Mazda destroys 4,703 brand new cars

[jimincalif]

From the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/....html From the ship that nearly capsized two years ago. Sure seems like a waste.

[Raven]

That's absolutely ridiculous. What a total waste of resouces, manpower and material. Parts like tires, window glass etc. all could have been reused if not for lawsuits and lawyers and insurance rules.

[NibCrom]

I say good riddance.

[Whelan]

Goes to show how strong those strap downs are on those ships. If you've never been boating or sailing for that matter, you cannot appreciate what a list is like. Even at 15-20 degree list while sailing and trying to bury the rails or "wash the sails" as I called it, really puts you in a position to get hurt and work on balancing. Hence everything on the deck of a boat is designed to be walked on, grabbed, and of course, hold the weight and forces put on it. It may not look like much on a protractor, but get on a sailboat, get that heel over and you will feel the difference.60 degrees is insane and for a few thousand pound car to be held like that in bobbing seas is crazy to me.I'm sure Jim up there would agree with me, I can remember several times where we were flying through 25 knots with 35 gusts, full main and a #2 heavy jib. All the while the one guy on the high side had the mainsheet in his hands in the cam cleat ready to dump. Which basically means that if the boat heels over to much, you release the sheet (not rope) and let the wind pushing on the main spill off the sail, effectively righting the boat in most cases.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »Goes to show how strong those strap downs are on those ships. If you've never been boating or sailing for that matter, you cannot appreciate what a list is like. Even at 15-20 degree list while sailing and trying to bury the rails or "wash the sails" as I called it, really puts you in a position to get hurt and work on balancing. Hence everything on the deck of a boat is designed to be walked on, grabbed, and of course, hold the weight and forces put on it. It may not look like much on a protractor, but get on a sailboat, get that heel over and you will feel the difference.60 degrees is insane and for a few thousand pound car to be held like that in bobbing seas is crazy to me.I'm sure Jim up there would agree with me, I can remember several times where we were flying through 25 knots with 35 gusts, full main and a #2 heavy jib. All the while the one guy on the high side had the mainsheet in his hands in the cam cleat ready to dump. Which basically means that if the boat heels over to much, you release the sheet (not rope) and let the wind pushing on the main spill off the sail, effectively righting the boat in most cases. Wha?

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »I'm sure Jim up there would agree with me, I can remember several times where we were flying through 25 knots with 35 gusts, full main and a #2 heavy jib. All the while the one guy on the high side had the mainsheet in his hands in the cam cleat ready to dump. Which basically means that if the boat heels over to much, you release the sheet (not rope) and let the wind pushing on the main spill off the sail, effectively righting the boat in most cases. Yeah, in most cases! Of course when that doesn't work the rudder can't overcome the boat's tendency to round up so you spin out. Time to reef!

[Whelan]

Spin outs are not fun, especially when you railing on a J24, your legs could get a little wet.

[ramenboy...]

that was a smart thing to do on mazda's part... was it a year ago or so, that something happened with some bmws on a carrier...not as drastic, but bmw decided to repair the damaged cars and sell them as new...

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »Spin outs are not fun, especially when you railing on a J24, your legs could get a little wet.Well, if you're on a J24 in 25 - 35kts, you're already getting wet, but you want to avoid going swimming! (and if one of the J's with the aft lazarettes, make sure they are sealed with duct tape to avoid having them open and sink the boat should it go over on its side.)

[jimincalif]

Quote, originally posted by ramenboy... »that was a smart thing to do on mazda's part... was it a year ago or so, that something happened with some bmws on a carrier...not as drastic, but bmw decided to repair the damaged cars and sell them as new...I understand their reasoning, and since they are insured, why wouldn't Mazda protect their brand. But with the price of parts, seems like the ins cos involved would want to salvage parts to recoup some of the loss. I recall the BMW story, agree it was not a good idea to sell them as new.

[Whelan]

Agreed Jim, it was not an open transom on the J, and the 25-35 knot story was while racing on the Swan 46. 25 knots in a J is already insane enough.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by jimincalif »I understand their reasoning, and since they are insured, why wouldn't Mazda protect their brand. But with the price of parts, seems like the ins cos involved would want to salvage parts to recoup some of the loss. I recall the BMW story, agree it was not a good idea to sell them as new. Yeh - what would have been wrong with the rims and tires for example.I think the BMW's referred to earlier were actually wrecked.A few years ago late in the evening we heard a noise outside - some thugs had actually turned upside down a Jeep Cherokee belonging to a young woman that was parked across the street [the Jeep was parked, not the woman]. I was told that due to fluids draining this way and that way it was a total loss. Of course it was older and not worth more than $2,500 to begin with. These things just don't usually happen in our neighborhood. I always wondered if it had to do with a lover's quarrel or maybe it was insurance fraud. Also - fyi - there were a couple of Letters to the Editor in today's WStJ cruticizing Mazda for that.

[ToolGuy]

I agree with this decision... It is too large of a risk and liability for Mazda to let them out. All it takes and it would, is one person so sue over one of the cars because something went wrong. The cars will be crushed to make new cars of course. I do feel some could have been donated to schools or something but that is it. When I worked at GM I was sad to see perfectly good cars like these get crushed but then it hit me. It is no different than a case of canned soup that got crushed or cans dented and either cannot be used or sold for less. Of course GM makes cars, tons of them and to crush a few hundred is just no big deal, regular business.

[northvibe]

I'm glad they did this too, why would i want my new ms3 to be one that was fixed from a boat tipping over...if it was sold as new id be pissed.

[RePo]

These cars could have been consumed in the market by a new Hollywood smash thriller, schools, anything. They could have been blacklisted so as to never be able to be registered. That means they are only valuable for parts. Mazda didn't want the market flooded with inexpensive parts, cutting way into their parts sales. They only decided to shred them (including tires and everything!) to take the insurance payoff now, instead of a reduced parts market later. In that regard, the insurance really was scammed.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by RePo » They only decided to shred them (including tires and everything!) to take the insurance payoff now, instead of a reduced parts market later. In that regard, the insurance really was scammed.Unless there were some highly unusual insurance terms, from what I know about insurance companies, they probably didn't pay the entire bill. Ever total a car? Usually if the insurance companies pays the full fmv for the damaged vehicles, they get the vehicle. There was likely a cost to Mazda to total these vechicles rather than allow them to be salvaged or parted out.

[ToolGuy]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 » There was likely a cost to Mazda to total these vechicles rather than allow them to be salvaged or parted out.There probably was a charge of some kind but it was written off at the cost to build the cars or lower. Plus Mazda is not in the market for used parts so parting out was not a question. And if one part was used on a car and caused an issue you are back to a lawsuit. The real issue is the possible lawsuits from letting the cars out even for Hollywood. Besides what car manf wants to see their cars junked in movies? And Hollywood has enough money to buy new vehicles and trash them. It is hard to comprehend but it is a legal issue for the manf. I remember many GM engines filled with sand before they were crushed to ensure no one would use parts from it. Parts defaced and broken before being crushed too.