Claiming an abandoned car?
Discussion
Thread resurrection once again....
A garage local to me has 2 cars i'm interested in "claiming"
The cars belong to the garage owners ex brother in law and have lay on the site for at least 5 years. Both are not taxed and will need some work - I'd like to try restore them to their former glory.
Now, the garage owner has told the owner of said cars to collect these on numerous occassions to no avail. He passed on the owners contact number, which i called and the family claim to know nothing about the cars, the garage or ex brother in law. I was told basically to f
k off and not call again 
The garage owner is all for scrapping the two cars - which would be a waste as they are a couple of old vw's.
Now, how would i go about getting these cars? Is it a simple case of just doing whats been said above, contact dvla, apply for a new v5 and off i trot? Obviously I'd give the garage owner a bung for his help
A garage local to me has 2 cars i'm interested in "claiming"
The cars belong to the garage owners ex brother in law and have lay on the site for at least 5 years. Both are not taxed and will need some work - I'd like to try restore them to their former glory.
Now, the garage owner has told the owner of said cars to collect these on numerous occassions to no avail. He passed on the owners contact number, which i called and the family claim to know nothing about the cars, the garage or ex brother in law. I was told basically to f
k off and not call again The garage owner is all for scrapping the two cars - which would be a waste as they are a couple of old vw's.Now, how would i go about getting these cars? Is it a simple case of just doing whats been said above, contact dvla, apply for a new v5 and off i trot? Obviously I'd give the garage owner a bung for his help
SB10 said:
Thread resurrection once again....
A garage local to me has 2 cars i'm interested in "claiming"
The cars belong to the garage owners ex brother in law and have lay on the site for at least 5 years. Both are not taxed and will need some work - I'd like to try restore them to their former glory.
Now, the garage owner has told the owner of said cars to collect these on numerous occassions to no avail. He passed on the owners contact number, which i called and the family claim to know nothing about the cars, the garage or ex brother in law. I was told basically to fk off and not call again The garage owner is all for scrapping the two cars - which would be a waste as they are a couple of old vw's.
Now, how would i go about getting these cars? Is it a simple case of just doing whats been said above, contact dvla, apply for a new v5 and off i trot? Obviously I'd give the garage owner a bung for his help
Did you see this old abandoned thread and think you'd claim it? A garage local to me has 2 cars i'm interested in "claiming"
The cars belong to the garage owners ex brother in law and have lay on the site for at least 5 years. Both are not taxed and will need some work - I'd like to try restore them to their former glory.
Now, the garage owner has told the owner of said cars to collect these on numerous occassions to no avail. He passed on the owners contact number, which i called and the family claim to know nothing about the cars, the garage or ex brother in law. I was told basically to f
k off and not call again The garage owner is all for scrapping the two cars - which would be a waste as they are a couple of old vw's.Now, how would i go about getting these cars? Is it a simple case of just doing whats been said above, contact dvla, apply for a new v5 and off i trot? Obviously I'd give the garage owner a bung for his help
I think the best plan would be to take on the debt/lien/storage bill for the car(s), and get that in writing. That plus applying to the DVLA for the V5 will cover most of it; if the owner rocks up at a later date, you can just show him the storage bill(plus interest) which he would need to pay, at which point he'll lose interest(unless it's a 250GTO or something of that kind, in which case good luck Lord Brockett!)
jayfish said:
Surely the best bet is to say to yourself, that doesn't belong to me and it's none of my business.
God why do these quotes alway get these sanctimonious holier than thou responses.Don't get me wrong, I'm not likely to be claiming any old wrecks, but I do think it's far better for a car which is clearly abandoned, to go to a good home, rather than just be crushed. What is it with all these gits who just keep spouting on about 'it's theft pure and simple'. You're not even vaguely right, if you're going to be sanctimonious then for gods sake get your facts straight.
Theft is 'Dishonest misappropriation of another person's property with the intention to permanently deprive them of it's use' Try proving that when somebody claims an abandoned car. You'd struggle on the dishonest element, and the permanent part. The definition comes from Met Police training. In reality most of the cars being referred to here will never be reclaimed in any event.
By the way, a little message for the 'Don't get owt for nowt brigade', you are wrong. It happens all the time. I got given a Porsche 924, needed a little work, but did me proud for a while (long time ago). It's your attitude that means you don't get owt for nowt! Many of the posters here will end up with a car for next to nothing, and good luck to them!
Although "finders keepers, losers weepers" is often quoted by those who claim rights over their discoveries, the recent case of Wiltshire couple Amanda and Michael Stacey shows it holds little sway in a court of law.
The husband and wife have been handed 11-month suspended sentences for cashing in a £30,000 lottery ticket found on a shop floor, and spending half of it. And on Friday they were ordered to repay the remaining £15,000, plus £111 in interest, to Dorothy McDonagh, who was able to prove she had bought the ticket.
At a hearing in April, defence lawyer Rob Ross told the court: "It is important for the public to know that 'Finders keepers, losers weepers' is not true and never was true."
In England and Wales, as well as in most other countries across the world, the onus is on the finder to take what the law describes as "reasonable steps" to track down the loser.
The husband and wife have been handed 11-month suspended sentences for cashing in a £30,000 lottery ticket found on a shop floor, and spending half of it. And on Friday they were ordered to repay the remaining £15,000, plus £111 in interest, to Dorothy McDonagh, who was able to prove she had bought the ticket.
At a hearing in April, defence lawyer Rob Ross told the court: "It is important for the public to know that 'Finders keepers, losers weepers' is not true and never was true."
In England and Wales, as well as in most other countries across the world, the onus is on the finder to take what the law describes as "reasonable steps" to track down the loser.
my brothers last car came from the Garage claiming ownership.
It's a friends garage, someone brought their MGZR in to get the usual head gasket, skimmed etc work done. Couldn't afford to pay the bill, ignored calls and letters so the garage wrote to DVLA and claimed the motor. Got the log book and sold it to my brother.
We since sold the car on Ebay, the original owner to this day has not come back to the garage.
It's a friends garage, someone brought their MGZR in to get the usual head gasket, skimmed etc work done. Couldn't afford to pay the bill, ignored calls and letters so the garage wrote to DVLA and claimed the motor. Got the log book and sold it to my brother.
We since sold the car on Ebay, the original owner to this day has not come back to the garage.
Ozzie Osmond said:
"Finders keepers, losers weepers" is simply not the way things work.
Sorry I forgot to add to my list of annoyance, people who misconstrue posts (probably deliberately), and read into them things which weren't there!Where did I suggest 'Finders keepers'. Please re-read my post.
However now you come to mention it, you'll find that in law there is an element of 'finders keepers', when it comes to abandoned property (for which you'll find legal definitions).
There are two different scenarios discussed here:
1) Abandoned car, where you do not know the owner, and the owner does not owe you any money.
2) Abandoned car, where the owner owes you money.
Scenario 1 will never result in you having good title to the vehicle. It's dubiously legal as you'd be opening yourself up to a charge of Taking Without Owners Consent. Don't Do It! I'd recommend simply reporting it to the council who will dispose of it.
Scenario 2 however, can result in you obtaining good title. This is done by documenting the process, getting the owners details from the DVLA as it's on your land, and writing to the owner giving them a deadline for paying (and/or setting out a storage charge etc.). Finally after that, you can use the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 to exercise a lien over the vehicle, and subsequently sell it.
Anything involving vehicles outside the UK would obviously depend upon local law, and obviously, IANAL.
1) Abandoned car, where you do not know the owner, and the owner does not owe you any money.
2) Abandoned car, where the owner owes you money.
Scenario 1 will never result in you having good title to the vehicle. It's dubiously legal as you'd be opening yourself up to a charge of Taking Without Owners Consent. Don't Do It! I'd recommend simply reporting it to the council who will dispose of it.
Scenario 2 however, can result in you obtaining good title. This is done by documenting the process, getting the owners details from the DVLA as it's on your land, and writing to the owner giving them a deadline for paying (and/or setting out a storage charge etc.). Finally after that, you can use the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 to exercise a lien over the vehicle, and subsequently sell it.
Anything involving vehicles outside the UK would obviously depend upon local law, and obviously, IANAL.
Ozzie Osmond said:
You'll find that only applies after "reasonable steps" have been taken to trace the owner.
Don't give up the day job...
Exactly, most of the posts above from people looking to 'claim' an abandoned car, include taking such reasonable steps, which in the case of a car, mostly involve trying to trace the last registered keeper.Don't give up the day job...
If a car isn't registered correctly, taxed or insured, then the owner has effectively given up his rights over the car, and is evidenced by the fact that the authorities can crush it, which comes back to my first point. Why should a car be crushed, rather than recycled.
bozmandb9 said:
Exactly, most of the posts above from people looking to 'claim' an abandoned car, include taking such reasonable steps, which in the case of a car, mostly involve trying to trace the last registered keeper.
If a car isn't registered correctly, taxed or insured, then the owner has effectively given up his rights over the car, and is evidenced by the fact that the authorities can crush it, which comes back to my first point. Why should a car be crushed, rather than recycled.
Think of it another way. Say you claim some old wreck (make up some garage bills), then invest £20k in the car, and the original owner turns up.If a car isn't registered correctly, taxed or insured, then the owner has effectively given up his rights over the car, and is evidenced by the fact that the authorities can crush it, which comes back to my first point. Why should a car be crushed, rather than recycled.
You are now fighting for a car worth £20k.
tinman0 said:
Think of it another way. Say you claim some old wreck (make up some garage bills), then invest £20k in the car, and the original owner turns up.
You are now fighting for a car worth £20k.
Quite right, you never acquire proper title, unless you can prove that the vehicle was forfeit in lieu of debts, but the guy originally posting was asking about a car worth maybe a few hundred, and I don't believe he intended to spend £20k on it!You are now fighting for a car worth £20k.
bozmandb9 said:
tinman0 said:
Think of it another way. Say you claim some old wreck (make up some garage bills), then invest £20k in the car, and the original owner turns up.
You are now fighting for a car worth £20k.
Quite right, you never acquire proper title, unless you can prove that the vehicle was forfeit in lieu of debts, but the guy originally posting was asking about a car worth maybe a few hundred, and I don't believe he intended to spend £20k on it!You are now fighting for a car worth £20k.
All it takes is an owner tracking it down again, and getting a cop who hasn't had his bj that morning.
tinman0 said:
With the way the law works today, the last thing I would want to do is pick up an abandoned car. It only takes a CPS target, and you're being prosecuted for some theft charge.
All it takes is an owner tracking it down again, and getting a cop who hasn't had his bj that morning.
Wrong.All it takes is an owner tracking it down again, and getting a cop who hasn't had his bj that morning.
It wouldn't /couldn't be theft, see previous posts.
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