Hey Californians!
Hypothetically speaking (wink, wink)
Let's say one had the necessity to abandon a car in California that was neither titled nor registered in that state.
Will the authorities involved make any effort to track down the VIN to an out-of-state owner? If so, would they try to send any sort of bill?
Or will they just determine from the VIN that the car is not from California, haul it off, and so long, Charlie?
Thanks!
Evan
Unless there is a legal issue with the title a sawzall is one option. If there are legal issues with the title (lien or theft come to mind) all bets are off (and please don't ask for advise here).
if you need to "abandon" a car.. why not at least call a salvage yard and get a few bucks for the raw worth of the metal? Remember, California is broke.. they NEED money. I am pretty sure they are going to enforce every rule they have that brings in revenue
Is it the kind of car that one might, hypothetically, drive out to California in order to collect?
Or is it the kind of car that might have a hypothetical body in the trunk?
take it to the junk yard and get some cash for it. if you can't you need to get the vin off the dash(smash out the part of the windsheild that's in front of it) and then cut off the vin from the firewall.
That would only hypothetically help if you are aware of all the locations of VINs - more modern cars tend to have them in more places than just the firewall.
pitbull113 wrote:Take it to the junk yard and get some cash for it. if you can't you need to get the vin off the dash(smash out the part of the windsheild that's in front of it) and then cut off the vin from the firewall.
On most cars, the VIN is stamped elsewhere on the body as well. A usual spot may be the rear seat support brace on the unibody. Supposedly, this practice makes it harder to alter the VIN or "back half" the car.
things may have changed since the last time i abandoned a stolen caddy with a dead hooker in the trunk but i doubt the po-po will care much about the car and look for other vins other than the obvious ones. it will get towed to a yard and sit there for a very long time.
Yeah..vins are in a number of places with modern cars
Common Places:
On the door frame/door post of the front doors (usually driver's but sometimes passenger's)
On the dash near the windshield
On the engine itself (machined pad on front of engine)
On the car's firewall
In the left-hand inner wheel arch
On the steering wheel/steering column
On the radiator support bracket
Do you need a new vin, perhaps from a 65 AH sprite?
Do you need it abandoned or disappeared?
I could use a VIN (and title) to a 65 Sprite...
Junkyard or call a scrap hauler so at least he can get a few dollars.
It won't be the state of California who tows the car. It will be a private towing company. They will hold onto the car for over a month so that the impound fees are stratospheric and then sue the registered owner for the amount. Towing companies are rutheless money hungry bastards who will stop at nothing to rape your wallet. Do not think they will just quit trying.
I sold a car about a decade ago. 5 years later it was abandoned and then towed. 6 months later I started getting registered letters and threatening phone calls that they wanted their $4000 in storage fees. The buyer never titled the car in their name so I was still listed as the owner. I had my copy of the bill of sale that was dated with the buyers name and it still took over a year of fighting to make them stop.
Just look on craigslist for the "Will buy non running cars" people. They will make it dissapear and leave $50-100 in your wallet for the trouble.
ditchdigger wrote:Just look on craigslist for the "Will buy non running cars" people. They will make it dissapear and leave $50-100 in your wallet for the trouble.
Yeah--I see those "we buy junk cars" signs all over the place. Why not get $100 for it???
The only messy part would be the dead hooker.
The only messy part (hypothetically speaking) is that I wasn't operating the car, it blew the engine at 70 mph on the I-15, and the driver wasn't gonna sit on the side of the road, find the local cragislist, and find a scrappy.
Will those "we buy junk cars" places retrieve a car if you meet them at the hypothetical abandoning site? Don't know why they wouldn't. They usually tow it for you.
father-in-law towed the car to the pick n pull at night and just left it... (this was back when they would have charged to take it (all 3 miles to the yard) because it didnt' have the front end rolling bits or engine/trans.
i know a friend who has to clean out houses for foreclosures has a specific person to pick up cars... she gets about $100 a pop (1/3 or so of scrap value)... she can't take it into the yard herself because she has no title and not worth the time to strip it down.
could always offer it for $150 on CL as long as it's not got a lean or title sell it "BILL OF SALE ONLY" kind of thing
Put it on CL for free. Trust me, title or not, it will be gone in a few hours. Then its someone else's problem.
Make sure you fill out the MV-whatever release of liability and you're golden.
racinginc215 wrote:well hypothetically if there were a body in the trunk and the car needed to disappear I hypothetically could help dispose of the hypothetical headless hooker.
if by "dispose of" you mean "keep in freezer in basement for when friends drop by for a cold one" then you're pretty sick, dude.
if by "dispose of" you mean "keep in freezer in basement for when friends drop by for a cold one" then you're pretty sick, dude.
Don't worry... its customary to thaw them ahead of time as a courtesy to your friends.
This whole thread makes me queasy.
