DID WE GET SCAMMED BUYING THIS VAN FROM A SALVAGE AUCTION

Summary

The video follows a car dealer buying salvage vehicles from auction to fix and resell. He buys a 2019 Renault van expecting minor damage but it arrives crushed beyond economically viable repair. The chassis and floor are mangled from the crash impact. They get it running to sell for parts but feel tricked by the sale photos that hid the true extent of damage. They question the validity of damage assessment categories and whether the assessor actually inspected the van in person before declaring it repairable. The dealer seeks viewers' opinions on the deceitful sale and the van's excessive damage compared to its repair classification.

Takeaways

• 😟 The van purchased from the salvage auction was in extremely poor condition - the chassis had completely separated from the body due to damage.
• 😠 The level of damage suggests the van should have been deemed a Category B total loss rather than a repairable Category S.
• 🤨 There are doubts over whether the insurance assessor actually inspected the van before categorizing it.
• 🙂 Despite the damage, the van's engine only had 28,000 miles on it and ran smoothly when tested.
• 😊 The buyer was able to acquire a replacement key and security code for the no-key van from a dealership.
• 👍 The van will be kept for spare parts which can be sold to help recoup some of the purchase cost.
• 🤔 Commenters are invited to share their thoughts on whether the assessor saw the van and if the category was appropriate.
• 😃 The buyer remains optimistic about finding a flood-damaged van with a faulty engine to repair.
• ❤️ The team is open to buying damaged vehicles from viewers to refurbish and resell.
• 📲 Viewers can connect with the team via Instagram and email to suggest vehicles for purchase or sale.

Q & A

What kind of vehicle did they buy at the auction?

They bought a 2019 Ford Transit van.

What condition category was the van listed as?

The van was listed as a Category S, which means it was structurally damaged but potentially repairable.

What was the actual condition of the van when they received it?

The van was in very poor condition. The body structure was severely damaged with the chassis legs bent and floor pan ripped open.

What was the mileage on the van?

The van had only 28,000 miles on it.

Were they able to get a key made for the van?

Yes, they got the key code from the dealer and had a new key made.

Did the engine run properly when they tested it?

Yes, the engine started up and sounded good when they tested it.

What salvage category did they think the van should have been listed as?

They thought it should have been listed as a Category B, meaning only good for parts/breaking.

Did they think the insurance assessor actually inspected the van before listing it?

No, they did not think the assessor had actually seen the van's condition before assessing it as repairable.

What do they plan to do with the van now?

They plan to part out the good parts and eventually swap the engine into another flood damaged van.

What feedback did they have about the auction's photo policy?

They were frustrated that the auction doesn't allow vehicles to be inspected in person anymore since the photos don't always show damage.

Outlines

00:00

😳 Buying a Salvage Van with Major Damage Unseen in Photos

The buyer purchased a 2019 Ford Transit van salvage vehicle from Copart that was categorized as repairable, expecting minor damage. However, upon delivery, the van had extremely severe front-end damage not visible in the limited photos from the auction. The frame rails were bent back, windshield was cracked, chassis was distorted, and the floor had separated. The buyer is shocked this extreme damage was unseen and classified as repairable.

05:01

😥 The Salvage Van Has Damage Far Beyond What its Category Suggested

The buyer and his mechanic examine the disastrous damage and determine there is no way this van should have been classified as a category S rebuildable vehicle. The damage is so extreme the insurance assessor could not have possibly seen the van in person. They discuss whether the assessor was negligent or if there is a scam occurring between assessors and auctions to misrepresent vehicle condition.

10:02

😤 Auction Photos No Longer Show Damage Since Becoming Watermarked

The buyer explains that previously he could show the misleading auction photos of vehicles. However, now that Copart photos contain watermarks and are copyright protected, the buyer cannot display images proving the shocking discrepancy between photos and actual extensive damage of vehicles purchased.

15:05

😀 Successfully Cuts Key and Starts Vehicle Despite No Keys

Although the van purchase arrived with no keys, the buyer successfully obtains the key code from the vehicle manufacturer dealer. He has a locksmith friend cut a key, and the buyer is able to successfully program the new key and start the van. Despite major body damage, the engine starts up fine.

20:06

😊 Engine Runs Fine but Van is Not Economically Viable to Repair

While the van's engine starts and runs well, the buyer and mechanic determine the extreme front-end body damage makes repairing the van not financially worthwhile. However, the buyer remains upbeat, knowing the running engine and other usable parts can likely be sold to recoup the van's purchase price.

Keywords

💡Salvage auction

A salvage auction is where damaged or written-off vehicles are auctioned off. The video focuses on the narrator buying salvage vehicles from Copart salvage auction to try and repair them. He discusses going to the auction site to pick up a van he won in the auction.

💡Category S

Category S refers to a vehicle that has been structurally damaged and written off by insurance companies, but can still be repaired and put back on the road. The van the narrator bought was listed as a Category S, but he felt it was actually more severely damaged than that categorization suggested.

💡Written off

When a vehicle is too badly damaged to be economically repaired, the insurance company will declare it a total loss or 'write it off'. The narrator bought a van that had been written off by insurance after an accident.

💡Repairable

Category S vehicles are meant to be repairable, despite being structurally damaged. However, upon inspection, the narrator felt the van he bought was too badly damaged to be viably repaired, contrary to its Category S designation.

💡Assessor

An assessor is a person who inspects damaged vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, to determine if they should be written off or not. The narrator suspects the assessor did not properly inspect this van before deeming it repairable.

💡Mileage

The van's mileage or total distance traveled was unknown when purchased at auction. Using a vehicle history report, the narrator later found it had only about 28,000 miles on it - very low for its age.

💡Engine

Despite extensive damage, the van's engine started up fine. The narrator feels that even if the van's body is unusable, he can still sell the engine which had low mileage.

💡Parts vehicle

Since the van is too damaged to repair as a whole, the narrator decides to keep it as a 'parts vehicle' - keeping intact sections like doors to use as replacement parts on other repair projects.

💡Keys

The van didn't come with keys when purchased from the salvage auction. The narrator went to a dealer and obtained a replacement key cut and programmed, getting the van started.

💡Vehicle history report

The narrator uses a vehicle history report from CarVertical to get more information on the van, like its mileage, accident history and title status. This provides details beyond what the auction provided.

Highlights

Bought a 2019 Ford Transit van from an auction without seeing it in person

Used CarVertical report to get details on the van since there was no info from the auction

Van arrived and was in terrible condition - much worse than expected for a Category S

Turret punched back so hard it separated the chassis leg from the firewall

Floor was split, body panels crumpled - should have been Category B for parts only

Stopped at dealer to get key code and security number since van had no keys

Had new key cut and programmed it in with diagnostic tool

Van started up fine despite all the body damage

Mileage was only 28,000 miles even though van was a 2019 model

Decided van was not economically viable to repair due to extent of damage

Insurance assessor likely did not actually inspect van before categorizing it

Images provided by auction were poor quality and did not show full extent of damage

Will keep van for spare parts to use on future projects

Highlights the risk of buying salvage vehicles without seeing them first

Asks viewers for feedback on whether van should have been Category S

Transcripts

here we are back out on the

road going to pick another one up from

copar

Colchester so not often we win something

down there but recently we've had a

couple of bits of luck down there just

going through the dark foot

Crossing underneath the temp it's about

a mile long this is I think and then

once we get out the other side it's

about an hour Journey Down

812 so I guess we'll uh pick up once we

get there

the good days to the

Sorrows this is a mistake I know about

tomorrow I don't want to fight no more

cuz I don't feel they need no more no

just want to make it

[Music]

stop maybe it's

something just running a quick car

vertical on this one just to actually

try and find out a bit more about it

because there is no keys with it there's

no mileage displayed there's no

information on it so that is why I think

this is going to be a little bargain as

well because none of that is displayed

you do quite often get a bit of a deal

but of course there that is a bit more

of a risk so we're using car vertical

just to check out if there is any other

problems with it and anything that jumps

out and can we pick up some more

information so the m is looks okay

financial and legal is okay damage

detected I mean we was expecting that

wasn't we so let's click on that this

vehicle was marked as an insurance right

off and it is a category s structurally

damaged we got our Market values there

so 14,000 average price highest price 16

lowest price 13 emissions and

taxes specs and equipment and timeline

I'm looking at the timeline on this one

so seven records found the manufacturers

date the registration date so March

2019 ownership changed in on the 9th

2020 9th

2020 and then inspected there in

2022 had a license plate change from o

y19 fgp to RS10 fuzz now it does

actually come with that number plate

because that's the registration of punch

de into car vertical to get the

information and then was inspected

08223 so anot record and that is uh that

is what I do want to look up that first

mot see when it was and what the mileage

was so looking at that first mot there

it was on the 8th month of

2023 and you can actually see there

26556 Mi so actually that is going to be

a very nice low mileage van isn't it

hopefully probably just under 30,000

still so I want to thank car vertical

once again for the continued support on

the siuk channel to benefit from a nice

little discount off your check use the

code up on screen now or there's a link

in the description where as soon as you

click on it it'll automatically apply

your

discount

he he

buad

now as nice as that looks 2019 van and

the research that I did to get the

mileage this is unbelievable and this

will be the first time you've ever heard

me say this that is the worst salvage

vehicle I have ever bought from a

salvage auction in my history of buying

cars and vans because this one was

clearly written off off the back of

photos and they must have been the

sketchiest photos they sent that

insurance assessor because I've never

seen anything repairable like that that

is absolutely awful you can see the door

is overlapping there by a long

way but look at the state of that that

turret has punched back so hard it has

unpeeled the chassis leg in here off of

the

firewall it crumpled it all back and

bowed out you can see it and actually

broke the wind screen it's bowed out the

aost and punched all of the a poost in

here and actually split the floor I mean

it is

awful there's no way that van should

have ever been a category s repairable

van look at

it I'm going to be honest with you as

the buyer of for the vehicles of Salvage

rebuilds I almost embarrassed to go back

to the yard and show Chris that b

embarrassed because that is a joke you

you do go to a certain

degree of do you know what an insurance

assessor has seen that vehicle he's

declared it a category s and we think

right okay and nine times out of 10

they're not as bad as you would expect

them to be but sometimes they are quite

bad and you got to expect that because

you're buying a Cat s but that is taking

the biscuit there ain't no way an

assessor has been around and had a look

at that cuz he' have said farar in the

crusher anyway I guess all we can do is

go back and get Chris's reaction but I

got a funny feeling E's probably going

to be worse than mine cuz I've never

took him a pile of junk like that to

repair let's see how we get on when we

get back to the yard 2our trip so it is

on my way I'm kingham in Kent Marshall's

and no key so I've got a little bit of a

plan just to kind of D that

embarrassment I think before I get back

to the yard I'm going to whip in here

and actually see if I can get the key

number and security code for this one

because ultimately in my opinion in my

opinion this is worthless isn't it so

let's actually try and make it worth

something before we get back let's pop

in there and see if we can get the

information that we need bit of success

there Remy the parts guy is actually not

here he's got home so the scoda guy here

has actually gone on the system and he's

given me it's in French but he's

actually given me the security code but

no key number so I don't really know

what to do um I'm going to ring another

Marshall's group and see if they can get

me the key number over the phone because

I've given all my theyve took a photo

copy of the billis hour here and my

driving license maybe they'll be quite

happy to send it to another Branch so

I'll give them a call and see how I'll

get on a little bit of luck so I ended

up ringing Canterbury and the guy down

there said yeah absolutely no problem he

knows that he was off sick he'll get my

ID from them and he'll get me the key

code and security number and you know

what before he even contacted him he

went give me a minute give me the

chassis number and he actually give me

the key number and the security code

again which was handy because the first

one wasn't actually a security code it

was in fact an authorization code

from Persia I won't show you what it was

but that's basically it it's it's in

French anyway so unless you can read

French you can't read it I've got the

key code got the security number I've

already rung Aiden and given him the key

code he is cutting a key now he's

heading to the post office he's got 26

minutes to get it there so that he can

get it here for me guaranteed next day

by 9:00 a.m. also Chris is really really

not well he's got an awful cold so I've

just pulled up at home I'm not even

going to bother going back to the yard

today there's no point me unlocking and

disturbing him so I'll guess we'll pick

up in the

morning morning mate mate how you

feeling yeah still a bit rough mate you

don't look any better if I'm honest your

nose is really red your eyes are red

eyes are Terri I'm not going to get too

close to you but you don't want to catch

this what you reckon on that that is

terrible is it that is

terrible it's bad isn't it yeah that's

um clearly there was no photos of that

cuz you you wouldn't have bought that no

that's the only photo they didn't take

and it is so so unfortunate now I only

mentioned this to you last week copart's

pictures are all Watermark now protected

so I can't even put them up on screen

and show the pictures that I got but I

knew it had have one in the front and

you got a picture of that corner there

that didn't show any of that but that is

bad Chris isn't it look how it's just

unpeeled it all and it's punched that uh

sh it's punched that turret has punched

that firewall so hard it's separated it

from the chassis leg

look yeah how bad that is down there

this makes a mockery of the

the the categorization really though

doesn't it definitely it just makes a

mockery of it is this some sort of weird

like scam between the insurance assessor

getting the wrong pictures of the wrong

van that's unbelievable goes back to the

thing doesn't it that do the assessors

even look at them half the time they

ain't looked at this Chris I don't care

what anyone say no way have a look at

this the floor is separated from the

inner seal very sus and there very dodgy

goes on um

where that's uh categorized yeah

admittedly it's Cat s but you put your

trust in those categories don't you when

you're bidding category n category s you

sort of kind of know what you buy I

suppose it goes back to the whole thing

I do I know people do criticize us a bit

with the car verticals but you can't

trust what goes through whether it's

this auction or any auction we do our

own research and do because we've seen

it before where the cars goes through

and it's a different category or it's

it's advertised as uncategorized but it

is categorized

um again how How can any engineer put

that as a

ctis I don't think they've seen it they

haven't seen it

I mean look it I think it's got one

screw left in it be I want to know

what's behind there really oh it's

terrible isn't it look at that post and

if you seen it you ain't see this I

don't need to look

yeah yeah I knew I mean I've done a lot

of filming when you watch this back and

I've said I can't wait to get your

reaction cuz I think it's going to be

worse than mine Chris honestly I nearly

swore on camera when he loaded it up I

sweety Jesus are you kidding me are you

joking we don't know if the engine's any

good yet do we ah mate can I get you to

Old that I've got some good news there

just hold that for a sec I

know I know I told you that I bought

this and it's got no keys I stopped at

Marshall's perso runs no I stopped at

Marshall's perso I got the key number

security code this was yesterday

afternoon right sent it to

Aiden

I went into Marshall's and they give me

this but I can't really read French it

says something about shatow

nerfy

but special delivery guaranteed by 9:00

a.m. Aiden's cut a key for it he really

I can't show this cuz it's got my dress

on it okay but let me just cover that up

yeah look at the look at the

price there can you see that yeah slumpy

26 look

mind you

unopened it would cost more than that

wouldn't it to um to drive down what he

said was he said Rob I've sent you a key

he

said and

today you're going to be a locksmith I

said what do you mean he said get your

allil out I'm going to teach you how to

program the key in with our allil so he

sent us that let's see how good he

is is it locked then

he's good is he he good yeah so that

it's a bit stiff no it's not locked but

we got no keys for it of so no mileage

don't know if it runs don't know

anything climb in see if it if it turns

ignition I need to program this in yeah

obviously this side's all

right did we know the mileage no only

only what I've got on car vertical God

look snap the steering column yeah so

yeah that's one oh the floor's all up in

here yeah I'm not surprised yeah

ignition comes

on can I that yeah yeah yeah got it

yeah oh it's gone off what's the chances

of that let's turn it off turn it back

on

again it come up there a minute

ago 28,000 mil it's done anyway yeah the

mile the mileage did just come up on

there but this is not going to work and

it does it's come up there with a key

yeah on the screen so yeah needs coding

I can't leave that mileage though it

come up and now it's gone so I

guess the

the Chris I did put the Bonnet down and

I've got the

strap holding it on the cable but I

definitely think we program this key

in and we see if it runs cuz there's

nothing in the way underneath there I

mean is Miss the engine yeah definitely

this is not our van than the builders

back yeah I think um the other thing to

do is um price a new body shell really

why not price it up funny because you

funny should mentioned Dan years ago I

did a transit for Dan and it had Fair

old slap and um but it had really really

low mileage and he bought it from um

Mark at K Auto Salvage yeah I mean we're

going back 20 odd years ago and we

just well we get a price from SW Motors

the for main dealer I can't remember

what it was it was so it was incredible

how cheap it was really new body sh we

reshell it rather than repair it but

it's worth giving them a bell wait let's

get this done yeah and see if it

actually start good him to do that oh

he's he's brilliant he is absolutely

fantastic as usual I will put Aiden's

number in the description down below but

we may even get him on FaceTime because

he's going to talk me through getting

his Key Programs but the batter is still

connected it's got a lot of broken

missed the engine yeah it's missed the

engine but the intercooler smashed off

yeah but 28,000 miles hopefully that

runs all right this tire here you can

see it's like new the other Tire the

other side is bald is it yeah so but

that's an hard thump that is isn't it

that's a proper thump isn't it right

let's get the altel on here and see if

we can program this key yeah so I didn't

want to give away and nether did Aiden

really he's living it's his Secrets

isn't it but he's just Ted me through it

and I went into that built-in system

interface on there and it allowed me to

program this key and as soon as I did it

now this did work a minute ago I promise

there you go yeah

so and it's worked and can you see it's

turned that alarm off now as well yeah

what you reckon send it I've checked the

oil it's got oil in it yeah just draw it

so you can see it there now as well 28,6

37 mate I got my fingers crossed that

this is is going to be a good

engine ready

yep yeah sweet as yeah yeah and that

sounds nice yeah do you want to just

poke that camera out there cuz I can't I

can't M it

[Music]

yeah let's just turn it off make sure

turn it off make sure there's no leaks

and then maybe I'll do a bit out

there

yeah give that a go

Chris you got a little bit of chuff in

there obviously it's got no intercooler

on it that's the air flow sensor there

un

buug yeah sounds sweet as a nut mate

bang it

off got lucky there Chris just did now

on the Ed there I think and obviously we

have decided that van is just not

economic IC Ally viable to repair what

he did say is if they're not going to

give you good enough clear pictures to

see what you're buying then bring back

being able to view the vehicles because

at the moment you're not allowed to view

them you got to buy them off of the

pictures the pictures are a

bit let's just say not brilliant and to

be honest with you we both agreed really

that van is definitely a category B and

it should have been a cat B breaker only

but at the end of the day it is what it

is we're not certainly not going to moan

about it I think I'll give a very

reasonable price for it it's done 28,000

Mi it runs lovely and you know full well

we're going to park that van up and

we're going to wait until sa comes up

where we can utilize the parts that are

on it because it's got a perfect

passenger side it's got perfect set of

back doors on a bumper and the engine

runs sweet as a n so could we buy a

flood damaged one with a knacked engine

I know them engines are quite sought

after as well so if we had to go down a

route where we were selling the parts

we' definitely get our money back not

something that we do I ideally would

love to buy a flood damaged one that

sucked up water or one that's had a run

up the back it'd be really nice to get

myself a a newer upto-date van and of

course that is the later shaped one but

drop it in the comments down below and

your honest honest opinion what do you

think of that van do you think it should

be a category s do you that's one

question the next question do you think

an assessor actually even looked at that

van or do you think he just got some

pictures did he even see some pictures

did he get an explanation I would love

genuinely to hear your thoughts and your

comments on that one because you the

camera wasn't pointing at my face but if

you'd have seen the shock on my face

when that folklift drive bought that out

I was like is that even the right van

honestly I could not believe it so

unfortunately guys that is going to be

the end of today's video and the end of

the videos on the perso partner as quick

as they started they finished already

but you know we'll be using that we

don't normally buy a parts vehicle but

we got a parts vehicle sitting there now

haven't we so you know what we'll be

looking off looking out for anyway end

of today's video if you want to follow

us on Instagram Sage rebuilds if you

want to offer us a vehicle if you've

recently had an accident in your vehicle

or your vehicle's going to be written

off we'll always buy that and of course

we would give you a better price and

what the um what you can buy it back for

so you're ultimately going to have a

little bit more money there also if you

know anyone that's got a vehicle for

sale we'll always pay a nice little

finders fee follow us on Instagram at

Sage rebuilds Follow Chris Salvage

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we'll look forward to seeing you all

next week in the next one