What to do with an abandoned active Q?

[goody90q45]

There's been a 93 Q45a abandoned at my work for 11 months now. It belongs to a contractor who we cannot locate and who no longer comes to the site. We are an aerospace company on a 12000 acre fenced and patrolled plant that you have to show a badge to enter at a security checkpoint. This poor guy financed the car from a used car lot in July '05 for $7000 and it's been parked at work since August '05. The car appears to be in unkept condition- dead battery, lots of leaks, tears, worn parts, etc., but lots of good parts also. He obviously didn't know what he was getting into when he bought an active Q and our plant is a good place to hide a car where the repo man will never find it.

I left a note in the car a couple of times offering to help get it started but never got a response and the notes never got read. Plant Security has now ticketed it with a note that it will be towed. I hate to see it end up in a salvage yard where it will probably be crushed and am thinking about having towed to my house and gleaning the parts that can be sold.

So my dilemma and my question is - Would I be a car thief if I towed it away and how do I get rid of it when I'm done taking parts. Will a salvage yard or metal recycler take it without a pink slip when I'm done? I read somewhere on NICO that a car abandoned for a year is free for the taking.

What do you think? Would my taking the car start a downhill spiral and a life of crime or should I just leave it be and let lots of reuseable parts get crushed?

[Rex]

My guess would be the car still belongs to the used car lot. Unfortuntaely, the right thing to do is contact them and let them know where the car is .

If they show little or no interest, check with you local DMV to see what if takes to claim an abandonded car. Then try to talk the security guys inot leaving it be for now.

[Jesda]

A friend and I got parts for his Maxima by disassembling one that was abandoned in a parking lot. Dont do what we did. Best to contact the dealer.

[Q451990]

In SC, the car has to be towed to an impound lot. They then hold the car and the owner has to pay for the towing charges and storage fees to claim the car. If it's not claimed by a certain time - it is auctioned off in a legal proceeding.

My concern in your particular situation would not be so much that the owner would come back to file an action against you - but that the car lot that sold it to this poor bastard would come after you. If you took possession of the car and then otherwise disposed of it - they might try to sue you for their entire loss!

You might want to contact the lot that is trying to repo it and make them an offer for it as a parts car. Might get lucky and get them to sell it to you just to get it off the books.

Of course, all of this varies greatly from state to state - but that's my two cents worth...

Heath

[paranoidjack]

take the clock and walk away.

[heywier427]

bring it to my house and well spilt the earnigs. i can dispose it of it!

[Mark86T]

In SC, the car has to be towed to an impound lot. They then hold the car and the owner has to pay for the towing charges and storage fees to claim the car. If it's not claimed by a certain time - it is auctioned off in a legal proceeding.Heath

This is what will happen to it. Chances are, that the paperwork in the car will have the guy listed as the owner, NOT the lot he bought it from. So he will get notice of it being impounded. He probably won't go & pay for it. It will then go to auction. That's when you can legally "steal" it by bidding on it & buying it for a very little. Just find out which tow company will be picking it up & contact them as to when & where they hold their auctions. Most places like that have a website listing the cars they will put up for auction. So it should be easy to find out when it where it will be put up for auction. Keep on it!! It would certainly be worth it.

[goody90q45]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. As tempting as it is to tow it home myself and part it out I think you're right that the proper (and legal) way would be to follow it to auction and buy it legally. I guess I'll have to be patient and wait for it to get towed away.

[elwesso]

itd be one thing if it was paid off and you could just get the owner to trasnfer you the title, but since technically the car is "hot" i wouldnt mess with it...

Either that, or just take parts you want and leave the car there

[goody90q45]

Either that, or just take parts you want and leave the car there

[bmwkiller]

So my dilemma and my question is - Would I be a car thief if I towed it away and how do I get rid of it when I'm done taking parts.

Yes, technically you would be a car thief. Depending on how technicalities sit with you, here are your options: first, as others have suggested, wait until it's towed, wait for the towing company to notify the owner/dealer, hope neither comes to claim it, wait for for it to come up for auction, hope you don't miss the auction, and hope you're the high bidder. Or, second, tow it home, strip it of any parts you want, then dump it in a parking lot or on the side of the road and within a day or so it will get towed. It will go to the impound yard, and the process outlined in the first option will begin, but with a car that's been stripped rather than a complete car. Just hope and pray you don't get caught with it.

[bmwkiller]

Oh, and by the way, let me know if you want to sell the rear anti-sway bar.