Hey EddieK. I totaly diagree with you. If couple idiots doing this kinda stuff - it doesn't mean that you have to blame the whole nation. Lot of Americans doing this shit too.
5 month ago I bought 02 Cobra GT. Nice car good deal. But them when I filied all the papers and then while I was driving I felt like I didn't have a total control of the car. So I took it to the shop and I was shocked by what mechanic showed me: the whole front end was just welded, not even painted over (I think that if Russians do something like this - they at least cover it).
So I took the car back to the dealership and after 10 minutes I had keys to nice BMW and some cash in my pocket. But I sure called my lawyer and made sure that this car will not be on the road any more.

So Russians are not the only people who we can blame.

I am buying cars from auction, fix em and then sell. But I am not Russian. The cars I'm buying are stripted by idiots who can't just go to the store and buy parts the legal way. Those cars have rebuild title too. But they are perfectly safe to drive.

So you just gotta be carefull when you buy the car. Personaly when I sell the car I include pics of the car condition I bought it in and then there is a service like CarFax (which I include also). If you really interested in a car - spend $20 and get a history. Then you'll be for sure that you don't buy some shit.