http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-torch8-2009jun08,0,1869536.story On The Rise: People Blowing Up Their Own Cars Nothing salves buyer's remorse like a match in a fuel tank. Citing National Insurance Crime Bureau figures, a Los Angeles Times story says car owners are resorting to nefarious means to put an end to burdensome car loans. In the first quarter of the year, suspicious fires or arson were up 27 percent for the first quarter of the year and cases of intentionally destroyed cars shot up 24 percent. Barbecuing a Beamer is one of the more dramatic types of suspected insurance fraud that's increasing in this economic downturn, the deepest in half a century. But it's not the only one. Suspicious personal injury slip-and-fall claims increased 60% in the first quarter; staged car accidents were up 34% and commercial property fire/arson cases jumped 76%. Some consumers figure they've paid premiums year after year, experts said, and that their insurers might not closely check every single claim. In fact, investigators say they tend to be particularly busy during tough economic times when an increasing number of policyholders are caught in financial crunches. "When the economy goes south, crime goes up," said Frank Scafidi, a crime bureau spokesman in Sacramento.
people are doing this in Iceland already....here in the USA they used to drive it into some bad hood are and just leave the keys...but that is not a sure thing and often the police "finds" the car and then you are stuck with a stinky lice, semen and drug infested shell of a car and PAYMENTS!
Why not just give the keyes to somebody to drive it south to Mexico? At least it's more environmentally friendly.
Why do that when the bank lets you live in the house for years without paying? That's what they're doing right now. I've driven in many neighborhoods lately and there's not a single 4 sale sign. Wait, it must be those green shoots!
I don't understand the motivation. It's not as if the insurance company pays you any higher a replacement value than you could have sold the car for on the open market. So in committing a series of crimes, i.e. insurance fraud, arson etc the perpetrator doesn't even have the benefit of economic gain if he indeed "get's away with it."
Actually, it's more like 'explosions in the night,' and no, I am not kidding. Neighborhoods are rocked in the middle of the night in Iceland. Apparently, the icelandic way to dispose of an unwanted payment on a Land Rover or BMW is to throw a molotov cocktail inside the interior, which ultimately causes the gas tank to explode.