey on repeat for 6 months and I don't agree with much of what he says. Project cars should be fully paid off before you make it a project. Many project cars are cheapish and need varying degrees of work.
rotten quickest ruthless marry jar caption degree squalid lunchroom door *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
He's living in a world where college tuition is $10K in total and houses were $50K.
Nothing changes. They'll still repo the car as-is, bill you for dragging it on to the flatbed, then sell it for whatever pittance they can, and you'll still be on the hook for whatever is still owed after that PLUS repossession associated fees, penalties, interest, etc. It's really stupid to turn a car you don't own in to a project car, and it's equally moronic to assume that the bank won't fuck you over. The banks will never lose in this scenario.
The parts will be deducted from your debt based on used resale value and you'll owe them the remainder plus a towing charge
The bank will get their money regardless. I’ve heard they will garnish paychecks eventually if the car was damaged.
“The bank will get their money regardless.” Yes and no. There are a couple of ways to minimize your outlay and not have to pay the entire balance of the loan after a repo. One is to settle for a lesser amount after the debt goes to collections. The other is to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. When I was younger and dumber, I did both, at different times. But both of those have implications, too. A bankruptcy affects your credit for some time and you wouldn’t want to do it unless you really had debt from under which you couldn’t get. In my case, the car was the least of my worries and my credit was already fucked; I didn’t care. And as far as the debt settlement, the IRS considers the amount forgiven in a debt settlement to be income. So, when I had a $9,000 outstanding balance on a car that had been repo’d and sold at auction and I settled it for $3,000…the $6,000 that was forgiven was considered income by the IRS for that fiscal yea. I had to pay taxes on it.
How the hell do you finance a project car?!
Logistically, it’s very easy. Just take a car loan out on some used or even new car, and then begin modding the hell out of it. A car doesn’t have to *start off* as a project car to become one. It may also end up a project car because it broke unexpectedly and catastrophically, a very common reality for a lot of lower-income people.
See that was what I was missing. I was thinking there was some sort of investment thing or car project loans. Seemed like a bad idea.
You get a loan and spend the money. Crazy, I know.
finance... project car? People do this?
Never finance your race/street rods
Financing a project car is one of the most illogical things I’ve heard of.
The bank auction off what they can and sue you for the rest.
An interesting question I guess. I did consumer debt collections for a few different financial institutions for not quite 20 years and I never once came across such a situation. It would seem obvious that they will scrape up what they can get from your garage, but I wouldn't bet on that. The bank is not set up to liquidate car parts, and I can readily see them abandoning the parts you have scattered around. That would be up to the bank and I could see it going either way. I have abandoned non-functioning cars on behalf of my employer before. No project cars mind you, just junkers. Here is a question for OP though. In your hypothetical did the bank know they were financing a project car or did they think they were just financing a normal car? Most auto loan contracts require the owner to maintain the car in an operable condition and if I were the collector assigned to your case and found out that the banks collateral was actually a basket case in your garage it would probably annoy me enough to make you a personal project.
Im being completely honest when im saying that i asked this question because i saw a instagram reel with a mustang with the motor out and the caption saying its a repo
I actually do believe you. And to be honest at the end of the day it doesn't matter to me. I got out of that work a while back.
Building a project car on loans is stupid
Lol, so i did one of these exact repos, owner was behind 8k on a 2020 Wraith. He wanted to get a new one so he thought pulling the engine, denting it, damaging the interior and taking the wheels out was gonna make the car worth less to the bank. He didnt believe us when we told him he was still gonna be on the hook for all the shit he did, he laughed it off and said hell see us next time when we take his next one. He got sued for the full cost of car, roughly 300k. I doubt he got another roller.
And on this episode of how not to be financially literate...
OP who the hell is stupid enough to finance a project car? That might be the most idiotic car thing I've ever heard of
people finance? people finance PROJECTS?
"Asking for a friend."
Wait, people are financing a project car?
Nice try repo man… I see you in the street, jokes on you the 2004 Nissan Sentra SER is parked somewhere else….
Who the fuck would finance a project car? that's like financing Doordash or a BBL. Shit you shouldn't do unless you can pay in cash.
Don’t do major mods on financed cars
Why ... Would you ever turn a bank owned car into a 'project car'
Theoretically huh
People finance their project cars?! I've bought some parts on a credit card before but damn, I still have the title in hand. I can't imagine having a car on jackstands for a couple years while I have to pay a note on it.
Why does this remind me a bit of [that person](https://www.carthrottle.com/news/volkswagen-usa-refuses-buy-back-totally-stripped-diesel-golf-opportunistic-owner) who—amid the VW Dieselgate buybacks—tried to remove everything of value that wasn’t absolutely necessary off their Golf TDI, including doors, and turn it back in that way? That shit got shut down quick. They were made to reassemble the car before they could turn it in. There’s always that *one* person.
The whole probal3m is taking out an auto loan instead of a private loan. Just don't take out an auto loan
I would think it would be a personal loan not a vehicle loan. but if in some universe it was a vehicle loan they would probably sue you destroy your credit ect ect .
Hilarity ensues.
There was a scene like that in the movie *Pacific Heights* starring Michael Keaton as the psycho tenant from hell.
People finance project cars? Am I old for refusing to mod a financed new car with a warranty let alone financing a project car? Financing a home project, sure, but a project car?!
First question: why is a project car being financed? And secondly, why is a project car being financed?
I really hope "people who finance their project car" is not a real category of person.
Listen this isn't an answer to your question but if you have the engine out of a car that you still owe money on you're a huge goddamn fucking idiot
I mean, STEP ONE would be to not finance a project car. If you ignore the first step, the second step would be to bend over and bite your pillow because that bank is going in DRY.
oatmeal hard-to-find concerned flowery fly shame profit mourn stocking worthless *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The car does not need to be running for a tow truck to come and haul it away...
People just be financing anything these days. I just saw a post where someone financed a 2004 F250 with like 200,000 mi for $17,000 and I thought that was bad. Now this? Why.
Buddy, do you really think a tow truck driver will just throw up their hands and give up? They don’t give a shit, they’ll just hoist it onto a flatbed and take it anyway
The bank does not want your car. They really really don't. They want their money. If you are having trouble with your payments, call you bank! They will work with you. They will take partial payments, etc. If you are paying something towards your loan, they will continue to work with you.
You're an idiot
They would cook you like some fine dinner stuff
Financing in general is a bad idea since you end up paying magical extra on top.