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Salvage Bidding

g zero

Well Known Member
I know it’s pretty common on VAF for us to bid on insurance salvage planes . I’ve bid on a few over the years . I recently bid on one that was on the major Insurance Companies Site . Description said plane taxied into a parked aircraft causing damage to the right wing . Photos on the site confirmed leading edge damage . I bid accordingly based on the damage . I was awarded the bid and was in the area that the plane was located . Decided to take a look to see if it was repairable as it sits or need to remove the wings and ship .
I met with the owner of the plane and he showed me pictures of what actually happened…….he lost the right brake causing him to veer into a parked plane , basically his prop cut the parked airplane in half ! …..oh and the wing hit the V on the V-Tail Bonanza causing the leading edge damage.
No mention of a prop strike, prop damage or engine damage on the Insurance Bid Site .
I emailed the insurance company and they put me down as non payment.
Bidder Beware.
 
interesting

I would be interested to know the process. When you bid and win, what are the requirements and methods for payment? Also, what timeline do they require?
Since they denied your bid... it seems either you did not pay properly or they cheated you.
I was once offered "first right of refusal" to buy back my own wreckage from the salvage company. The offer seemed suspect as they implied I could complete the process before others had a chance to bid. It smelled dodgy so I did not respond.
I know I am not comfortable with the long standing process of the insurance company deciding the "totalled" determination. But, we have our hands tied to the bigger market of risk and loss. I suspect the insurance execs live in a much bigger house than mine... But, of course, that is my choice of what I spent my career doing. Cheers!
 
I too bought a plane off salvage auction. Again Bidder Beware.
Plane was advertised as being 'Ferriable'. Good thing we brought a trailer. Initial external inspection showed bumps & bruises, ok, but further more thorough looking over revealed internal structural damage, some bulkheads & ribs bent, and an engine worthy of the junk pile (looked like this bird was dead even before the storm damage)

So you take your lashes, buckle down and get on knowing that there is more work & expense to look forward than you expected. Not as good a deal as was advertised.

My advice is- if you are looking to buy a salvage project, buy only from the original owner, after you got the 'full story', and have had a thorough inspection of the hulk. Definitely do Not rely on pictures.
I did buy a second salvage job, but did it according to my own advice, with full knowledge & at half the price that it probably would have gone for through an insurance brokerage, auction site, or wrecking yard.
 
Salvage

Another item to watch..... purchased a Piper J-5 that had been ground looped. Very minor damage to airframe and nothing to engine. My purchase agreement with Old Republic insurance requires me to tell any future owners of prior damage history if I sell. No problem. Get the logbooks from the insurance and they have made big entries in both airframe and engine logbooks stating aircraft has been damaged and is "Not Repairable". In and of itself doesn't keep me from repairing in a legal fashion but I felt it would make it much harder to sell so I just parted it out. Lost a good repairable aircraft. Will never buy from them again.
 
I would be interested to know the process. When you bid and win, what are the requirements and methods for payment? Also, what timeline do they require?
Since they denied your bid... it seems either you did not pay properly or they cheated you.
I was once offered "first right of refusal" to buy back my own wreckage from the salvage company. The offer seemed suspect as they implied I could complete the process before others had a chance to bid. It smelled dodgy so I did not respond.
I know I am not comfortable with the long standing process of the insurance company deciding the "totalled" determination. But, we have our hands tied to the bigger market of risk and loss. I suspect the insurance execs live in a much bigger house than mine... But, of course, that is my choice of what I spent my career doing. Cheers!


I was awarded the bid and have 10 days ? To wire the money . I was able to look at the plane 2 days after was awarded the bid . After finding out the rest of the story I sent an email to the Insurance Company explaining that I’ve seen more honest descriptions on Craigs List and that I’d be more than happy to resubmit a bid based on what they were auctioning off . No response, just a email stating that I lost the plane due to non payment.
 
When buying airplane from Insurance salvage be sure to bid accordingly. They would not normally sell it as a salvage plane if it the cost to repair it didn't exceed 50%+ or more. I've bid several times and my bids are very low with the assumption that engine is no good and any other damage that I can see. Their job is to get as much money as possible and provide as little information as possible.. many times, borderline lying .
 
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