Where do the used cars go that we don’t want anymore? It turns out Africa has a thriving business in used cars, including junk that no one wants in the Western world. This is where flood cars go for a new home.
Years ago I remember an article explaining clothes with no demand go there, too. Print up Superbowl or World Series shirts ahead of time with BOTH teams as winners and then send the loser shirts to 3rd world countries to sell.
Likely there are some Cincinnati Bengals Superbowl champion shirts out there SOMEwhere… Sure won’t see any in the US!
Australia and New Zealand are populated with imported used cars from Japan. The inspections are VERY strict so the cars that won’t pass get sold in AU and NZ and other RHD countries.
Caribbean countries get US used cars as well. Even in RHD islands like Bermuda or BVI.
I don’t know whether this trading pattern still exists, but for many years there were regular shipments of “failed” cars from Japan to Vladivostok, Russia’s major Pacific port. It didn’t matter to the Russian buyers that the vehicles were RHD, or that they had certain “flaws”.
Anything to avoid having to drive Russian-made vehicles, apparently…
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Also stolen cars go there.
I think many of these also go to Mexico. I have seen “trains” of like 3 cars in tow going down the highway headed west lately. I didn’t even know that towing method was legal but I have seen it. The pulling car will just be something like a Camry or Outback. I wonder if the transmissions are worth a crap after pulling 3x other cars for 1000 miles or more!
The younger brother of a friend was buying non-running junkers out of people’s front yards for a couple hundred bucks during the peak of the used car shortage. Many were crappy cheap beater cars that were parked due to something minor years prior like a failed alternator, starter, etc. We are talking stuff like a 1996 Cavalier with no rockers left. He would tow them home, clean them up as best as possible, fix the problem, and resell for several thousand dollars. Some truck he got for cheap didn’t even have a transmission and someone there buying another junk car saw it and paid some insane price for it. These were $500 cars before the pandemic hit!
I don’t know if he is still doing this but know he had some less than desirable customers buying these low-rent cars.
I wonder if the VW’s involved with emissions-problem were shipped to other countries?
The Ex-soviet republics get a lot of our salvage and “unrepairable” cars. They would be fixed but missing airbags with a few dash lights on. They are still cherished as they are newer cars.
I agree. One episode of the TV show Trafficked on the National Geographic Channel followed stolen vehicles from the US to Nigeria.
The VWs were repaired and sold again in the US.
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Pakistan is also big market for junk cars they are selling cars parts in local market because purchasing new one is to expensive in pakistan that’s why everyone considering the parts from a junk yard
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