So I got bored and VIN checked our old vibe...

[04shadowvibe]

Buddy of mine has a vin check subscription so I figured why not look up some old cars. So I looked up our 04 shadow vibe, see my avatar, and found some interesting stuff. After we had it, it found a new home about 15 miles away. then around 65k it found a new home about 20 miles away from here. Then it was sold again and the next owner put on like 80k in under a year then it was sold again at 145k....and that's where it got interesting, it was then exported to Africa! Our first Vibe is around the world now.

everything else I looked up is still out there and not too far away from me. Ive seen a few of them from time to time.....they don't look nearly as good as when I cared for them. Only dead one was our 1988 pickup it died in an accident in 1999. for some reason I had a feeling before I even looked them up that that truck was gone.

[vibenvy]

I would love to know (or maybe not) what happened to my former Sunfires, especially the 2002 Sunfire GT Coupe.

[Salsa Guy]

Who would export a vibe to Africa? Sounds bizarre.

[canadave]

Who would export a vibe to Africa? Sounds bizarre.

Incredibly, it seems to be "a thing". Check out this report!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF0Gx0PE6Ak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, if you google "car export africa", there's a few companies (most of which seem to be in Europe) that specifically export autos to Africa.

[04shadowvibe]

The vin report doesn't show any theft reports and all the transactions look legit. Ive always seen shadow vibes around and wondered if it was our old one and well I guess I can quit thinking that now as its across the ocean.

[BaseWhiteVibe]

I am very familiar with this process, a family friend has been sending cars to Poland for years! They get trucked to New Jersey (or driven) then they go for a nice cruise and end up in Gdansk. A cousin and his wife get the cars drive them to the shop and MUST turn them around within 10 days, because the next shipment is coming in. This is a never ending cycle.

Big sellers are Camry's and Corolla's, almost always Toyotas

Cars will go to auction (damaged), they will be sold for less money vs. a solid car, the buyer will put all the parts in the car and the shipping container, once they go overseas they get fixed there for a much lower rate and sold. The miles don't matter, parts are plentiful in Europe and the cars can be quickly fixed.

Afghanistan is another country that has a large influx of damaged/salvage Toyotas from the US.

[ColonelPanic]

I have heard of the totalled cars getting shipped overseas and put back on the road in short order. I guess salvage vehicles don't have the same kind of stigma elsewhere.

I usually don't want to know what happens to my old cars. In some cases it's been for a good reason. In others, it would sadden me to see them go down the crapper.

[BaseWhiteVibe]

Salvage Title...... what's that? Aren't all American titles Orange and branded all over the place?

[04shadowvibe]

that's kinda what I was thinking that it had a rough life and needed a lot of work which made it attractive to a deal like that.