Monmouth Executive Airport (KBLM), Belmar/Farmingdale, New Jersey: Salvaged boats up for auction -- From scooters to 30-footers, 'everything but cars'

February 26, 2013 5:39 AM
Written by Susanne Cervenka

 WALL — Boats that superstorm Sandy plopped in yards and recreational vehicles that ended up mangled by the Oct. 29 storm are now being auctioned off at a sliver of what they were once worth.

QCSA Direct, a national auction firm with headquarters in Iowa, in February started online auctions to sell hundreds of Sandy-damaged vehicles now housed at Monmouth Executive Airport.

“It’s everything but cars,” said Simon Smock, logistics manager for QCSA Direct. “There are everything from scooters to 30-foot boats.”

The damage Sandy inflicted on the recreational boating industry was enormous. Boat Owners Association of The United States, BoatUS, estimated 65,000 recreational boats were damaged with a dollar value of $650 million, making it the largest industry loss since BoatUS started keeping track in 1966.

QCSA Direct came to New Jersey to help several insurance companies recover vehicles damaged by Sandy and take them to a temporary salvage yard at the airport, where they were inspected, Smock said.

The vehicles that could be repaired were. The rest, deemed total losses by insurance companies, will be sold off to dealers, some at initial offering prices as low as $5.

The vehicles are sold under a salvage certificate, Smock said. That means the vehicles can’t be put back on the road or water unless they have been reconstructed, he said.

Even then, the new title will denote the vehicle has been damaged so “nobody can be duped in the future,” Smock said.

But not all of the items sold at the online auctions will end up rebuilt. Some dealers buy the vehicles for parts or to recycle the materials, Smock said.

The auctions are open to dealers only, but QCSA Direct can put individuals in contact with brokers if they wanted to purchase items for sale, Smock said.

Auctions, online at www.qcsadirect.com, last about a week each and end on Wednesday. The auctions will continue for at least another month until all of the roughly 300 damaged vehicles that remain are sold, Smock said.

Source:   http://www.app.com