The rules regarding claiming an abandoned vehicle

[piman2k]

So there's been an email circulated this morning about a number of vehicles that appear to have been abandoned on site i.e. that have been there for many months without sign of moving.

One that's particularly taken my interest is a Silver Porsche 924. :eek: There are two other Porsche's abandoned as well. Interesting

Notice's have been put up on the car saying they have 28 days as of today to move it else it'll be scrapped and the owner liable for the charges.

But what's the rules like when it comes to claiming an abandoned car. :wave:

I think you can see, I want it :D I'm going to find it today and I'm positive it'll need work doing, but as a freebie project I can't get better :thumbs:

So dudes, any ideas??

[Si]

I don't think you can have squatters rights with a car dude :no:

Or you could try living in it for 11 years, and see what hapopens :wack:

[piman2k]

I'm pretty sure I saw something like it though mate. :( Going to contact the DVLA I think today.

Lol @ Squatters rights :wack:

[fletch_14a]

i'm trying to do this with a dumped rx7 FD i found.

apparantly you have to send off to dvla asking for a new V5 in your name.
they will then contact the rightful owner and ask their permission for you to have the car,

if they dont reply to dvla within a certain time then you get the car.
chances are dvla wont be able to find the owner anyway otherwise they would of probably fined them for dumping the car in the first place

had a big discussion on it on the mazda rotary club

[piman2k]

Would you mind linking me to the topic fletch, it'd be very interesting to read.

I'm not a gold digger so to speak, but I don't fancy wasting the opportunity to have a giggle with a free Porsche!

[Si]

i'm trying to do this with a dumped rx7 FD i found.

apparantly you have to send off to dvla asking for a new V5 in your name.
they will then contact the rightful owner and ask their permission for you to have the car,

if they dont reply to dvla within a certain time then you get the car.
chances are dvla wont be able to find the owner anyway otherwise they would of probably fined them for dumping the car in the first place

had a big discussion on it on the mazda rotary club

I think they should find the man responsible fro dumping an FD, and publicly lynch them :nod: then give you the car so he can watch it be handed over with his dieing breath. that'll learn him :nod:

[fletch_14a]

still aint had much chance at the moment to chase it up but it aint going anywhere.

if you could get the number plate of the porsche you could do a vehicle enquiryhttp://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/index.jsp

it will tell you if its sorned etc...

there was a post on my mazda thread saying there was a guy on passion ford who found an old abandoned escort cosworth in the street and applied for a new V5, he then became the new owner, sorted the car out and sold it for 15k:D http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34588

hope this helps cause im still chasing after that rex:thumbs:

[WeirdNeville]

Just be aware that even if you don't find the owner, but they subsequently come forwards to get their car back, you will have no legal title to the car whatsoever.

This also means that you can't sell it - In the eyes of the law when you sell the car you commit theft as by selling it you are "depriving it's rightful owner" of the car for good.

TBH I'd steer well clear, because of the hassle if the owner did come forwards to claim his abandonded car once he realises you've spend big bucks sorting it out and it's now worth something.

[piman2k]

I'm sorry but surely if the V5 is re-registered to me then the vehicle is by law mine?

[WeirdNeville]

No, you're the registered keeper of it. But you haven't paid for it, and it's rightful owner (i.e. the last person who bought it "honestly") doesn't know who you are, where you live or that you've re-registered their car in your name.

I'm playing devils advocate, but your behaviour in registering a car to yourself that isn't yours could be held as being dishonest. I'm playing devils advocate because you need to be fully aware that you could end up in civil court fighting over ownership of this car, and you'd probably lose!

[Evilchap]

It also makes a difference if it's on public or private land.

On private land you have the right to dispose of it. You have to give reasonable notice (council seems to give 2 weeks) by putting a notice on the car, and send the owner a letter (DVLA will give you their name and address IIRC for a small fee) and if they agree, or dont bother to reply then with the land owners permission, or as the land owner yourself, you can dispose of it, inlcuding presumably selling it on to yourself.

I would give the police a quick call to see if they have anything to add. Try and make them do something useful for once.

I got a 309GTi this way. Found the owner and he decided he didn't want it, so I had it :)

[Ryan]

I'm sorry but surely if the V5 is re-registered to me then the vehicle is by law mine?

The V5 shows the registered keeper - who may or may not be the legal owner.

[Jon]

I'm sorry but surely if the V5 is re-registered to me then the vehicle is by law mine?

There are a lot of cars out there that have a keeper, but are owned by the finance company until the HP is paid off. Keeper and Owner are two different things :nod:

[Dr Bob]

I'm not a gold digger so to speak, but I don't fancy wasting the opportunity to have a giggle with a free Porsche!

am i the only one who sees the flaw in this statement:confused:

surely for someone to dump a car implies it's got issues which aren't worth sorting

no such thing as a free lunch - the whole scheme will bite you in the arse somehow:nod:

[dow]

Someone I knew abandoned a Renault 5... it had a flat tyre, he didn't have time to fix it and couldn't be bothered with it anymore. It got a MOVE IT note on it, and he wasn't going to do anything about it, just let them get rid of it. He'd actually spent some money on doing it up too, just lost heart with it. (Or maybe he just got too stoned to think about it anymore).

[T0MMy]

Sorry if this has been covered now...it's late, I'm drunk and I can't be arsed to read the whole thread but...

I acquired a 6 year old Mazda 323F 1.5 with only 38,000miles from my uni car park. It was sat for a year or so collecting dust until I phoned the police to ask about the legality of claiming it. They checked it was not registered stolen and told me to phone the DVLA. The DVLA sent me out an ownership document about 6 weeks later:thumbs: I had it trailered to a Mazda dealer who programmed keys for it and gave it an MOT and that was it:D The car had minor accident damage, just a cracked front bumper and dented wing and doors but was otherwise fine-had a full tank of petrol, new tyres and Sony face-off stereo in the glovebox:eek: It seems to have belonged to a Chinese Postgrad Student who was obviously from a rich family, bought the car as a run around, dented it frequently then left it maybe thinking it wasn't worth selling with the damage and returned to China.

I drove it for 6 months enjoying the refinement and economy compared to my 200SX but hating the SHITE handling then sold it for £1800 (without having fixed the damage). As far as I know it was all legal- I even got pulled in it for making an illegal right turn. I explained that it was legal for me to make the turn as I was working as a pizza delivery boy at the time:nod::wack: and got chatting about how I'd acquired it which amazed the police guy but he said it was all good:thumbs:

Throughout the whole thing I was entirely transparent with the Police and the DVLA about the situation and to be honest they didn't really know how to deal with it but both parties saw no reason why I couldn't claim the car.

[piman2k]

FYI Folks, I had this email back from the DVLA today and I've highlighted the part relevant to our discussion:


Thank you for your e-mail about an abandoned vehicle.

If you have taken all reasonable steps to trace the owner, you should contact the local police, if you have not already done so, to check they have no objection to your taking possession of the vehicle.

It is the Local Authorities that are empowered under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 to deal with the disposal of an abandoned vehicle in this instance. I would advise you to contact them if you want to acquire it. If you then want to register yourself as the keeper you can apply for a registration document by using application form V62. Form V62 is available from the Post Office®, DVLA office, or our website. The completed form should be sent to

DVLA,
Swansea
SA99 1DD

A registration document will be sent to you in about 4 weeks of our receiving your application, but as you are not the registered keeper, special checks are made so it may take a little longer. I must point out that the registration document is not a document of legal title. It should not be regarded as proof of ownership. The register we maintain is only concerned with the person currently keeping and using the vehicle, nothing more. Therefore I must warn you that this e-mail does not constitute approval to your taking possession of this vehicle and if any subsequent claim is made the Department will not become involved in any dispute over ownership.
A leaflet V100 is available at your Post Office® which contains other information that may be of use to you.
Regards

Not to worry, it'll be more hassle than it's worth. I actually found the 4 Porsche's in question here at Millbrook and they're pretty much good for scrap. All 4 are 924's, one of them is missing total drive gear, three are completely empty internally, all need tyres, some need wheels. Really isn't worth the hassle.

But an interesting discussion nonetheless, and it's clarified the rules.

[japdrifter]

this reminds me of my first s13 i got wen i was sixteen.
my friend was going to uni in bournemouth and found an abandoned s13 auto in white.
he applied for the logbook and got it then i bought it of him for £150 shamefully the big ends bearings went straight away and the car died.got her fixed tho and sold her on for 500pound.so i lost about £100 but well worth it.
i would go for it mate.
a free porche you surely cant turn your nose up at.

[Mr OCD]

Track weapon ;)

[japdrifter]

as above ^:D

[mikeyg1981]

surely 4 rough porche's can make one okayish porche for a track slag

[R3k1355]

DAMN!!! i did'nt know you could claim cars, someone dumped a Tuscan outside my house last year, Pearlescent paint, it was mint!l. I just watched the council tow it and thought nothing of it!!!

[jojo65]

yh, that was probably stolen.

[BigD]

i had a jettta gti for free about 4 years back, the thing was sat for a year, and the naihbours were getting fed up with it, but couldnt tell the guy as he was always at sea, one saterday i poped out to leave a note asking if i could buy it cheap, and the guy was there :) we had a quick chat, and he handed me the keys and that was that :thumbs:

i towed it home, stripped it, put the good bits on my golf as the engine was totaly shagged, then left it for scrap :wack: mymum complained a car had been dumped so the council took it away :D

[Tony200]

Me and a mate claimed a car years ago, was a nova 1.2 with cherry bomb exhaust:wack:

[T0MMy]

I've got my eye on a Lotus Exige in my works car park. It seems to be dumped there for about 8 hours a day:wack:

[WeirdNeville]

I know where there's a ferrari 360 that's been parked for 8 months without moving......

(edit to say)
I also know that replacing the ignition and keys on a ferrari costs £12K which is still way too much for me!