Just Because you Drive it Doesn't Mean you OWN it.

[Argabarga]

Got an unusual request for a tow today, the requesting agency wasn't a motor club, it was Enterprise Rent A Car.

The pickup location was "residence A"

The drop off location was "airport"

The "additional notes" section had the REAL gold nugget though, it said:

If unit is not at address, contact "Person X" at xxx-xxx-xxxx

If no answer at number, call "Person X" employer at xxx-xxx-xxxx

If no answer at either number, contact police and report vehicle stolen.



Yup, Person X apparently rented that car several MONTHS ago, for what was supposed to be a 4 DAY rental, and has been, ahem, deferring returning it for quite some time.

I just don't get what makes people tick sometimes, or tock for that matter, but I DO understand the little bells and cuckoo birds that I occasionally hear when a rock-solid master plan like renting a car and NOT PAYING for it comes together.

Sadly anticlimactic, car was where they said it would be, so no trip to the Graybar Hotel for our intrepid scofflaw.

Not that they escaped unharmed

I can only imagine the scorched and slightly-radioactive mess that the rental agency turned that poor deadbeat's credit rating into, though..... what's the half-life on 256 Moronium? Probably more than a few years.

[Sapphire Silk]

Ouch!

And they can still go after him for the rental money. The amount won't be unsubstantial. He would have been better off buying a car and not paying that doing this.

What . . . an . . . idiot.

If his employer finds out, he could lose his job on top of everything else. And good luck finding a new one with that on his credit report.

Plus, no rental agency will EVER rent to him again.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Out of curiosity, Arga, you ever get calls like this from parents, getting cars taken away from their kids? Not sure how else to describe it.

We all know that some parents will buy the car for their kids, even pay for the upkeep, etc., while the kids drive the car around. Then the kids finally cross one line too many, and the kids get the car taken away.

I'm just picturing some kid has moved out, or is living in another location, and the parents want to take possession of the car again, but the kid won't give it back. The kid's mindset is "It's MY car," but the car's title is still in Mom & Dad's names, so technically, the car belongs to THEM.

My old 99 Civic was in my parents' name, as was the insurance, but everything else on that car, I paid for: gas, oil, maintenance, etc. The car was mine in all but name, and two years ago, it was mine in all including name when the title was transferred to me. Throughout that time, though, it was implicitly understood that, despite the title being in my parents' name, it was MY car. Even Sis, when we had to 'share' the car for a couple of years, eventually stopped disputing it. (Probably stemming from the time I told her to "Stop messing with the radio presets in my car." "It's our car." "No, it's my car. I drive it more than you, I pay for maintenance, I put gas in it, it's my car. I just let you drive it once in a while.")

[Argabarga]

Never had that happen, more likely is the reverse scenario.

Kid is driving Momsys car, gets in trouble/towed, Momsy calls and tries (and fails) to argue that since it's HER car, it doesn't matter what their little angel did, we have to let it go.

We laugh at those parents, heartily.

[mathnerd]

Out of curiosity, Arga, you ever get calls like this from parents, getting cars taken away from their kids? Not sure how else to describe it.

I had a friend go through something like this. His parents had purchased the car and it was in their names, but he paid for everything. He had it 4 or 5 years and it was well established that he paid the upkeep and was the primary driver. Anyway, family drama happened and his father tried to sue him for it. The courts sided with my friend, saying that even though the car was in the parents' name, the intent from the time of purchase was that it was friend's car, and ordered for the title to be transferred to friend.

I'm not sure if it would work out that way in every case, but in that one particular case, the law sided with the driver, not the owner.

[sirwired]

I wonder why they didn't report it stolen anyway, and then dispatch you? I would think that just because they knew where it was doesn't make it not-stolen.

[sms001]

I'm kinda curious as to why two rental place employees didn't just go get it. I know they have keys to the vehicles. Maybe they were worried about a confrontation w/ the "renter?" (I'm going to completely skip trying to figure out why Renter thought this would be a good idea, I'm going to need those brain cells for other things today. )

[EvilEmpryss]

I'm guessing that reporting the car stolen when they know exactly where it is would have the police asking them why they don't just repossess it themselves. If the renter had finally let them know where it was so they could take it back, then it would be an amicable repossession and the police wouldn't need to be there. If the renter tried to hide it, then clearly he's being aggressive and you want the cops involved. Easier to try it the nice way, first, and save everyone the trouble and paperwork.

[taxguykarl]

Maybe they were worried about a confrontation w/ the "renter?"

That was my take on this....dispatch Agra as he has more experience with this nonsense.
Saphire is right--with the late penalties for late rental returns, it would probably have been cost-effective to buy a new car

[Argabarga]

And it gets even better. The latest batch of abandoned vehicles (cars we've had for at least 30 days) that were sent to the police for processing returned a hit. They were able to identify and contact the owner for at least one of them..

It was Hertz Vehicles LLC.

I'm guessing they're also not too happy with their soon-to-be-former rental customer right about now.

[Sapphire Silk]

And it gets even better. The latest batch of abandoned vehicles (cars we've had for at least 30 days) that were sent to the police for processing returned a hit. They were able to identify and contact the owner for at least one of them..

It was Hertz Vehicles LLC.

I'm guessing they're also not too happy with their soon-to-be-former rental customer right about now.

What happens to the vehicle now? Can Hertz pay off the tow and storage fees to reclaim the car? Or will they just write it off and go after the renter, do you think?

[Argabarga]

What happens to the vehicle now? Can Hertz pay off the tow and storage fees to reclaim the car? Or will they just write it off and go after the renter, do you think?

With the rate at which they replace cars, they'll probably write this one off and we'll end up owning it on a salvage title. Once THAT paperwork mess gets sorted out, in another year.

[Alpha Strike]

With the rate at which they replace cars, they'll probably write this one off and we'll end up owning it on a salvage title. Once THAT paperwork mess gets sorted out, in another year.

So what happens with a car when you folks have the Salvage title?

[Chromatix]

My guess: auctioned off to cover the tow and storage costs.

[Deserted]

I'll bet the soon-to-be-former customer reported it stolen when it got towed.