FATE NUMBER ONE: They are
shipped off to some foreign land with lower standards than America. I
see this happen a lot. There are many cars that get in accidents where
Carfax reports relatively minor damage, and then they’re immediately
sent off to Russia, or Southeast Asia, or West Africa, or South America,
or the Middle East. It is amazing to me — truly amazing — how many
early- to mid-2000s Rolls-Royce Phantoms that were originally sold in
America are now Hong Kong or the United Arab Emirates.
Here’s why: in places like South America, they
didn’t get very many Phantoms or SLRs or Ferrari F430s back when those
cars were new. Hell, that’s even true of Dubai, which was entirely
constructed during four warm December nights in 2006. So what they do
is, they buy them off Americans when we’re done with them.
More importantly, in places like South America
and Dubai, they don’t have Carfax. So a damaged 430 that was then
repaired relatively well is, to those folks, just as good as a regular
used one. It’s not like there’s going to be a Caracas Concours
d’Elegance where you’ll park your 430 next to nine others and judges
will try to assess if the panel fitment was done correctly.
Here’s the other reason why this happens: because a LOT
of high-end sports cars came to America, and so we can be picky about
which ones we want. So while a Venezuelan may be all over a heavily
discounted accident-repaired Ferrari F430, Americans will pass in favor
of one of the dozens of other 430s currently for sale on Autotrader or
eBay.
FATE NUMBER TWO: If there’s
serious damage, these things are parted out. It’s hard for some car
enthusiasts to hear, or to believe, but a lot of high-end enthusiast
cars really do get dismantled and cut up for parts if their accidents
are severe enough. This is especially true if a mid-engine car faces
severe front-end damage, or a front-engine car gets severe rear-end
damage. At that point, the smashed up hulk’s value is almost entirely
tied up in its engine and transmission.
I discovered this a few sad months ago, when I
was reminiscing about my old cars. Bored on Thanksgiving weekend with my
family, I entered the VIN of my old Cadillac CTS-V Wagon
into Google. I knew that this car had been in a serious accident only a
few weeks after I sold it, but what I was shocked to find was the
engine—just the engine, with no car in sight—listed on eBay in South
Carolina. Even an enterprising Venezuelan will never be able to make
that car whole again.
