Repo Man Claims 1.67m Vehicles in '08
I’ve been watching the Hispanic-flavored “Operation Repo” series on truTV. All I can say is, man, obesity sucks. And if you need proof that carmakers have been selling too much car to too little brain, here it is. (Sweet G37 BTW.) For months, I’ve been telling my MSM contacts that repos are so bad that the collection agencies can’t keep up. In some cases, banks are not calling the repo man– to avoid the cost of recycling the cars and taking the hit to their bottom line. In other words, the headline figure above– representing a mere 12 percent rise of repos over 2007’s stat– could well be the tip of the iceberg. Tom Webb disagrees. Speaking with Automotive News [sub], the economist for auction giant Manheim says the worst is over. “[Repos] will certainly be up in first half of this year, and with the labor market deteriorating so substantially, it might be up quite a bit and might offset the decline I expect in the second half of the year. We won’t have a 12 percent increase, but I would expect something in terms of less than a 5 percent increase.” So “only” 1,753,500 repos for ’09, then. Even if that’s true, with new vehicles flooding the market, and used vehicles flooding the market, and repo vehicles flooding the market, prices are headed down. And if prices are headed down, residuals are in the crapper. And if everyone’s backwards on their existing loans, they’re not going to trade in for a new vehicle. You see where this is going? Nowhere.
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I'm 5'11" 205 or so -- not small by any means, and I fit into my neon (compact as rated by gubment) and sti (subcompact) with no problems. how big _ARE_ people that can't fit into compacts & subcompacts? I even fit into the backseat of my father-in-laws vw polo in brazil (1.6L 100hp. leather, ac, power everything) although my head was about 1" or less from the top of the car.
Instead of referencing "Operation Repo" I'm suprised you didn't go for the 1984 movie "Repo Man". One of the best movies ever made. One of quotes from the IMDB web site Bud: Credit is a sacred trust, it's what our free society is founded on. Do you think they give a damn about their bills in Russia? I said, do you think they give a damn about their bills in Russia? Otto: They don't pay bills in Russia, it's all free. Bud: All free? Free my ass. What are you, a f*****' commie? Huh? Otto: No, I ain't no commie. Bud: Well, you better not be. I don't want no commies in my car. No Christians either.
@8rings No one forced these companies to loan money to these people who couldn't afford it. Just like people didn't force the mortgage lenders to make loans to people who couldn't repay them. A large majority of lenders simply made poor financial decisions, period. Even if you complain that many lenders have lost their shirts it still goes back to not extending your debt percentage over a certain amount to protect yourself from situations like that. (Oh and no one made them fat either!)
@ geeber Unless the borrower signed the loan papers under duress.... The lender (or the broker) would usually be considered the more financially literate. Writing a loan document when the lender/broker would be staring at personal financial statements that should scream out that the individual can't possibly pay is the very definition of PREDATORY LENDING. If I were apportioning blame I would suggest 80% lender, 20% borrower. I accept your point about minorities.