aggravation

My local mechanic has a very neglected non running OB 928 that the owner abandoned at his shop, it's been sitting there for a year or more and he said he's going to file some paperwork to gain ownership of it, I think he'll have a new title to it when he's done via a mechanics lean. He said he would sell me the car for the cost of the paperwork plus a few hundred to recoup his expense of beginning repairs.

So long story short, if I buy it, would this be a car I can sell legally?
I figure it might be worth fixing but if not it seems like it would be worth buying to part it out.
Does anyone have any experience with buying or selling a car that was abandoned at a mechanics shop and re-titled by the shop through the court system? Anything that might restrict the way I could sell it or title it as a new owner?

bernard farquart

if the state issues him a title, due to his filing a mechanic's lein on the car, then you should have no problems selling it. The whole purpose of a lein is to recoup the money owed, if he couldn't legally sell the car, there would be no point in the lein.

Jim bailey - 928 International

In some states at least it also wipes out back registration fees and penalties which otherwise might make the car worthless as a car. It clears any outstanding bank loans as well since the lender gets notified and has the option to take the car.

bronto

Jim, does it work that way in CA?

dr bob

What Jim said, plus...

In the great and socialist state of Kalifornia, an unresolved bill allows the shop owner to auction the car to recover some or all of the the outstanding bills, plus a reasonable storage fee and any filing costs. To make the auction work, a notice of the public sale is published in a local paper, the previous owner is notified by certified mail, and any existing lienholders are notified since they also have an interest in the car. The auction is held in a public place after a reasonable period following the notifications, and anybody can bid on the car. Generally the shop owner, as an interested party, does not bid. Proceeds from the auction sale are used to reimburse the shop owner for the expenses listed above, and any surplus must be returned to the now-former owner and any former lienholders. Then and only then will lien sale paperwork be generated, which the buyer can take to the local DMV to get the ownership transferred legally.

Bottom line-- Make sure the shop owner is aware of all the local requirements for a lien sale and all the notifications. If the previous owner or a previous lienholder decides to later contest the sale, they can blow the sale on virtually any technical shortcoming in the process. You could lose the car back to the original owner if they prevail in an action against the shop. To minimize this chance, shop owners often allow storage fees to mount up to the point where the car owner will not want to pay it all to get the car back no matter what, then offer it for sale at auction. A little diligence now will make your purchase a lot safer.

rixter

I've purchased mechanics lien cars before, never had a problem with resale... just keep copies of all the paperwork

Jim bailey - 928 International

That is my understanding , you get a fresh start in California reguarding back registration fees BUT confirm that before you buy something !!!!

nosnow

I was just looking into this as a way of getting a beater for the BART parkinglot. From what I found you have to pay back license fees but DMV usually negotiates and if it is over 7 years the car is out of the system. The big break in CA is that you are not responsible for unpaid parking/speeding/moving violations. If you buy a car through a lien sale you are not responsible but if you buy it with a normal title you the new owner are liable for those costs. I learned this the hard way in college by buying an old Honda and finding out I had to pay an additional $500 in parking tickets from the previous owner.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Ouch ! the back registration can be a KILLER ! Good about tickets however ...

dr bob

There's an incentive to buy an out-of-state car if you are shopping among unregistered beaters. Delinquent registration in another state is ignored by Cali when you show up with your checkbook.

I brough my originally-Cali car back here from where it was stored and delingent on Colorado reg fees in Denver, and the DMV here initially wanted to get fees from me as if it had been continuously registered here. They have a very slow depreciation schedule here, so they wanted tax/fees for about $55k car (from $84k original sale). It took just a little work to get it to the mid teens price the car was worth in the market at the time. All's well now of course.

G Man

I kick myself everytime this subject comes up. I was sent a notice of pending lein sale for a 1965 Mustang Fastback that I had owned for about 15 years. When I got it, it was a non running hulk. I proceeded to turn it into my dream car, a Shelby GT350R. Of course it was a clone, but it was all mine. I ended up trading it off for another car and that was the last I heard or saw of it until I got the notice of lein sale. The car was in L.A. at a storage facility and I was the last registered owner. I originally registered it in CA when I lived in Tahoe, before I moved to NV. I went to the CA DMV and checked with them to make sure I was still listed as the title holder and they said I was. I was all ready to go to LA and pay the storage fees and reclaim my car. Unfortunately I did not have any legal documentation to prove the car was mine. I called the storage facility and the owner said there was no way I was going to just show up and take the car back. Like an idiot I fell for his bully tactic and did not try to get the car. Now that I think about it I am sure I could have filed for a lost title with CA DMV since I was still on record with them as being the legal owner. I'm sure with a title in hand I would have had legal right to claim the car after paying the storage fees. The fees would have been about $2200.00. Well worth paying in order to get my baby back. I really wish I would have not been such a wuss and let it go without even trying. Anyway, that's my sorry *** story about this topic!

dr bob

Let's say that you wrere somehow able to get the title copy OK, payed the $2200 to get her out of jail, and now she's in your garage. The person you sold it to, the one who left it in storage, comes back to the storage place to find it's been sold. He does a little legwork and finds out you have the car again. He still has his bill-of-sale from you, so he comes by and picks the car up. Thank you very much! You'd be much better off getting a new lien-sale title and paperwork to support your 'new' ownership. At least then you'd be able to defend your ownership against the guy you sold it to.

There are attorneys who feed heavily on this stuff. I had an 'interesting' car with an interesting trail of ownership. It was a grey-market car at best, a homologation car that was never intended for road use, never intended for sale in the US, and certainly never intended for sale as a road car in California. It took two years, a series of lgal actions, some begging at the DMV, a registration bond that held DMV harmless should a previous owner pop out of the woodwork later to claim the car, and a SPCNS special construction vehicle title in the end to just get plates on it. Having the SPCNS brand on it somewhat spoiled the resale value, since it now appeared to be a kit car or clone rather than a factory Lotus car. I used it as a daily driver for almost ten years, with a parts budget of $300-500 per month to keep it happy when it was driven regularly. If you think your 928 eats money and time, find a Lotus sports racer and drive it on the road and do weekend events with it. You'll feel like you've gone to heaven when you get back to your 928, no matter how "bad" it may seem. The Lotus? It was sold to a guy in Oregon, who managed to nearly miss a tree as he backed around a corner at speed. You really have to forget there's a brake pedal when cornering at close to the limit in a car like that, especially with ancient Goodyear Blue Streaks on it. It's a basket case now, although the owner survived.

Imo000

I don’t know but to me, that would have been stealing. The car was on your name but it wasn’t yours.

928ntslow

I will be dealing with this too. I bought a Euro out of "Kulee-phone-ya" and it now resides in my garage up here in "Ora-gone". Apparently the guy I bought it from purchased the car from an unscrupulous dealer out of Valencia. The guy said he would forward the title, but after calling the dealer back many times with no response, the phone number was eventually disconnected. The PO went down to the DMV and esplaned what had happened and the DMV told him he just needed to come get a brake light and all inspection and then the next step would most likely have been a lien sale.

I haven't been able to get the thing out of my garage yet due to a refresh of many things, but I expect I will have to go through the same fire drill. Up here in the Big O, they are proud of their "Green" finger and as long as she breathes clean by their standards, it should be a go.

Incidentally, getting a vehicle smogged up here is not like little Mexico, they have these big buildings with red and green lights above the roll up doors with many bays for you to drive through. They have mirrors on sticks, hoses and other fancy equipment to make sure you ARE in conformance. It is state run unlike the local service station down south. Imagine what it looks like driving across the US/Mex boarder and you have your vision of what these things are like. They lovingly call them the DEQ.

You shouldn't have any issues with selling legally and he shouldn't have an issue with titling if the car truly sat there and was abandoned.