Car abandoned for 20+ years

[Trackdayer]

Hi all,

20+ years ago the owner of a classic car died. The family sold his house, but were not interested in the car. The car is sat in a boarded up garage that isn't "linked" to the house or sale of the house. It's in a row of garages where there was no record of what garage is linked to which house.

In other words the car is completely and utterly unwanted and forgotten about.

I have no interest in it myself whatsoever.

What I do think though, is that it would serve somebody well as a source of spare parts. It seems a shame to leave it to rust away. It's already starting to go quite badly.

What would you do in my position? Leave it? Reveal the location to an owners club? I understand in theory it belongs to someone. The reality is though nobody cares.

[InitialDave]

Who owns the garage now?

[Johnspex]

Isn't the make and model of some importance in a question like this?

[Trackdayer]

InitialDave said:

Who owns the garage now?

I have no idea. Like I say it's in a block of garages in the middle of a 50's housing estate where it's a free-for-all

[Trackdayer]

Johnspex said:

Isn't the make and model of some importance in a question like this?

It's a classic 80's Jap car.

I have my reasons for not being more specific (sorry!)

[CanAm]

Didn’t we have a thread like this some years ago, where that OP was asking for a ‘finders fee’ to divulge the information?

[joropug]

Someone would know who owns the garage, it can't be a free for all although it might appear so.

My flat had a detached garage in a block and it was clearly indicated on the title.

[Mike-tf3n0]

The reality is that the car is the property of the heirs to the original owner. They may not know or care about it but that is the legal position. Where these things can go badly wrong is when somebody, failing to trace the legal owners, unearths the vehicle and then restores it at some expense. Having done that the car is then spotted by chance by somebody, who is or knows, one of the heirs and says 'Doesn't that look nice, just like dad's/uncle's old car, hang on a minute.......it is''. The heir then has the right to claim the vehicle as theirs and with no obligation to reimburse the restorer for the cost of the restoration. I went through this exact same loop years ago and ended up walking away from a TR3, sadly!

[InitialDave]

Mike-tf3n0 said:

The reality is that the car is the property of the heirs to the original owner.

It's more likely it belongs to whoever bought the garage, as the transaction should have covered transferring ownership of any contents left in/on the property to avoid such issues.

So I'd start with trying to find that out.

[Ardennes92]

There are similar garage blocks around me which are authority/council owned and require rent to be paid, so as said someone must know something. Don’t think the leases are not being renewed as the council are slowly selling off or building houses on the land as more profitable.

[rallycross]

long since abandoned best thing would be for it to go on ebay as a barn find parts car and give the money to charity.


Does that help?

[Pastie Bloater]

Trackdayer said:

It's a classic 80's Jap car.

I have my reasons for not being more specific (sorry!)

Depending on whether such cars are worth 3 or 6 figures will determine how messy it'll get, but it'll be messy either way. The potential for free/easy money brings out all sorts. If it's 5 figures it's likely be stolen as soon as word gets out, especially when no-one will miss it. I presume you know it's valuable though (and you know the owners don't).

How do you know it's starting to go quite badly if it's in a boarded up garage?

[Trackdayer]

Thanks for the answers guys.

The bottom line for me is I don't want to risk any legal ramifications upon myself.

[67Dino]

Trackdayer said:

Thanks for the answers guys.

The bottom line for me is I don't want to risk any legal ramifications upon myself.

You need to trace the owner and make an offer. Otherwise, you’re basically taking a car you don’t own from a garage that isn’t yours and selling it, which does have legal implications.

[Trackdayer]

67Dino said:

You need to trace the owner and make an offer. Otherwise, you’re basically taking a car you don’t own from a garage that isn’t yours and selling it, which does have legal implications.

Like I said in the original post I have no interest in the car.

[LotusOmega375D]

If it’s a classic 80s Jap car, it probably isn’t particularly interesting or worth all that much, so I wouldn’t get involved if I were you.

[InitialDave]

LotusOmega375D said:

If it’s a classic 80s Jap car, it probably isn’t particularly interesting or worth all that much, so I wouldn’t get involved if I were you.

That very much depends on what it is specifically.

[texaxile]

InitialDave said:

That very much depends on what it is specifically.

Yep, absolutely. If it's something niche like a Celica, Starion , Lancer turbo or Mazda 323 Turbo etc, something a bit left field then it will have a chunk of value. A rusty Starion is worth a grand or maybe a bit more depending upon condition, a Lancer a bit more. Very often the parts can be sold for more than the car would be worth, and in many cases there's a big demand because most parts are NLA even if they do cross over with other makes / models.