Boom Times for Repo Guys

New York Times ^ | 4/18/03 | RICH BEATTIE

[coloradan]

Yeah, you got it. Time machines!

[razorback-bert]

The local repo company moved to a new yard triple the size of their previous one.

[STONEWALLS]

.....Jerry, a friend of mine got repoed....then they went after his wife's station wagon...she was in the supermarket shopping, comes out and can't find the car...calls the cops to report it stolen....that's how she found out it was repoed....Jerry caught hell at supper that night, then his wife packed her bags took the kids and left.....next day Jerry checks into Rehab for his percodan habit, gets clean and moves in with a cute little 20 year old blonde aerobics instructor he met at the Y....he says life is good now and he owes it all to the repo man....oh, and he had no problem getting another car; a brand new Esplanade...he's an orthopedic surgeon.

Good luck to everyone!

Stonewalls the Ant

[jwh_Denver]

You use a gadget called a slim jim.

They don't work on the newer cars going back at least 5 years.

One thing this article doesn't mention is the cost of buying a key for the repo man. You can get a key made if you know the VIN number (which the bank would know) but for you and I it would cost $100 because it has a computer in the key.

Any ticker symbols for the repo companies? Things are only going to get worse in this area.

[arete]

The local repo company moved to a new yard triple the size of their previous one.

What I can't figure out is where are all the new and used cars are going. It would seem that we ought to be experiencing an explosion of used cars on the market which have to compete with the new cars sitting on the dealer lots. Maybe the government will just buy them all up and ship them over to Iraq as part of the reconstruction program. I have a feeling that the taxpayer is going to be paying top dollar for a bunch of excess inventory in everything from toilet seats and cell phones to computers and cars. Hummm

Richard W.

[arete]

Now that's a strange story.

Richard W.

[razorback-bert]

According to a friend of mine, who owns a used car lot, the big multi-dealers are opening small lots with special financing that he can't compete with. Deals such as $88 down and take over the lease payments owned on the vehicle. These lots also offer longer financing terms on older cars, which he can't.

[arete]

I'm holding out for a two-for-one deal with 0 down 0% financiing and no payments for 3 years. Plus, the dealer pays registration and insurance for one year.

Richard W.

[meyer]

In other words, creditors need the repo man. "Without repo guys, we'd lose millions of dollars every year," said Dan Jarvis, a spokesman for Ford Credit.

My first thought is why are they giving loans to unqualified customers. I realize that many repos are based on drastic changes in job circumstance, but there are many more that are the result of lending to people that are a bad credit risk prior to the loan.

[meyer]

What I can't figure out is where are all the new and used cars are going. It would seem that we ought to be experiencing an explosion of used cars on the market which have to compete with the new cars sitting on the dealer lots. Maybe the government will just buy them all up and ship them over to Iraq as part of the reconstruction program. I have a feeling that the taxpayer is going to be paying top dollar for a bunch of excess inventory in everything from toilet seats and cell phones to computers and cars. Hummm

I've been waiting for that flood of cheap late-model used cars as well. I think that dealers are stockpiling them, hoping to sell the new ones down first. Not much margin in a used repo'd car in a buyer's market.

[meyer]

Take my car - and my wife - please! :^)

[MaxTheRepoMan]

Hi all,
My name is Max Pineiro and I am the owner of Elite Collateral Recovery, Elite Search Team and Repoland.com. I am also a Licensed Private Detective in NJ. The article that you read above was written on our agency. Several important point were missed by the writer who spent 2 full days with our agents. The majority of licensed and bonded recovery agencies throughout the country run a very respectable business. I took insult to my introduction that reads "Max Pineiro knows where someones car is and he is about to steal it". I do not consider my agents or myself to be thieves. Many of our agents are former police officers and private investigators. One of our agents was recently hired as a Secret Service Agent for the Department of Treasury. I am an x-law enforcement officer and concider the service that we provide to the financial community, a very important one. Without our service, where would the lending institutions be today? Where would interest rates be? Would we all be able to even afford financing a vehicle? Most folks that do have a vehicle repossessed, know that it is coming. Our agency has been involved in over 30,000 repossessions over the past 17 years. Most people that we have been confronted by do understand that we are doing our job and are usually only interested in getting the personal belongings out of the car. Professional Recovery Agencies are bonded, insured and certified. Of course there are the few tow jockeys that run around calling themselves repossessors when in fact they have no clue of the laws that govern our business. These are the same guys that usually get interviewed on nationwide TV and tell everyone how dangerous this job is and how many times they have been shot at. After 17 years in this business I can assure you that if you carry yourself professionally and are properly trained you will seldom have a war story to tell. I have enjoyed everyones posts and replys on this forum. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Max Pineiro

[InvisibleChurch]

A repo man spends his life getting into tense situations.

[BikerTrash]

Welcome to FR Max. Stick around, you may like it here.