Repossession - Affects Value?

I suppose a lot of people would see that and immediately think that maintenance was neglected. Can't afford the payments how are you affording the service? Flip side would be that some of these cars were bought by people who couldn't really afford them to begin with and planned on flipping them so they never actually drove the cars at all.

 

I'd be very wary of one, if only for these considerations.

They usually KNOW they are going to lose the car and probably don't care.
Could lead to misuse or willful abuse.

Also, how are they going to be buying required maintenace if they are growing broke????

Then you have to figure it's been the victim of a late night "grab" by a Tow Truck as that's how they retrieve them.

 

I used to repo when I was in college to make money, one common denominator in every repossessed car was their condition. Mercedes Benz S-Class to Dodge Stratus, they all were a mess, no gas, no maintenance what so ever. The rough part was when we would jerk them out of parking spaces so we could set up the tow truck rig; all kinds of suspension/wheel damage.

Obviously F-cars are different, but like other members have said, they most likely couldn't afford proper maintenance if they couldn't afford the car

/miss my repo days

 

Is there a way to tell if they are "voluntary" repos? A friend of mine picked up a Gallardo that was a voluntary repo and it is gorgeous.

 

Hmmmm. I'm inclined to think that a fair number of these are voluntary turnovers not snatches with angry rednecks chasing the repo man off with the old street sweeper 12ga.

 

Voluntary or not I'm sure a lot of the records, books and accessories would be missing. I doubt the creditors would be giving them away too. Your best bet is snatching a well looked after car from a guy that's about to turn it in to the dealer at a price just north of his trade in number.

 

That would be nice but finding that person at the right time may be challenging.

 

WTB and they'll come out of the woodwork.

 

You didn't say which Ferraris you're considering, but if it's a 360 or a 430, there are enough good cars available that why fool with any car with a story? If it's because the repo has a lower than market price, your question is answered.

 

Some years ago, a guy approached me when I parked my 328 GTB and started talking about how he used to have one. We talked a while and then he asked me if I knew anyone who would buy the books and tools. I asked why they weren't with the car and he just said he wanted a momento. Long story short, I bought the books, tools and jack kit, all in mint condition. Examining the service booklet, I found the car really was a GTB and I had the vin#. So I looked in the 328 registry thread which was pretty new at the time and found the owner in San Diego who was ecstatic to get the books and tools. The dealer who sold him the car kept promising books and tools but then went out of business. We pieced together the info and concluded the car was repo'd, sold at auction in Phoenix to the dealer who sold the car. I got to see the car not long after while on a business trip and it was about to get a full major but the car was otherwise in very nice shape.

Bottom line is a repo'd car may or may not have been trashed but records are unlikely to be with it along with other things like keys, etc. If not cosmetically trashed, modern Ferraris can withstand about any type of hard driving someone can dish out so I would not automatically reject one though I would expect to pay less.

Dave

 

That is so cool that you did that for the current owner.

The original owner of my car (I'm the second) made it a point to take cars photo production book to dealership where I bought the car. He wanted me to have it. I hope I can thank him one day.

 

+1

 

I couldnt agree more. I had the GMAC repo damages accessed account here & it was ULGY.Its a crap shoot to buy one & with the money an F-Car goes for ya might not wanna roll the dice.I think it took me a few weeks to get past the disbelief of the condtion the vehicles were brought back in. I wish I had the photos still.

 

I must agree. It's probably best to steer clear of a repo. There are too many other choices out there. Then you have to explain it again to any potential buyer in the future when you trade up for the next one.

 

with prices as low as they are now, why skim the bottom to save a buck or 2? You can get clean papered cars for a song. as we all know so well a cheap Ferrari is never cheap.