Quote:
Originally Posted by m21sniper
What's up fellow repo man. 
Tip #1, a tow truck is not neccesary in the repo business...you can hire a driver/partner for far less money and if something happens you have backup. In the case that you should need a tow(pretty rare), a trusted local tow guy will jump at the extra off the books work for $100 cash on the barrel.
Most young guys will take the job almost regardless of pay because of the "prestige" that comes along with being a big city repo man.
For many years i used my 928 for repos. |
100% good advice. Not to mention that an F550 or whatever uses a lot of fuel and makes a lot of noise. We did all our detective work in regular cars, and would leave the truck somewhere. Once we had a positive ID on the car we'd swoop in with the truck. On average, the truck was only on the scene for 30 seconds or less and the debtor never knew we were there until it was too late. We did our own truck driving, as your average roadside-assistance wrecker driver does not a good repo-driver make.
Tips? Nerves of steel. With the truck, you're dealing with an extremely expensive piece of equipment, not to mention the collateral you're grabbing. The bank wants it back in one piece with no new scratches/dents. You're often in the dark while trespassing on someone's property in a bad neighborhood. If you get shaky, game over. Or if you are confronted by someone, you have to remain calm and take control of the situation, or you're plucked. That's really the only skill - in my opinion - required to be a quality repo man. Cool nerves. The truck pretty much does the work itself these days, and the detective work is a breeze with current technology, especially if you have lenders with good documentation.
Stories? Tons of 'em. Was just remembering one yesterday where I was checking out a car in a very tight back alley behind an apartment complex. Had just slid in the slimjim when a light pops on above and there's a guy standing on his deck in his tighty-whiteys. He goes "HEY man what are you doing???" Those who know me know that I'm sorta matter-of-fact so I just paused a second and said "Well, I'm breaking into this car...is it yours?"
There's some Miami Vice type stuff, too. Friend of mine had his truck shot up with Uzis down in Ft. Lauderdale. He grabbed a drug dealer's Lexus, and it apparently had a trunk full of cocaine, which he was reluctant to let go quietly.