A while back I mentioned that my dads old pug 405 was on its way out (burning more oil from the sump than the tank). So anyway, last week it finally died and broke down in rather spectacular fashion - lots of smoke and oil pouring out of the engine. This was on Thursday, my dad doesn't have any breakdown cover so on Saturday we went to tow it home.
However, when we arrived at the spot where it had been left - it wasn't there!
So far we have contacted, Trace, the local council and the police - it's nowhere to be found and the police think it was probably stolen. The car is all legal and wasn't parked on yellow lines or anything like that, although it was on an unlit country road on a large sweeping bend, parked just before a width restriction.
There's no way the car could have been driven, it was as dead as they get (my dad flattened the battery in some vain hope it would start) so if it has indeed been stolen it would have to be towed.
I find it hard to believe the car has been stolen (who would nick a 13 year 405? with a knackered engine?) and I'm worried that there's been some sort of admin error and the car is sitting in a yard racking up a massive storage charge.
Anyone got any ideas?
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With scrap prices rising, someone may have stolen it thinking maybe they could get the scrap value + perhaps the tax disc and a few tyres out of it.
They also probably think they are doing the council a service as it is an abandoned vehicle.
If it was legally parked then no worries about storage charges. Council / Police would have to put a notice on it for several days (weeks?) before they could move it unless it was a traffic hazard.
The main concern is that it will turn up stripped and abandoned in a layby and then the police charge you for recovery. If you say it was stolen (and reported it), then I guess not.
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Try the local scrappies.
Since cars for scrap became worth money again; some local travellers probably saw it as a nice little earner and weighed it in.
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In the past when I've scrapped a car I had to produce the V5 as proof of ownership.
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Quite a popular car still, so it may well have been stripped for parts such as seats, starter motor and then weighed in, especially if the non-bricks and mortar residing types are prevalent in the area.
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My brothers car was stolen once, the police found it and told him where it was. By the time he got there a couple of hours later it had been stolen again!
I once broke down on a country road and walked to a farmhouse to phone the RAC. The farmer gave me a lift back to the car just in time to see a van pull up behind my car and four guys get out with jacks and tools. As they then roared off when we stopped I don't think they were about to offer to fix it.
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My brothers car was stolen once the police found it and told him where it was. By the time he got there a couple of hours later it had been stolen again!
When I was at school, a very few of the boys had cars. One of them had his car stolen, and he duly reported it to the Garda Siochana. He called every day, but they always said the same thing: we're looking, but no sign of it. This was not a good situation, because it was a newish Ford Escort (serious money in those days) which really belonged to his mum.
Early evening on about day 7, there was a knock on the door. Not the Gardai, but a friend who said "I've found your car". The friend gave him a lift, parked up, and took him to the car. It had clearly been parked there for a few days: outside the local Garda station, three or four parking bays from the front door.
Has your brother thought of looking outside his local police station? :)
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Wasn't blue, was it? When did you discover it had gone walkies?
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Aim low, expect nothing & dont be disappointed
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It was red, we discovered it had gone for walk on Saturday morning.
Thanks to everyone for their replies, we initially assumed it had been towed by police or council but when no-one could trace it my dad reported it as stolen. I suppose it did have value as scrap and parts, although the engine was knackered it had four very good tyres plus spare, good interior etc.
Bad news is that it had 11 months tax on it, any ideas how we can go about claiming it back? If some tea leaf has taken the tax disk will they be able to do anything with it?
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You do not have to return the license tho' it is normal to attach it to the claim form;it is possible to get the tax back without it;it will be sent to the last registered owner.
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jc2 - thanks for the superfast reply. I think if the car hasn't shown up by the end of the week I'll get my dad to claim back the tax.
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The VED refund is made by cheque - so they'd be pretty foolish to claim for it.
From:
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowTo...6
"Lost or stolen tax discs and stolen vehicles
You can apply for a refund even if you have lost your tax disc or the vehicle has been stolen. A special application form V33 is available for this purpose from DVLA local offices, or by telephoning 0870 240 0010. Please note that an administration fee is charged where no tax disc is surrendered. In the event of a stolen vehicle, you will need to quote the crime reference number given by the police. Information on what to do if your vehicle is stolen can be found on the link below."
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Presumably you can claim some sum of money for the car on TPFT insurance? That and a road tax refund and you might be looking at a break even payout - I hope!
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on an unlit country road
What was the speed limit? It sounds like a derestricted road in which case the car would have been illegally parked as soon as it went dark.
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If the police have no record of it being towed away under their powers then most likely the local itinerants have taken it and weighed it in for a small but respectable sum of money. If they take it to the right scrap yard then not an eyelid will be batted and the car will have vanished properly into thin air.
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Corroded away. It's been very wet recently. ;-)
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Unsure as to what the speed limit is, I think it may have been a 40, but I can't be sure. It was parked not far form where there are some houses either side of the road. I'll drive up at the weekend and take a look.
Latest update is that..... well, still no sign of it.
Corroded away - hmmm, possibly - it did have some rust starting to appear on the front wing. Although I have to say for its age it was surprisingly rust free. Maybe it floated away in the floods ? :)
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If its been stolen then it was in very good condition for its age, and was mechanically perfect.
wasnt it!
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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It sounds like every banger owner's dream come true! A friend once had an old wreck he tried for months to get stolen. Even left outside the pub with the keys in no one wanted it. In the end he had to pay to get it scrapped.
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The other possibility is that it's still there.
We have all overlooked the mention of the presence of thin air in the OP's heading.
In the same way that the thermocline can hide submarines in the deep oceans; is it also possible that this "thin air" has surrounded the car and could be refracting light at it's boundary with normal air, thus creating a mirage that the car has gone?
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I know the flooding has been bad, but I dont think the OP has been trying sonar to locate his car.
It is of course possible that us muggles cant see it because a full blood has cast an occludo spell over it?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I think TVM has the answer, with the release of the Harry Potter book I reckon the local yoofs have been experimenting with invisibility spells.
Can anyone help with a visibility spell? Surely it should be illegal to make someones car invisible? Damn kids, nothing but trouble round these parts....
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I feel this thread is deteriorating. Is there any motoring in the Harry Potter books? I don't think broomsticks (of whatever model) count as cars or even as motorbikes. No wheels, see?
If children's or sub-middlebrow literature is to set in as a theme, surely the right-wing and generally annoying Dornford Yates, who at least had a thing about cars, deserves a mention?
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Lud - there is a Ford Anglia thing, but you are quite right of course, lets try and get back to reality.
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Steel is £200 a tonne.
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>>lets try and get back to reality>>
Yes reality though perhaps a different space-time continuum?
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before the thread gets locked - how much steel in an average car?
I noticed in the local paper that there are lots of adverts for people who seem very keen to take old cars away - maybe I'm in the wrong business.
I used to work with a guy whose dad was a scrap dealer, they were absolutly loaded.
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Steel is £200 a tonne.>>
This is good news indeed! My Mondeo is appreciating faster than it is depreciating. I think we'll have a glass of wine with tea this evening.
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You may get a nice surprise from the insurers moonshine -- insurance companies often give silly money for old and knackered cars. They offered almost £1000 for our 13 year old Sunny which was getting to the stage rot-wise where it was going to start costing on the MOT (although the previous year's it sailed through). No way was the car worth more than £500.
OK in our case it was a no-fault claim, but chances are your dad has about 25 years no claims so no great heartache there either.
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>> Steel is £200 a tonne.
This is good news indeed! My Mondeo is appreciating faster than it is depreciating. I think we'll have a glass of wine with tea this evening.
Hang on a minute, you won't see £200 when weighing in a Mondeo. Steel may be £200 a ton, but weighing in a complete car comes under a different category as it isn't just clean steel - there are a lot of non metal parts in car and as such is probably only worth around £80 a ton at the minute. Then there will be a depolution charge to be taken out of your cash value, to drain off the fluids etc and then they will knock you a few quid off for each tyre the car has left on it. By the time you are done you will probably end up with £50 or £60 in your pocket.
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By the time you are done you will probably end up with £50 or £60 in your pocket.>>
Ah then, my Mondeo is appreciating!
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By the time you are done you will probably end up with £50 or £60 in your pocket.>>
By the time they have stripped it you will owe them ;)
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Anyone got any ideas?
Someone wanted to get from A to B. They have now done that. Soonish, your car will be discovered near B, completely knackered.
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Someone wanted to get from A to B. They have now done that. Soonish your car will be discovered near B completely knackered.
Ah well the Backroom will have had some part in creating a new religion than
(OP - So anyway, last week it finally died and broke down in rather spectacular fashion - lots of smoke and oil pouring out of the engine.)
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>>Someone wanted to get from A to B. They have now done that. Soonish, your car will be
>>discovered near B, completely knackered.
I doubt it. The car was already broken down, hence why it had been left in the middle of knowhere.
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>>who would nick a 13 year 405? with a knackered engine
It might have been taken for banger racing,(saves them buying a car to wreck) if so, you wont recognise it anyway,you wont want it back either...
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