Dubai junk car problem

Wouldn't be an issue here in the US

http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/05/21/so-in-dubai-the-amount-of-abandoned-luxury-cars-lying-around-is-kind-of-a-problem/

My mind will not comprehend this. I do not understand.

I've seen this numerous times and it disgusts me. It's truly a shame.

Business opportunity? What would it cost to ship a freighter full of exotics to the US? Could they be bought for pennies on the dollar???

Thats sad and funny at the same time. US import regulations probably make it too difficult to bring most of them here, but there are probably other markets that they could be sent to profitably. India comes to mind.

mostly modern cars... do not care

nicksta43 wrote: My mind will not comprehend this. I do not understand.

I'm right there with you....

When debt is effectively a felony and stops you from leaving the country period. Its not astonishing to me that people just drop everything and leave instead of dealing with debtors prison.

The DeLorean at the end is a bit out of place... It also appears to have been painted red?!?!?

The stainless steel panels that we all love about the DeLorean are hard to repair back to their original look, so chances are that one suffered a fender bender at some point.

Outside of that and flux capacitors, I know little about DeLoreans.

I'm kind of enjoying schadenfreude at the owners of these cars. And they just get seized by police and resold so it's not like they're getting crushed or something.

HappyAndy wrote: Thats sad and funny at the same time. US import regulations probably make it too difficult to bring most of them here, but there are probably other markets that they could be sent to profitably. India comes to mind.

Probably doable in many cases, you just have to go in with your eyes open and knowing the regulations. There will likely be an investment involved and you don't even want to think about something that doesn't have a US model for sale.

It is such a shame, guys like us, one each, so much enjoyment wasted

Derick Freese wrote: The stainless steel panels that we all love about the DeLorean are hard to repair back to their original look, so chances are that one suffered a fender bender at some point. Outside of that and flux capacitors, I know little about DeLoreans.

Not necessarily... you are correct that the stainless panels are harder to deal with than the normal steel we're used to on cars, but with the exception of the driver's side front fender, replacement panels are reasonably available for them from DMC (though admittedly, they weren't for a while there before the 'new' DMC came about), and it's not wholly impossible to repair them- just more challenging.

There were actually a modest number of dealerships who offered the painted DMC-12s to help them stand out from the other dealerships and to appeal to people who didn't like the brushed stainless look, so there are some that have been painted since before they even saw the outside of a dealership showroom (well, beyond the plane/boat ride from Ireland and such, of course).

Painted DeLoreans are troublesome though whether you want to keep them that way or restore them to their original finish. The paint and stainless don't like each other so you have to constantly keep touching it up and caring for it (you can see the paint on the 'hood' of the one in the picture coming off). And if you want to return it to its original brushed stainless glory, it's a LOT of work to strip the paint off and re-grain the stainless.

It's to a large extent why DMC has been playing around with vinyl wraps for a while now- they offer a relatively inexpensive way to change the appearance of the car that can just be peeled off and the stainless cleaned as usual with no damage done.

A Dubai police auction must be a sight to behold.

aussiesmg wrote: It is such a shame, guys like us, one each, so much enjoyment wasted

I'll take that Maranello. Thanks.

Thats a strange sight for sure. At least the DeLorean can easily come to the US under the 25 year rule.