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

[Seanette]

That could be entertaining to spectate.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

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

Wonder if he's related to Mr. Wheresmycar? Tell me they didn't breed . . .

[Geek King]

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

Heh, my dad got a parts car for a Volkswagon Super Beetle from a mechanic. The car got dropped at his garage, but the owner didn't come back for it. After dad asked about it, the mechanic did the due dilligence by Ohio law (filed with the DMV, they send a notice to the registered address, and a salvage title can be filed after a couple months with no contact, basically). Once the mechanic had the title, he sold the car whole to my dad for his costs, and dad tore it apart to finish fixing the mostly finished Super Beetle we had in the driveway.

Dad then found another enthusiast to buy the remains. So I guess everyone except maybe the abandoning original owner won on that series of events

[lordlundar]

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

Not gonna bite, sucker bet.

And this is why rental agencies are considering installing GPS transmitters in their vehicles. Not a bad idea as far as I'm concerned.

[thehuckster]

So this guy wanted to rent a car for an extended period of time... if only there was an institution that is already prevalent and pretty common in the automotive industry... oh, that's right. It's called a LEASE.

I'm surprised the rental company couldn't report the car stolen after a week of non-return, much less several months. I had rented a moving truck for 48 hours a few years ago and due to some confusion at the office, they thought I hadn't returned it, when I did, overnight when the office was closed. Left my paperwork and keys in the slot just as instructed and thought I was fine. No less than 12 hours later, they left me a voicemail accusing me of stealing the vehicle and said they will call the police and have me arrested if I don't return it in the next 24 hours.

Needless to say, I promptly returned their call and we eventually straightened out the whole matter after a lengthy and rather strenuous phone call of trying to get my point in edge-wise between their ranting and raving of me being a truck thief. After they finally found my paperwork and realized their mistake, they didn't even apologize for the confusion, and I decided to go with another company the next time I needed one.

[Argabarga]

My guess is they WANTED to report it stolen within 48 hours of it not being returned.

But, bureaucracy being what it is, there's probably a list of things you as the rental agent have to check off as absolutely certain before the parent company will go ahead and report it stolen. And, those who want to intentionally "game" the system to spite Da Man (tm) can play the shell game of moving addresses, playing phone message "tag" or making some token monetary deposits to keep their "official" status as a renter murky enough to stave off at least a few of those checks.

Most likely due to embarrassing incidents in the past where somehow, (and Huckster gives us a pretty good scenario of how) a complete and legit rental got reported as stolen and someone's Grandma got pulled over and cuffed.... so now they're erring on the side of "not stolen" until, well, you've made it abundantly clear you aren't going to be bringing it back without a little coercion.