Torch My Ride: Arson for Hire - Debt-weary SUV owners unload their gas-guzzlers on insurance companies By Philip Reed Date Posted 06-06-2006 SUV owners who are faced with rising gas prices have found a new way to get out from under their high car payments — arson. This trend was spotted by a Southern California arson task force in the summer of 2005 when gas prices spiked. At one point, firefighters responding to a report of a vehicle fire arrived at the Los Angeles River Bed to find two SUVs burning at the same time. Investigators found the arson-for-hire ring involved a new-car dealership in Cerritos, California. Debt-weary SUV owners contacted the finance manager, hoping to trade in their gas-guzzler for something cheaper. They were then put in touch with an arsonist who told them to leave the keys in the ignition and $300 cash in the glovebox. An arsonist would then take the car to a remote location and set it afire. After the car was torched, the owners would then contact their insurance company and report their vehicle stolen, expecting their debt to be cancelled. Instead, they were investigated for insurance fraud.
I wonder if these are mostly the same people who tout keeping the government out of their pockets, and who believe others should live with the consequences of their actions?
ah.. I thought this was old news but the first line cleared it up.. summer 2005. maybe it's the same people who buy Hummers and avoid tax because it's a company car or that sort of thing.
Torching one's car to get out of having to pay for it isn't new or specific to SUVs. People have done it for years to get out of negative equity situations or oppressive car payments. Arson investigators and auto insurance companies aren't idiots; they've seen it all already which is why they automatically suspect arson when a vehicle is reported stolen and then found to be torched. You'd have to be pretty desperate to actually think that you could get away with something as obvious as that.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jun 11 2006, 11:57 AM) [snapback]269553[/snapback]</div> That was my first thought also. Thought it won't surprise me when it starts hapening again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Jun 12 2006, 02:10 PM) [snapback]270021[/snapback]</div> Yeah, and it's really gotta be a terribly hopeless situation to be in if they've got an American guzzler because they're worth less in resale too. There was an article in the Freep yesterday about how a lot of people are in negative equity on their car loans (loan balance is higher than what the car is worth). On top of that, if they bought the SUV with zero interest, they had to choose that or the rebate but not both so they're perhaps $5000 in the hole from the start. Of course, the rebates help to lower resale value too so they're screwed no matter which option they took.
