abandoned-looking car [Archive]

Bright_Star

12-17-2009, 02:29 AM

Plaidman

12-17-2009, 02:46 AM

TheSHAD0W

12-17-2009, 02:49 AM

If it hasn't been paid off, then you may be exposed to liability if the city takes it. Contact the finance company, tell them they can have it if they want it, or you'll let the city take it.

BarbieGirl

12-17-2009, 02:59 AM

I'm assuming it's on the street infront of your house? I know the street I used to live on the ticket patrol would drive around and if a car hadn't moved from their spot in a week or so they would get a sticker, we got one once and all we had to do was move it about 10 ft down the road so it was obvious that it had been moved/used. Do you have a drive way you can push it on for a week or so? then move it back and forth in front of your house every week or so.

protege

12-17-2009, 01:22 PM

It's been there over a year & it's parked properly not getting in the way of anything. NOBODY has complained about it until quite recently. Got a nosey neighbor who likes to get into everybody's business but oh well...lol.

Sounds like one of my former neighbors. They actually tried to get me written up for having an "abandoned" vehicle at my mother's. The MG had been sitting outside for awhile before I started working on it. Nobody else on the block cared--not even the house directly across the street, and they had to look at the orange car every damn day :p

Still though, I got off on a technicality--most of the time, the car wasn't even visible when I wasn't home. That is, I'd roll the car outside to work on it...then pushed it back into the garage. I'd heard that the cops would stop by during the day (I'd be at school), but because the car wasn't visible and they didn't have a warrant, there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

Funny thing about those goofballs... recently they had a newer Pontiac sitting in their driveway constantly. Why? Well, it seems that the owner apparently forgot maintain it. I got to see that thing fail spectacularly when he was driving home from work one afternoon. Seems that he'd forgotten to refill the oil...and the engine blew up :rolleyes:

Tanasi

12-18-2009, 04:08 AM

Today I get a knock at my door from this guy who tells me the cops put an abandoned car sticker on my windshield. I've had my car parked right near the front of my house for over a year. I Haven't driven it cause the battery is dead & it needs a head gasket repair which is an expensive fix. I don't have the money to fix it. PLUS it hasn't been paid off so I don't have the title cause IF I did then I could properly dispose of it.

It's been there over a year & it's parked properly not getting in the way of anything. NOBODY has complained about it until quite recently. Got a nosey neighbor who likes to get into everybody's business but oh well...lol.

The sticker says I have 7 days to take care of it OR the city will tow it & I'll be fined $500!!! I'll pay that if I have to but that's going to hurt.

So knowing I have no options at this point should I just let them tow it? Should I take off the license plate before they do it? I'm in Pa.

What would you do?

Check around in your area to see if there is an automechanics school. If so contact them and to see if they'll do the work if so mostly likely all you'll have to pay for is the parts. Also depending upon the car head-gaskets aren't that difficult to replace. Oh another thing I noticed on the Power-block TV within the last two weeks a company is making a product that specifically stops head gasket leaks. I don't remember the company or the product name but a auto parts store should have it. You pour the stuff in the radiator and get the car hot and it should then start to close the leak. If the battery is down find a buddy to give you a jump.

draggar

12-18-2009, 09:59 AM

:( Not sure how to help. Maybe friend and yours can push it? What would be more expensive, a gasket or the 500 dollar fine?

(Plaidman knows nothing of cars...).

Maybe call and explain to the city. It is your car. It is on your proptery. Its not abandoned.

I had a car that blew a gasket (literally). It would have been $500 just to look at it and anywhere from $750 to $4,000 to fix it.

Call the finance company and let them know - and let them take it.

Tell the city it is not an abandoned car - it is your car parked in your space. I'm sure it's not an eyesore (rusting all over, falling apart, etc..).

protege

12-18-2009, 07:11 PM

Check around in your area to see if there is an automechanics school. If so contact them and to see if they'll do the work if so mostly likely all you'll have to pay for is the parts. Also depending upon the car head-gaskets aren't that difficult to replace.

Replacing the head gasket itself isn't hard--take off the valve cover(s), cylinder head(s), to put it simply. But, on some cars, if the head gasket fails...you can end up with a warped cylinder head, especially if the parts are cast aluminum. Still though, the mating surfaces should be checked for trueness, and leveled off if they aren't. That, plus putting the engine back together, making sure it's set up correctly...is what drives up the labor cost.

BTW, the classic signs of a blown head gasket are white smoke from the exhaust, a loss of power, and nasty "mayo" inside the valve cover and oil filler cap.

blas

12-18-2009, 07:27 PM

protege, you forgot bubbles in the oil dipstick and a slight greenish color ;)

protege

12-18-2009, 08:13 PM

protege, you forgot bubbles in the oil dipstick and a slight greenish color ;)

LOL The bubbles aren't always visible though--they can be hard to see. Oh, and coolant isn't always green...depending on the condition of the cooling system.

BookstoreEscapee

12-19-2009, 12:43 AM

Still though, I got off on a technicality--most of the time, the car wasn't even visible when I wasn't home. That is, I'd roll the car outside to work on it...then pushed it back into the garage. I'd heard that the cops would stop by during the day (I'd be at school), but because the car wasn't visible and they didn't have a warrant, there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

How the hell can they call it abandoned when it's in your own garage?

Tanasi

12-19-2009, 02:44 AM

LOL The bubbles aren't always visible though--they can be hard to see. Oh, and coolant isn't always green...depending on the condition of the cooling system.

Or the oil will be milky looking.

I did say depending upon the car. On my antique cars I wouldn't hesitate to replace a head gasket but on my Escape I wouldn't attempt it.

Red_Dazes

12-19-2009, 02:53 AM

We had that happen with the Beaus old car. Because it wouldn't run after winter so it sat there for a few months... we ended up just rolling it 10 feet down the side walk every month or so till we got rid of it. Never got another warning. You might want to try that... take the sticker off the window and move it to the other end of the block. That way they see it's been moved... keep it up for a while just pop it in neutral and move it once a month or so. I'd recommend getting the title for it as well, that way you can always call into the ((I assume police)) place who gave you the ticket and prove that you live there and it is your car.

blas

12-19-2009, 03:26 AM

Tanasi

12-19-2009, 04:59 AM

When I screwed up my Neon, my water pump went, the timing belt went, in doing so I warped the head beyond repair and bent all 16 of my *what the hell are they called* and the best part was after I got a new engine, I saw the radiator gushing antifreeze.....I mean just days after I got my car back. I'm thinking that whole action put a crack in the radiator and it just grew after the car was running again.

Those things are called valves and bending or breaking them is a real real bad thing.
In your case one set of valves are used to let the fuel/air mixture into cylinder were they are combusted. The other set of valves then lets the burnt fuel or exhaust out of the cylinder into exhaust manifold and eventually into the exhaust system Cat converter/muffler etc.
I have two daughters your age and when they wanted their first cars I bought them used cars and we then went through the rebuild process. I did that because they knew how much work went into the process and maybe just maybe would have more respect and care for their cars. My middle daughter absolutely didn't want to do this and kept trying to play the girl card, it didn't work.

protege

12-20-2009, 12:38 AM

How the hell can they call it abandoned when it's in your own garage?

They were trying to get me busted on a technicality. It's actually on the borough's books (but rarely enforced) that you're not supposed to have any dead cars around.
Since it was occasionally on the driveway, I could have been busted for that. However, most of the other neighbors knew about it, and didn't care. It wouldn't surprise me if the reason for that law...was the burnt-out Buick sitting behind one of my neighbor's houses. That heap was on his property for *years!*

I did say depending upon the car. On my antique cars I wouldn't hesitate to replace a head gasket but on my Escape I wouldn't attempt it.

I hear ya on that one, Tanasi. Wasn't trying to bust balls. But, when one of my newer cars has problems, it goes to the garage. I simply don't have the tools to work on it. But, the MG is another story--no computers to worry about! Everything can be done with simple hand tools. I'm still "feeling my way in" gradually :)

BookstoreEscapee

12-20-2009, 12:47 AM

They were trying to get me busted on a technicality. It's actually on the borough's books (but rarely enforced) that you're not supposed to have any dead cars around.

See, I don't get those kinds of laws. If you own the property, who the hell is the city to say you can't store a dead car (especially if you are working on it as a hobby) on your own property. And if it's in a garage, they certainly can't say it's an eyesore...no one can see it.

My apartment lease has something about not working on cars in the lots, or not leaving dead cars, but then this isn't our private property. There are garages available, and there is at least one guy who keeps an old car in his that he is clearly working on, because I've seen him in front of his garage doing just that when the weather is nice. But when he's not working on it, it gets put back in the garage and bothers no one. There is another garage that has a car parked in front of it that I have never seen anyone working on, and never seen any evidence that it has ever been moved, or is even driveable. But it's not in an area where people actually park (that row of garages is not really close to any of the apartment buildings, so I guess it's not in anyone's way).

1756GR2

12-20-2009, 05:25 AM

Bright_Star, some things vary with the city. My experience (thanks to the ex) in a small town outside Philadelphia was to be charged not only the fine, but the tow cost and some other related costs. At the time I was out of the area, couldn't get to it to recover it, and had no choice but to let it be towed. Charges came to over $1200 altogether. Whether pushing it a few feet from time to time would keep you in the clear, I don't know for sure, but I doubt it. Police departments are generally hard-line about abandoned property if it's been reported to them.

If you haven't already, talk to the folks who issued the letter and explain your situation. The only information they may have is that it's not been moved in a long time, meeting one of the definitions of abandoned property. (Though being parked long-term because it's inoperable, whether on the street or on your property, is another definition.) I'd not like to see you simply give it up without talking to them.

If you don't want to keep the car, call a salvage yard to come pick it up. In my area (Central PA), yards will pick up scrap without charge because they can resell it. If you go that route, make sure the police department knows when the salvage folk are coming to pick it up - hopefully they'll wait for it if it's a few days later and not send their tow company out for those few days.

If you want to fix it, the suggestion to contact a vo-tech school is a great one.

protege

12-20-2009, 04:25 PM

See, I don't get those kinds of laws. If you own the property, who the hell is the city to say you can't store a dead car (especially if you are working on it as a hobby) on your own property. And if it's in a garage, they certainly can't say it's an eyesore...no one can see it.

The feeling is, that one dead car, will attract another...and eventually all sorts of junk. Drive around any declining steel town here, and many vacant lots are filled with all sorts of crap. Garbage, old appliances, etc...all of which attract all sorts of critters. Not the sort of thing anyone wants to live next to. But these fools, were simply trying to push me around. They like to use the borough regulations (plus the police) to harass people.

Lately though, they leave me alone. Probably...because I got in the guy's face after he'd threatened me. As I was firing up the Tercel one cold morning, he came over and bitched about how the "blue exhaust cloud" was "killing his plants" :rolleyes: and that he was going to call the cops on me. The :devil: in me told him to go ahead...but if he did, I'd then press charges for harassment as well as trespassing.

Tanasi

12-22-2009, 08:43 PM

We have similar laws around here inside the city. I know of several guys that have started their own personal junk yards. They had/have intentions of fixing/restoring the car/truck but never seem to get around to it. I watched a 69 or 70 Cuda rot down to nearly nothing because the owner wouldn't finish the job and wouldn't sell it.
Here all cars that are outside within site of the road or neighbors property must be registered, insured, have a running and working engine and transmission, inflated and road worthy wheels and tires. If the cars/trucks do not meet this then they are subject to impoundment, fines and sale. This can also be avoided by keeping non-complient cars in a building or behind a fence that obsecures the site. The city usually doesn't enforce this ordinance unless made to by citizens or the ex-mayor and his cronies are buying up local parcels of land. County codes enforcement won't do anything if they can't get someone to come to the door.

blas

12-25-2009, 04:49 AM

There's a way around everything.

The guy who lives next door to my parents has no less than 15 cars. I kid you not. All of them at least 20 or more years old, only a couple of them that actually run.

We always wondered why his entire yard and driveway was full of cars (I'd say about half of what he has), and then we found out that our city only allows so many cars per property....and that he actually stashes the rest of his cars elsewhere.

Don't ask, I have no idea why anything works that way and I don't know why he has so many junk cars....but it sure is ugly and white trash looking. I would back up my parents and all of their neighbors if they complained....it looks just trashy and stupid to have just the 7 or 8 cars that he does have at that house taking up the entire yard and driveway.

Andara Bledin

12-26-2009, 06:10 PM

I know that in my area (California), if a car is parked in one place for 72 hours, it can be reported as abandoned, and if it is not moved within a day of being cited, it can be towed. But if you move it, even if it's only a few feet, then the timer starts over. (I believe they chalk the tires when they cite it; I know that parking control does that when there's a time limit on parking) Check your local ordinances to know what the regulations are regarding non-functional vehicles and long-term parking.

It's actually on the borough's books (but rarely enforced) that you're not supposed to have any dead cars around.
See, I don't get those kinds of laws. If you own the property, who the hell is the city to say you can't store a dead car (especially if you are working on it as a hobby) on your own property. And if it's in a garage, they certainly can't say it's an eyesore...no one can see it.
Most of the time, it's all about property values. Non-functioning cars are eyesores and will affect values, and that makes the people who own the property unhappy, and they're the ones that talk to the city council.

Of course, if it's not visible from outside, and it's not any sort of fire or health hazard, then it's none of their *#@* business.

^-.-^

BookstoreEscapee

12-26-2009, 06:18 PM

I know that in my area (California), if a car is parked in one place for 72 hours, it can be reported as abandoned,

Even if it's on your own property? There are times when I don't move my car for several days (when I was on vacation over the summer, I was going off of meds and didn't drive anywhere for nearly a week).

My college town did the tire-chalking thing for cars that were parked on the street around the dorms (72 hour time limit), but the street wasn't college property. If you weren't going to be using your car much, there was a parking lot at the other end of campus (and it's a small campus; you can walk from one end to the other at a reasonable pace in ten minutes). Of course, if you were taking up a good spot for a long time right in front of your dorm, you'd probably get shit from your dormmates who had cars and actually were using them. I didn't have a car, anyway, so it really didn't affect me.