I don't want to feel left out, so.......

radcon · radcon's Garage

I don't want to feel left out, so here's my own "found in a barn" story. I saw this ad in the paper last week for a 944 Turbo for sale, whole or parts. Turns out the ad was a misprint, but here's the whole story. Turns out this lady got into a huge argument with her family a couple years ago and moved back to the mainland. She left her car unattended and they haven't heard from her since. For lack of a better place to store it, they parked it under a tree on one of their properties and left it sit for the past two years. Get this, a '86 944 Turbo with 36K miles. Their real estate agent has been charged with cleaning up the property because they want to sell the house. I went and took a look at it a couple days ago. The interior is perfect except for a couple cracks in the dash, since the dash wasn't shielded by the tree. Body is in great shape, except for some small rust between rear spoiler and metal hatch, probably from water accumulating there. I think if it was buffed out, the paint would be great, it was covered with leaves and moss. Supposedly the car ran great when parked. I definitely won't be getting the car for free, but will be able to get it cheap enough that I can part it out and make a profit if there is something wrong with the drivetrain. I suppose the money I will be paying the family will essentially be a "finder's fee". The family has no contact with the estranged daughter and no paperwork for the car, so I am going to do a tow lien on the car. The DMV has no new address for the lady, so it doesn't look like we will be able to locate her. Should take about a month and a half before I can get a clean title for it.

MBAtarga · 06-26-2002, 11:31 AM

So THAT's where my fiance left her car! She came to the mainland when we got married. Our lawyer will be sending you a nice letter

radcon · radcon's Garage

Uhhhhhh, no it's not that one.

Doug E · 06-26-2002, 06:09 PM

What's a tow lien?

radcon · radcon's Garage

If a vehicle is abandoned, and you are the one who has the car towed or has been storing the car, you can file the lien through DMV. You obtain the paperwork from DMV, send a registered letter to the last known address of the owner, put a small ad in a local newspaper for one day, and after thirty days if the vehicle is not claimed, it is yours. The paperwork is simple, DMV provides you with a sample of the registered letter and ad. Basically you just have to go through the motions. Don't know if it works the same way in all states.