10/29/2025
An estimated 1.73 million vehicles were repossessed last year, the most since recession-wracked 2009, according to automotive-service business Cox Automotive.
There are signs the surge continues: This year’s repo volume at Cox’s Manheim auctions unit was up 12% through the end of September compared with the same period last year.
“It’s like history repeating itself,” said Detroit repossessor George Badeen, president of Allied Finance Adjusters, a trade group. Pandemic-era consumer protections left the repossession industry idling. Now, he said, companies are “making money because of the volume, it’s so big. You’re in a target-rich environment.”
The catch? Volume is more crucial than ever. Middlemen, known as forwarders, are increasingly hired by lenders to oversee the repossession process, pushing the companies that actually find and recover cars farther down the food chain, shrinking their profit margins.
We spent the night with drivers for one of these recovery companies. They're busier than ever.
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