The topic of abandoned cars comes up often but today right outside a local Tesco Extra I saw a car I thought unlikely to see abandoned. A 1998 R reg BMW 5 Series 540i automatic. Who'd have thought someone would dump this. But I've not been for a few days and this car is not parked and someone has placed an abandoned car notice inside on the dash.
Apart from someone's smashed the rear tail lights (probably has a dodgey history) it looked in good condition. It's not on the MID mind.
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Probably something major broke on it rendering it uneconomic to even recover.
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It's parked at the front of the store in a stupid position in front of the cash machines... but you might be right - something could easily render it too costly to repair but wouldn't you scrap it?
It's not on the motor insurance database so probably did get abandoned.
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MIL, whio is in a home, has one abandonded on her drive. The police do not want to know. Found out the DVLA for £2.50 and the story may tell me who owns it. Then I have to ask them to move it.
Sensible and legal ideas on how to get rid are welcome
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Try reporting it to the Local Council as fly-tipping or invoke health and safety - emergency access to property blocked by vehicle. If it really is abandoned I don't suppose the person on the DVLA data base will be anything to do with, sold it months ago etc!
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 23/02/2008 at 09:45
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Is it taxed? We recently had a 5 Series abandoned in the parking area outside SWMBO's house when some locals did a flit. Once the tax ran out, I contacted the council who slapped a note on it telling anyone who had an interest in the car that they had two weeks to remove it, and then they came along with a low loader and took it away.
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Move it onto the road, then report it, otherwise I think you'll find it's the landowners problem.
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The usual procedure with abandoned cars round here is to smash the windows and set it on fire.
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Get a mate with a good 4 x 4 round, put chain on abandoned car, tow it to some double yellow lines, unhook chain and leave it, it wont be there for long.
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that's about the only thing you can do really...because being private property the police have no jurisdiction if in the unlikley event you could get them interested (unless it's stolen), no one who dumps a car is going to have it registered to them unless they're incredibly foolish....and the council won't be interested, although in theory there are offences to dump things on private land
the 'proper' way of doing it would be to leave a note on it, advising it will be removed by you in a reasonable time period (say 2 weeks)..and then get a scrappy to collect it...but... i don't suppose you want to pay for that do you.
don't forget though, you dragging it off the drive and dumping it...is you dumping it, so you'd be in the frame for offences as well potentially, albeit you'd be a tad hard done by
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"so you'd be in the frame for offences as well potentially, albeit you'd be a tad hard done by"
Just trying to think of one......? (Apart from one inflicted by an aparatchik of the council I can;t
at the moment -if the fuzz turn up say nothing !!!!)
Edited by Pugugly. on 23/02/2008 at 19:39
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then get a scrappy to collect it...but... i don't suppose you want to pay for that do you.
Round here you get about £50 for a scrapper (collected). Steel scrap is an appreciating asset, or so I keep telling the wife!
I am not sure how fussy they are about having a V5 (or whatever) nowadays.
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Thanks for all the ideas. I have explained the problem to the DVLA and I am hopeful of a response. I will see if the council will become interested.
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Finally the abandoned car has left the drive.
After a month of the Council taking different positions as to their responsibility they acted within the framework of the Refuse Disposal Act 1978 and brought themselves into line with other councils. Some councils require a fee.
The lack of a current road tax proved that the vehicle had been truly abandoned. The police would not act because the vehicle had been abandoned on a private drive but that does not change the Councils responsibilities.
The police did visit the owner and request that they move the car but along with other request all failed.
The car had been positioned so that pushing it onto the road would be a non starter and use of a 4x4 or a mobile crane would be helpful.
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The local council are often slow at picking up abandoned cars - police even ignored a shell of a car parked on a corner (and a hazard to other road users).
Abandoned car at roadside at the foot of our road and we knew it would lie for weeks before the council would do anything.
ANSWER - release handbrake and allow car to be pushed beside local Electricity sub-station - we then e-mail the Electricity Board and told them of the danger of it being set on fire by "local youths"- within 2 hours the scrappy had uplifted it and I got a thank you e-mail from the Electricity Board for making them aware of the danger.
Job Done and maybe a tip for other BRs
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