Hypothetical question

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:05 am

Let me pose a situation. Let's say that a bank was going to reposses a car. Now let's say that said owner had two cars of more or less the same model. If the owner, seeing the repossesion coming, were to swap engines, shocks and various other 'non-visible' items would that be unethical or just plain shrewd?

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:09 am

And the antisocial narcisist says: Sharrewwwd!

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:12 am

I'd call it smart as long as no one found out. Strip it.

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:14 am

If caught, probably charged with theft.....

Just think, if you happen to have purchased a NEW car and did this, and they repossessed it and it was obviously messed with, I doubt they would consider you "even" with the bank. So even if it is an older car, I would skip this idea.

I know if someone who did this with a wrecked STI, swapped over EVERYTHING from a FWD imprezza. Lets just say he finally made the right decision and told the insurance company just before they figured it out.....

JC · Post by JC » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:15 am

If the owner saw the repo coming, he should sell the car and try to save his credit.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:26 am

Good advice JC...but can the owner at least have the shocks?

jnorion · Post by **jnorion** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:29 am

It's not always possible to sell the car... if you owe more than it's worth, you can't get rid of it because you have to pay the loan off to get the title.

It really kind of depends on how different the cars actually are. For instance, if it was actually the same make and model and just swapping the new stuff for the old stuff, that's virtually foolproof. If it's the same make but different model (or newer generation or something), so it still says "Subaru" or something on the engine, it's VERY unlikely anyone would know enough to notice the difference. If it's a totally different type, not worth it.

Of course these are all general ideas, since there are no actual cars in the picture, and so no details.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:34 am

Let's say one is a 91 turbo and the other is a 93 turbo.

jnorion · Post by **jnorion** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:37 am

If someone presented me with a situation like that I would say do it, right away.

Bheinen74 · Post by **Bheinen74** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:59 am

the repo man will only be smart enough to look at the VIN number plate to make sure it matches the order he has to do the repo, he isnt going to know what parts are or are not supposed to be on the car. He would care less, as long as he has the right chassis.

Hell, throw in a blown motor from a junkyard car, and you will have yourself a backup motor. throw on some junkyard rims, tires,etc etc on the one he is re-poing. etc etc. grab the ECU, get the fuel pump, and then you will even have some spare parts for down the road. Might want to leave the battery there, so at least it cranks over the blown motor, lol.

JC · Post by JC » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:22 am

jnorion wrote:It's not always possible to sell the car... if you owe more than it's worth, you can't get rid of it because you have to pay the loan off to get the title.

If you have TWO cars, sell the other one and use it to make your payments on the one getting repo'd. Having a repossion on your credit is no joke.

I doubt the repo man would notice and if it was small things, the bank probably wouldn't either. If you are gonna swap things like a motor, I dunno that I would risk defrauding a bank on top of defaulting on a loan. Of course this is all hypothetical.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:26 am

It is hypothetical and I was mostly curious what people thought of the possibility of the idea.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:29 am

I agree. Repo man doesn't care and the bank will just dump an ancient car like that to auction. Plenty of people blow their cars if they know they're going to get repo'd. A guy I know did that for a while and he said they always brought a tow truck for that reason. Of course, this was NY/NJ area. Probably costs them more to repo it than it's worth. I'm not sure I'd actually do this myself since it's too much like stealing to me, but that's the pussy little conscience inside and I try not to listen to him, so to be safe I haven't defaulted any loans (or taken many). But whatever this theoretical person does is their thing and if their conscience doesn't bother them, go for it. Banks are basically legal organized crime anyway.

206er · Post by **206er** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:41 am

anything that you can do to screw an insurance company or bank and get away with it, do it.

dscoobydoo · Post by **dscoobydoo** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:37 am

When the repossesion people come, they only confirm the VIN and take it away. After that, if it is a 91 or 93, it will usually go to auction to try and regain the lost money. As long as the car has an engine, tranny, etc, I don't think anyone will bother complaining.

Technically it is still your car until they repossess it, so it is a grey area of theft(if you do take the parts and replace them with other Subaru parts).

So (taking parts from it and replacing it with other lesser parts) will probably not be noticed.
Your credit will be toast for quite awhile, so maybe you might want to get what you can out of it.

As for screwing the "man", well, you don't want to hear my opinion on this as many other people here have voiced the opposite opinion.

555BCTurbo · Post by **555BCTurbo** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:17 am

206er wrote:anything that you can do to screw an insurance company or bank and get away with it, do it.

It's your attitude that makes our insurance/loan premiums so high!

Thanks a lot bud...

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:35 pm

But it's how the banks and insurance companies operate that causes honest hardworking people to think like that - as far as I'm concerned, they deserve it and furthermore have asked for it.

Subtle · Post by **Subtle** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:49 pm

When a bank contracts to lend a buyer the money to buy a car the buyer's side of the deal is to pay it back with interest. The specific car is the collateral on the loan.

Rather than doing all the work to change the engine, why not find a way to keep up the payments?

Shouldn't this thread go in the subheading---Cashtray --

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:07 pm

Hmm... it might be an Ashtray thing, but it is also a Subaru thing...

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 5:44 pm

how much could you possibly owe on a 91 or even a 93 legacy? shit at a minimum you could put the amount on a credit card although its not a great idea at leaste its better than a repo on your credit history like someone else said.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:52 pm

I know all of this. I was just asking out of curiousity. If I were to lose my job suddenly, which could easily happen, I need to be prepared for the worst. I owe around a grand on my car. I paid a pretty penny for it. In hindsight I could have talked him down but because the car was in what seemed to be good condition I bit on the offer.

JC · Post by JC » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:58 pm

free5ty1e wrote:But it's how the banks and insurance companies operate that causes honest hardworking people to think like that - as far as I'm concerned, they deserve it and furthermore have asked for it.

How so? You agree to the terms of any loan you take out. If you don't like it, don't take the loan.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:28 pm

First of all, many banks do scam people and some of the things they do are very shady regarding holding monies and not creditng your account in a timely manner. But, yes, you do agree to the terms of a loan when you take it out, it doesn't go much beyond that. As a side note, many banks are run by some of the greediest people around. They sometimes act arrogant and standoffish because, after all, if you didn't need them they wouldn't be there so they tend to act like they own you which in many ways they do. At least, they own the coin of the realm. Something that bugs me is how banks inject themselves commercially into the public mind, like the Wachovia half time show in the super bowl or the Sovereign stadium but that 's another story and it's off topic.

206er · Post by **206er** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:02 am

555BCTurbo wrote:
206er wrote:anything that you can do to screw an insurance company or bank and get away with it, do it.
It's your attitude that makes our insurance/loan premiums so high!

Thanks a lot bud...

any time.

they are out to screw us, why not return the favor.

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:26 pm

^^^ that's what I'm saying.

Sometimes, it's not that you want to get a loan, it's that you need to get a loan. The banks kind of have you over a barrel when you need something, since they all cooperate and play by the same rules. The only exceptions are maybe the credit unions, which are a bit more fair and equitable.

Besides, would the bank appreciate the functioning parts in the car more, or someone who loves Subarus?

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Hypothetical question

Hypothetical question