Nation Geographic's Trafficked has a fascinating episode on the stolen car market. The episode follows cars that are shipped out of the port of New Jersey to Ghana and documents just how organized the operations are.
I read a story on an auto enthusiasts forum. A guy had his Tesla totaled in the US. He claimed insurance etc and disposed it off. And then out of curiosity he opened Tesla’s app and was able to follow the car all the way across the Atlantic to Czechoslovakia before the car was deregisteted.