Would You Buy This Damaged Land Rover?

Posted on Jan 10, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Would You Buy This Damaged Land Rover?

What a short attention span we have in this world today.

Less than a month ago, we wrote about the Hoegh Osaka. Remember that? If you’re anything like me, you’ll read that name and it’ll sound vaguely familiar, but you won’t remember why. Let me remind you:

The ship was carrying around 1,200 Jaguars and Land Rovers before tilting dangerously and running aground near England.

It was speculated that the load of expensive cars would be scrapped, depending on the damage done.

Well, 20-some days later, the cars are being driven off the boat under their own power. Watch the video then ask yourself: Would you buy one?

When vehicles are shipped they are securely strapped down to avoid any unnecessary movement. Even a ship tilting at nearly 50 degrees will not do any visible damage to the cargo, though unseen damage can include suspension failures and engine problems from uneven fluid distribution. Other unsecured cargo on the ship can obviously cause visual damage to the cars, and it appears that’s what happened to some of the cars on the Hoegh Osaka.

Most of the cars captured on video as they were being driven off the boat look ready for the showroom floor, but at least one has obvious damage to the sheet metal, which was probably caused by unsecured cargo.

Each vehicle will be inspected, but it’s possible, even probable, that all of them will be scrapped to avoid any potential liability in the future.

That would be unfortunate, as I’m sure plenty of folks would be happy to sign whatever waiver Jaguar Land Rover wanted for the opportunity to buy one of these cars at a discount.

The likelihood of buying a Hoegh Osaka car is essentially zero, but it brings up an interesting topic of conversation:

Even if a car looks brand new, it could be hiding serious damage. You probably won’t find a Hoegh Osaka car on the used listings anytime soon, but you might run across some cars that have been flood damaged or had collision damage repaired.

Damage like that might not be visible at first glance, so remember to have any used car thoroughly inspected before purchasing it.