So I sold a junky car last year. I ####ed up because I was pretty unprepared and wasn't about to turn down cash on the spot. Wrote up a quick bill of sale, handed over the keys and sat down for dinner, totally forgetting that I had left the license plate on the car.
I didn't even think about it until CPS called because of a driver complaint. Informed CPS of the situation, went immediately to the registry and filled out the official declaration regarding the plate being 'lost' ("stupid idiot" is not an option on the form.
Something like 8 months after the fact, I get a call from CPA - 'my' car is illegally parked with invalid registration. Tell them the situation, it's not my car yada yada. Call registry, confirm that I did submit the form and they advise that it will still show me as the last name on it regardless, but not to worry if I submitted the form it will in fact be not tied to me.
Fast forward to today. I get a registered letter from CPA. Car is at impound, there is a substantial bill owing, and the car will be crushed if I don't recover.
Now...I am in no mood to pay for a car that isn't technically mine any more. But I don't have a copy of a bill of sale, because like I said, I just wrote one up on the spot for the cash. It's not my car, but to the government it is apparently.
What the hell do I do? I don't have the guys name or contact info, no bill of sale, and only a report (for which I don't even think I kept a receipt) about the plate. Do I just tell CPA it's not my car anymore and hope they accept that and don't hold the outstanding amount over me?
Now, the car is rare. I bought it for parts, but liked it too much to tear apart. I really, really, don't want it to get crushed because that's a total shame. I don't think I legally can claim ownership and recover the vehicle without:
a) risking being liable for any and all other expenses/infractions that car was apart of over the last year since I sold it.
b) risking having to hand over the vehicle should the guy who actually paid for it find me through CPA.
c) risking having this guy and his rather large buddy really #### me up.
I don't have the guys contact saved anywhere, I can't get ahold of him. Even if I could, I'm not super keen on getting reinvolved with someone who decided to drive around with my name on the registration for a year.
I guess the only option is to have CPA proceed with scrap, hoping I can convince them it's not my car any more? ####ing hate the thought of rare, hard to find, good condition parts getting scraped over $600 in impound fees. Anyone know who CPA uses to scrap cars? Im guessing it goes right to the crusher and not a salvage yard.
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No, no…I’m not sloppy, or lazy. This is a sign of the boredom.
I guess the only option is to have CPA proceed with scrap, hoping I can convince them it's not my car any more? ####ing hate the thought of rare, hard to find, good condition parts getting scraped over $600 in impound fees. Anyone know who CPA uses to scrap cars? Im guessing it goes right to the crusher and not a salvage yard.
Logically speaking I'm assuming their threat of crushing the car is just to get your attention. Why would they do that instead of selling it to a salvage yard whole to get at least some money out of it?
I don't know if CPA values the rare OE parts on 42 year old cars the same way I do. I understand that unclaimed vehicles go to Regal auctions with a minimum bid of $500; a threshold I doubt CPA considers this rig to hit. I wouldn't be surprised if they're legislatively bound to 'recycle' aka crush into oblivion anything that isn't auctioned.
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No, no…I’m not sloppy, or lazy. This is a sign of the boredom.
Seems like all the actions you've taken to date are consistent with you actually selling the car, so I'd just continue down that path. Sure it sucks if the car goes to waste when you know it shouldn't, but once you sold it that decision was essentially out of your hands, no?
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Yeah, it’s not your car. The new owner could have crushed it or converted it to a modern art installation. Not your issue.
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From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
I mean, technically you're supposed to retain a copy of the bill of sale, even if it was cash. So that's kinda on you. But what I'm also curious about is how you attempted to sort out the license plate/registration (other than the "lost plate form") and canceling insurance afterwards? This is possibly a grey area situation where it proceeded as a normal sale, but with some odd aspects to the situation, so it might be able to proceed in a different manner?
You technically sold the car for cash, but there's seemingly no proof it was ever sold and re-registered. Your attempts to sort it out the normal way have been in vain because there seems to be some gaps in the paper work. Yes, you received money, but it cannot be proven and in some senses, it could kinda be argued that it subsequently proceeded in a manner that was similar to the car and/or plate being stolen (using your plate, not re-registering car, not paying fees, not claiming car in impound etc.).
Perhaps it would make sense to go and chat with the police about trying to instead sort out things under the following scenarios:
1. Explain the scenario but discuss proceeding going forward as a "sale" + "lost plate" as you have so far to no avail
2. Explain the scenario but discuss proceeding going forward as a "sale" + "stolen plate" instead
3. Explain the scenario but discuss proceeding going forward as a "stolen car" + "stolen plate" instead
Then, once the vehicle is recovered and clear, immediately donate it via something like Kidney foundation and refuse a donation slip or something like that if you don't feel good about keeping the proceeds or whatever was left over? If the dude returns afterwards, you can just explain you didn't keep it or even profit off of it. With what you've described so far, I wonder if he's done anything that has a paper trail proving he owns the car.
You explain the situation to the cops so you're not lying about it. But you ask if there's a different approach to the paper work so that it can be resolved ASAP and any shenanigans that the buyer did with the car and under your plate aren't linked to you.
It's worth a try. Worst case, they say the stolen facet is no go, so just keep asking the cops how to solve the situation ASAP until it's solved?
They just call anyone who used to own the vehicle.
We had traded in our vehicle to the dealership, the car was reregistered after being sold at auction and sold from the auction buyer to the owner. They still called us and after sending them paperwork showing we had sold it they said yeah we know you aren’t the registered owner but do you want to pick up the vehicle.
They just call anyone who used to own the vehicle.
We had traded in our vehicle to the dealership, the car was reregistered after being sold at auction and sold from the auction buyer to the owner. They still called us and after sending them paperwork showing we had sold it they said yeah we know you aren’t the registered owner but do you want to pick up the vehicle.
I have no idea what they do there.
Would they have given you a bill of sale? It seems like in some cases buying it back from impound could be worth it, especially in this market for cars.
Would they have given you a bill of sale? It seems like in some cases buying it back from impound could be worth it, especially in this market for cars.
I didn’t ask I was shocked by the ridiculous of them asking me to pay impound fees for a car I didn’t own and had proven I didn’t own and they knew already that I didn’t own.
My impression was that they weren’t selling me the car just wanted me to pay impound fees and they would give me the car. I didn’t get it but didn’t pursue further.
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ask if they can write you a bill of sale? Can you sell it for more then impound fees?
Maybe if the guy ever comes back after it you can sue him for storage fees?
I kinda went through this with an old truck of mine. Guy bought it never registered it, abandoned it at a mutual friends trailer park then they sent it to recycling. I tried to track it down but it was gone by then.
So this raises the question then, how long is someone obligated to retain a bill of sale as a seller?
What if the buyer never ever registers said vehicle and I am the last person on their list? Does that mean I need to keep every bill of sale forever?
Seems like there's a step missing in the whole process that involves notifying the registry that the car has been sold, so no matter what the new owner does with it, I am no longer responsible for it.
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So this raises the question then, how long is someone obligated to retain a bill of sale as a seller?
What if the buyer never ever registers said vehicle and I am the last person on their list? Does that mean I need to keep every bill of sale forever?
Seems like there's a step missing in the whole process that involves notifying the registry that the car has been sold, so no matter what the new owner does with it, I am no longer responsible for it.
There is: You go to the registry, hand them your license plate, and they refund any time left on registration minus a fee
The issue is the OP left the license plate on the car, didn't unregister, then reported as a stolen license plate
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Thanks for that, I guess I've always swapped my plate to another vehicle.
Although, does handing in or swapping your plate legally absolve you from that vehicle then? What if I want to simply park it and not drive it anymore?
What I'm taking from this is to just never sell your car. Just let them pile up in the garage like old newspapers
Honestly though, I've sold two motorcycles and a car privately and I'm pretty sure I don't have bills of sale anymore - and am not even sure if I ever retained one. What's worse is I can't be arsed to go look
sold car shenanigans
