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The intense heat of gasoline, tires, and EV batteries burning in contained space was hot enough to bend and warp steel. The toxic smoke was a potpourri of rubber, vaporized paint and plastic, gasoline, EV battery metals, and other chemicals. Anyone walking through the aftermath has oxygen with them and a hazmat suit.
Even if a car in there managed to avoid direct fire and the billowing clouds of toxic awful, the heat would have melted wiring insulation, connectors, and other components. Every car on board that ship will be scrapped, because VW isn’t going to assume the liability of a car that could have been compromised in the Felicity Ace fire.
When this happened in 2019, they built replacement cars. The latest message in Track Your Dream suggests the same here.
Well, for those who’s cars were on this ship, I hope your are right, and they get a replacement sometime in our lifetime (given the ongoing delays). However, the fact of the matter is, until fully inspected by Porsche and their insurer, there won’t be a final determination as to which cars are a total loss. With no personal knowledge of the extent of the fire, etc, I can imagine there could be some cars at one end of the cargo hold that only experienced smoke,…it’s a long ship and have not heard that the fire traversed the entire length of the cargo hold? But I agree, the entire cargo could be “toast”.TBD after examination.
As I see it, there are still a lot of unknowns - from what caused the fire, who’s liable, extent of damage/loss, type of restitution to consumers, etc? Good times to be a lawyer! I’m actually more curious to know if there are some cars with only partial heat damage, will those cars be scraped, or might any be sold at auction, sold used at a reduced price with full warranty, parted out, etc?
Last edited by CodyBigdog; 02-19-2022 at 11:22 AM.
My 911 production starts late next week. It will be interesting to see if Porsche can mobilize quickly enough to re-allocate production to replacements immediately. I hope those that are waiting for replacement can get prioritized ASAP. Good luck!
I’m actually more curious to know if there are some cars with only partial heat damage, will those cars be scraped, or might any be sold at auction, sold used at a reduced price with full warranty, parted out, etc?
Never. See prior incidents where cars on car carriers have been extracted “undamaged”. It’s too much of a liability risk to have them anywhere close to the public, they will never be anything other than scrap metal. (Link)
The liability risk for Porsche/VW etc is far higher than the amount raised by selling components/parted out cars.
By the way, CodyBigDog, I’m still waiting for your Carrera T link…
Those cars are full of toxic fumes and will all be a insurance loss would be my assessment, and unknown heat damage. 1000 cars not a big deal for a company the size of Porsche it’s all lawyer talk now, and they will take care of the customers and not debate if a car is sellable. The extra time needed to replace the cars ….extra shifts increased supply cost will be covered by insurance. The insurance company will want to make the definite assessment, and looks like Porsche knows what the outcome will be and moving forward with replacement not to leave the customer waiting. Just sucks to start the wait game over again.
Never. See prior incidents where cars on car carriers have been extracted “undamaged”. It’s too much of a liability risk to have them anywhere close to the public, they will never be anything other than scrap metal. (Link)
The liability risk for Porsche/VW etc is far higher than the amount raised by selling components/parted out cars.
By the way, CodyBigDog, I’m still waiting for your Carrera T link…
I linked it.
No idea what Porsche does, nor do I know the extent of damages. But a quick google of what happens to some new cars after severe storms/damage, and I found this. Actually, there are quite a few examples of damaged new cars being sold as salvage vehicles. That said, and yes, I can see liability issues if Porsche was to use parts from a damaged vehicle in new cars they sold. That would be a no-no.
”What happens to new cars that are flooded?
Once a flood car is totaled, it's supposed to get a new title, called a salvage title. ... Totaled cars are typically sold at a salvage auction to junkyards and vehicle rebuilders. Reselling them to consumers may be legal if the flood damage is disclosed on the title.”
Key issue here is: “disclosed on the title”
I realize Porsche is in a total different category, selling to high end folks, than are most automobile manufacturers….and has no need to do this. just wondering, as some auto manufacturers do.
Last edited by CodyBigdog; 02-19-2022 at 11:47 AM.
This is the GM issue which was less severe than the current, and GM sent all the cars to be scrapped. No way I see Porsche doing anything with untitled cars vs recycle them all into metal. https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/t...ed-1234656818/
Those cars are full of toxic fumes and will all be a insurance loss would be my assessment, and unknown heat damage. 1000 cars not a big deal for a company the size of Porsche it’s all lawyer talk now, and they will take care of the customers and not debate if a car is sellable. The extra time needed to replace the cars ….extra shifts increased supply cost will be covered by insurance. The insurance company will want to make the definite assessment, and looks like Porsche knows what the outcome will be and moving forward with replacement not to leave the customer waiting. Just sucks to start the wait game over again.
RE: “1000 cars not a big deal for Porsche”
Really? Good to know next time Porsche wants to nickel and dime me for something, or a repair bill.
Oh, and no idea what the insurance waiver says, in terms of payout, if it is determined that it was one of Porshce’s EV cars, with the Li batteries, that were a contributing factor to the fire’s origin or spread? As I said before…lot of variables here.
I think the lawyers and risk assessment actuarial will be the guiding policy. The potential down the road of something developing to a vehicle off an incident like this will make it difficult to take on such a looming liability. As an example I'll give you this. I used to test drive for VW/Audi/Bentley in their arctic test center here. At the end of the season ALL vehicles are destroyed while the data gleamed in data loggers is safely stored and evaluated as to what if any would ever see production.
I wanted a few things off the RS7 and Bentley and was willing to pay for them of course. One of them was the massage seats that I want to fit into the Touareg (yes some work would be required - rails, control unit...) and it was flat refused on the grounds of liability. As my 2008 V8 Touareg didn't come with these wonderful seats, should they suddenly eject, rip out or other the potential risk (given our litigious society) it was not worth the few bucks they would get (how liability would feature in a head unit...).
Damaged or not, I don't think anything off that ship will be sold and renmains the property of Porsche/VW/Bentley until it arrives at a dealer and it takes delivery, handing it over to the customer. I guess "destination charges" will go up...
Really? Good to know next time Porsche wants to nickel and dime me for something, or a repair bill.
Oh, and no idea what the insurance waiver says, in terms of payout, if it is determined that it was one of Porshce’s EV cars, with the Li batteries, that were a contributing factor to the fire’s origin or spread? As I said before…lot of variables here.
‘Damn, man you sound pretty bitter about Porsche. When I say 1000 cars it’s all manufacturing capacity, and a 30B company has insurance to cover losses even if their fault so no customer harm. By the way my neighbor is a Porsche lawyer he’s batting 1000 so far on his information over the years. Nickel and dime please tell me what manufacturer that doesn’t? Please tell me what manufacturer that will not charge you 200 plus per hour for service. I laugh when people say Mclaren will rip you off ………took my speedster in for service yesterday it was 1300.00 for 2 year service, and my Mclaren was 1500.00 for 5 year service. Want to drive expensive cars man you will pay to play no matter what brand it’s all relative.
Last edited by Maverick787; 02-19-2022 at 01:41 PM.
02-19-2022, 11:20 AM
