How to acquire an abandoned car?

My friend found a car he'd like to buy; it's clearly dead on the side of the road, and likely abandoned. We called a number on an old For Sale sign in the back seat, but got no call back.

Eventually, the city is going to tow it. Anyone ever had a situation where they found an abandoned car and were able to acquire it? How should we go about this? All we have is the guy's phone number and the VIN from the dash.

google the phone number and see if that helps. if it does disappear one day, maybe call the city and ask if it was impounded and what would be required to get it..

I don't recommend this unless you're both young, strong, and quick with your tools. It might actually be illegal..but I must admit that I've done it (as a much younger man)..

1.) Remove car from resting place as quickly as possible, preferably while the person who actually owns the land the thing sits on is absent/asleep. You already know the "owner" is gone, right? Otherwise, s/he would have answered the phone in the first place.

2.) Hide in sheltered space, so that the neighbors can't see it. (a garage with a door that closes helps)

3.) Search local junkyards/insurance co. auctions for a wrecked example of the same vehicle.

4.) Pull the dash from the wreck (ask the junkyard/auctioneer for whatever paperwork they have on the wreck), remove the original dash from your find & replace it with the one from the wreck, and apply for a reinstatment of the "salvage" title to a real one. I'll admit...that's much easier in most states in the Southeastern US, than in other parts of the country. The buddy of mine that I helped do this lived in Mississippi.

I seriously wouldn't do this kind of thing again for anything other than something worth saving. In my case, it was a BMW 2000 CS. I don't even know if my old college buddy ever even finished it..

Beware, as soon as you take the car, you have committed the felony of grand theft auto. You very much can be prosecuted for it.

foxtrapper wrote: Beware, as soon as you take the car, you have committed the felony of grand theft auto. You very much can be prosecuted for it.

Exactly..........and make no mistake about it, you will be prosecuted for auto theft.

If it's dead on the side of the road, the city will tow it. Find out what city that is as it will eventually be auctioned off unless of course the rightful owner claims it. In the end you will pay for it (hopefully not much) but at least it will all be legal.

friedgreencorrado wrote: It might actually be illegal.

Boy is that an understatement. Everything you describe is completely illegal. That's like posting directions on how to make and sell crack cocaine and then saying.......this may be illegal but.

The best plan is to take the car away in the middle of the night and then detonate a small thermonuclear device where the car was sitting. This way all the suspicion will shift to Russians.

MrBenjamonkey wrote: The best plan is to take the car away in the middle of the night and then detonate a small thermonuclear device where the car was sitting. This way all the suspicion will shift to Russians.

This is very good advice.

I sit here this morning mortified on my favorite forum, as I never knew untill today the number of felonious members here..

Knew....suspected.....

it's all symantics....

Maybe you could call the city and complain about the abandoned car to spped the recovery process. It's a gamble.....but at least it's a legal one

Well, my days of "crime," if you could call it that, ended thirty years ago.

We googled the phone number and came up with a couple old CL ads from a guy desperate for work. I couldn't read the whole ad (google saves just the first line or two, and they are gone from CL), but it could have been an ad where he's ostensibly looking for work but really looking for a hand-out. Who knows.

The car is, unsurprising if you've ever read my old posts, a rare Saab 900, one of only 500 made and one of the only 900s to actually be worth any money (relative to the marque). My fellow Saab-nut friend wants to pick it up -- we'll either get it ship shape for his wife or sell it for millions...

Contact the respective PD and ask where it will go if impounded because you would be interested in purchasing it at a future auction, then wait, watch and win. That's almost what I just did with the Subie (275) and Geo (225), although some may disagree with the win on the Geo part..

procainestart wrote: The car is, unsurprising if you've ever read my old posts, a rare Saab 900, one of only 500 made and one of the only 900s to actually be worth any money (relative to the marque). My fellow Saab-nut friend wants to pick it up -- we'll either get it ship shape for his wife or sell it for millions...

One of 500? What is it? Bumblebee? Two-tone anniversary sedan? CE?

Well... We all know SuperCoupe's name and home address now. you might want to fuzz that out

We could all show up at the auction and drive up the price.

Party at Al's house tonight!!!

Know anyone who owns property near by? I got a car from a friend's shop by filing for it as abandoned. We had to have an "auction" on site and place and ad in the local paper, but once that happened we got it legally.

MrBenjamonkey wrote: The best plan is to take the car away in the middle of the night and then detonate a small thermonuclear device where the car was sitting. This way all the suspicion will shift to Russians.

Or to George W Bush

I would have to agree with the contact local police route, they will check it out, maybe tow it, and tell them you are interested in buying it when it comes to auction. I think there are arbitrary limits on time between the police first contacting the car's owner and being able to resell it at auction.

Powar wrote:

procainestart wrote: The car is, unsurprising if you've ever read my old posts, a rare Saab 900, one of only 500 made and one of the only 900s to actually be worth any money (relative to the marque). My fellow Saab-nut friend wants to pick it up -- we'll either get it ship shape for his wife or sell it for millions...

One of 500? What is it? Bumblebee? Two-tone anniversary sedan? CE?

94 Comm Ed. Convt. We checked it out again -- missing wood dash, badly repaired front fender. Still, it's a CE. 80k on the clock. Perfect seats. Feel helpless -- the guy won't call back, and I hate to see old Saabs go to hell. Car is on street so can't do anything a private landowner might be able to do.

foxtrapper wrote: Beware, as soon as you take the car, you have committed the felony of grand theft auto. You very much can be prosecuted for it.

This is true. Waiting for impound & sale is a much better route! I'm sure we only got away with it because the owner never came looking for it. The thing had been abandoned for about 5yrs, for all I knew, the guy was dead.

EDIT: He told us what it was while I was writing the other post.

Wow, a CommEd. Yeah, that'd get me camping on the cops' doorstep asking "is the auction today?" every time the poor guys passed through the door.

The way it works here, if you can talk to the towing company who picks it up and get them to sell it to you after they get the title when no one comes to claim it thats all you have to do, but otherwise if the city has them tow it they report it as junked, and it cant ever be registered again.

Check and see if town has rotation sheriff calls and see when towed , put a note "" dear tow company , I am interested in this car and will gladly pay for towing and 10 days of storage for this vehicle " your name and phone number ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, get ITS <<<<<<<<< International title service >>>>TITLE out of las vegas for a Alabama title . should run 500 hunge or so total

Yeah, I thought I cropped the pic when I took it, guess I missed...

Then again most of that is on a goofle search of my name anyway...