Car sold to a company similar to webuyanycar.
That was in October. My friends have the money for the car, no longer own the car or have the keys to it.
Well it's still on their driveway and blocking the access to remove their other car - which has not been needed for 8 months.
Suggestions.
Perhaps that is part of the business model. I was slightly surprised when phoning a relatively local "car supermarket" to look at a specific vehicle only for them to say I'd have to give them a (refundable) £100 deposit and they would get it trailed somewhere accessible, but that would take a week.
To answer the question, I think the council will remove a vehicle that is blocking your drive access, but not from private property.
Assuming they won't respond to queries, they probably have to take legal action. Unless they borrow some dollies and roll it out on to the road? Any decent locksmith should be able to unlock it for them, too.
A story from about about 30 years ago, so not relevant now. My brother in law's boss called all the staff out to the car park to admire his new fancy BMW with all the latest security. One of the other workers had a "past" and while they all wandered around admiring it, he suddenly pointed at the sky and said "Bloody Hell, look at that!". There was a click while everyone's back was turned, and the car was open. I guess that was the "half a squash ball" trick.
My Dads favourite trick was to send the owner off for a coat hanger. When they returned they had "forgotten" a rear door had been left open.
Usually keys got locked in cars. As a rule we only had FIATs, and it was impossible to lock the keys in a 2/3 door car, and you really had to work hard to do it in a 4/5 door car.
It takes less than 3 seconds to unlock a year 14 plate FIAT Scudo.
So it is relevant
charge them storage ....
If not already done I suggest as first steps they:
a. read the contract (fine print and all) very carefully to look for anything about (i) when transfer of ownership occurs and (ii) storage.
b. check the company is still trading. If not it could be in liquidation with a liquidator unaware of the car.
Beyond that there is a legal process for people stuck with someone else's goods ("involuntary bailees") to get rid of them. But I don't know it well enough to advise. There may still be folks in u.l.m who do.
I am assuming they did notify DVLA of the sale.
The police and council are very unlikely to be interested while it's on their drive. They would if some person or persons unknowns tried to steal it, pushed it onto the road but to get it to start with its battery flat.
Said persons would of course be carrying out a criminal act but if aware of CCTV etc are unlikely to be caught after the event. If caught in the act they might even get away with a telling off if they came clean to the extent of setting out the facts and saying they intended only to swap the vehicles on the drive - and then did just that.
Borrow the towing eye from another (similar?) car and a 4x4 ?
I assume so
This couple always do things by the book.
He has lost his eyesight and cannot drive and she had a hip replacement but can now drive.
Another friend with a Land Rover has offered to drag the car into the street. But he is the same friend that got me into trouble when we threw a dead badger through a lounge window and they do want him to be involved with him.
But they are prepared to be involved with you, even though you were an accessory before and during the badger?
Bill
Now the crucial thing here is in whose name it is registered.
If it is still in their (your friends) name, they can get it towed away and scrapped.
If it is in someone else's name the police can contact the owners and request it gets moved, as it is illegally parked on someone else's property.
OTOH if it were to magically disappear, it is hard to see what the owners could do about it.
"I dunno - some truck just came up, loaded it on and drove it away. I assumed it was you lot"....
Mostly a car is worth a free pickup if its going to be scrapped
Find some likely lads, go down the pub with lots of witnesses, and when they get back it's gone, and turns up burned out on the estate.
Nothing to do with me guv is it?
Too complicated and too legal.
Call a scrap dealer to pick it up.
If its still in your name and you have registration. Otherwise report it as illegally dumped on your property.
Should have moved it onto the public road before selling it to webuyanycrap. Then it is immediately untaxed and uninsured so they have to remove it (or is there a condition in their t&c stating that it must be parked off-road ?, which would be difficult for all those folks who have no offroad parking)
Use gov.uk and/or the insurance industry free check to see if it is taxed and insured for starters -
Report it to who ?. You are clueless. The police are not interested. The council couldn't care less. It is on your property and all you can do is spend money going to court to enforce its removal.
This happens regularly to people who have empty driveways near busy London commuter stations. Commuters wishing to park for free just park on someones drive and there is nothing the house owner can do, provided it is not blocking the houseowners car from
*leaving*. The police will do nothing if it just prevents the houseowner from entering his own drive.
The secondhand car marketplace is getting quite sewn-up nowadays, webuyanycar and cinch are both owned by BCA (who no longer allow the public into auctions)
cazoo are hoovering up cars from corporate fleets
This all seems to be making it difficult for car dealerships to have sufficient stock, I noticed the main audi dealer here had a hand-scrawled sign on reception desk saying they were looking to buy any make cars, up to 5 years old.
I recently sold my late father's car back to the dealership he bought it from 2 years ago for £1500 more than webuy etc were offering, and not much below what he'd paid for it.
I'll defer to you if you know that the proper process is too complicated for a lay person. I'd thought it was fairly straightforward under the
1971 Act if you know the owner - just not something I've ever had to researchOdd that they'd still have it registered in their name given continuous insurance/SORN.
And what happens when the liquidator for the buyer turns up next week?
Good luck with that. Police will properly say it's a civil matter. Councils have some powers over abandoned cars on private land but mostly have much better things to do
That line makes no sense.
Is it SORNED and if so by whom
Nothing. Just act dumb. Car was picked up. Assumed it was your firm.
The legal route is nearly always expensive time consuming and futile. What you want to know is how far you can push the law without being caught.
I.e. as someone suggested pout a trolley jack under iot and park it in the street and then throw a brick through the window
Or remove the wheels and out it on blocks. someone will steal it
Not your problem
>
A bit like scaffolders often leave scaffold up on a job long after it is not needed only taking it down once they have another job it is required for, might as well store it on your property as anywhere else.
Richard
You did notify DVLA that you'd sold the car? You now should have a document agreeing that the car was no longer yours.
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