Help! Garage have sold my car without my consent!

Anihilator

MORPH3US wrote: »

Selling something that doesn't belong to you is not dishonest?!?!

I agree it would have rung alarm bells when they garage too so long to source and engine....

Not always

Situation.

Oldish car probably worth a grand or less went to garage as a favour with major engine damage. Cost of repairs to be more or near car value so not worth repairing. Garage offer owner no bill for services and retain scrap.

There doesnt seem to have been any intention here that I can see for the garage to profit. Its a !!!! up or genuine case of they thought they were doing OP a favour hence why its civil not criminal.

OP what exactly do you want to get out of this situation.

Your car was worth very little and the repairs probably were near the car value not to mention you will have owed the garage money repair or not.

Ultimately I don't think you would be able to quantify much of a real loss to a court.

justcat

Anihilator wrote: »

OP what exactly do you want to get out of this situation.

I think the point is that they sold her car without her consent! She could find out how much it was sold for and get that money back from the garage. They didn't seem to be charging storage fees so except for deducing it was an engine failure what does she owe them for?

Are you saying you would not be feeling the same way if it were you or would you just forget it?

custardy

the op was willing to fit a new engine so its irrelevant how financially viable it was to fit an engine to an older car.

Anihilator

custardy wrote: »

the op was willing to fit a new engine so its irrelevant how financially viable it was to fit an engine to an older car.

No its not really irrelevent.

The OP can only really sue for quantifiable losses.

I.e Post repair value - repair cost

I'm going to guess these arent far apart

GSXRCarlos

Some very grey areas of the law here, you can take possesion of someones vehicle, and transfer the registered keeper details via the DVLA, but technically you would still be the owner (just not the registered keeper)

The letter you got from the DVLA should allow you to stop the transfer though, that person has paid £25 for a new log book, and will no doubt have committed fraud on the application for to obtain by deception.

The DVLA cannot transfer registered keeper without your consent (or lack thereof in a certain period of time - ie "Please respond within 14 days if this is not the case" type of wording)

hethmar

Go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau and ring Trading Standards in case the garage has been in any other dodgey cases.

MORPH3US

Anihilator wrote: »

Oldish car probably worth a grand or less went to garage as a favour with major engine damage. Cost of repairs to be more or near car value so not worth repairing. Garage offer owner no bill for services and retain scrap.

I see where you are coming from but whether the car is worth repairing or not is the decision of the owner not the garage. Otherwise its a very slippery slope... someone asks me to look after their house while they are on holiday. Next thing a hurricane blows the roof off and I decide its not worth repairing to sell it to someone else.... its just ridiculous....

If the garage's opinion was that it wasn't worth repairing then they should have contacted the owner and told him so. Its then the owners decision....

The garage would have been well within their rights to a) give the owner 48h to remove the car from their property or they would dispose of it or b) charge the car owner storage for the time it was there until it was removed....

GSXRCarlos

MORPH3US wrote: »

The garage would have been well within their rights to a) give the owner 48h to remove the car from their property or they would dispose of it or b) charge the car owner storage for the time it was there until it was removed....

But they didn't so the garage are at fault

This arguement needs to be taken up with the garage first and legal action threatened.

RING the DVLA and explain all this, tell them at no time have you agreed to transfer of the vehicle

thescouselander

Perhaps the OP should take legal action against the scrap yard to recover the car. It would then be down to the scrap yard to recover their costs from the garage since they had no right to sell them the car in the first place.

lisyloo

I see where you are coming from but whether the car is worth repairing or not is the decision of the owner not the garage. Otherwise its a very slippery slope... someone asks me to look after their house while they are on holiday. Next thing a hurricane blows the roof off and I decide its not worth repairing to sell it to someone else.... its just ridiculous....

If the garage's opinion was that it wasn't worth repairing then they should have contacted the owner and told him so. Its then the owners decision....

You are absolutely right.
However there has been a c***k up and it seems to me to eb a civil matter rather than criminal so the owner can get civil redress in the courts.
As has already been stated it's a zero sum game, because the cost of the new engine plus repairs would pbe roughly equivalent to the value of the car they have lost.
So they have suffered no financial loss.

Civil law only compensates you for financial loss.
There is a lady on another board who is disabled and has had her car rear ended and now the insurance will pay off the loan.
Previously she had a car plus loan.
Now she has nothing and no chance of credit (now she's disabled and unemployed).
Financially and in civil law this is fine, she has suffered no financial loss.
In practice she is seriously disadvantaged.
I think the law is wrong is this respect but it is the law and we have to accept that.

Personally I would not have let this go on for months and I think the OP is a bit naive for allowing it to go on.

If the OP can prove that recon engine plus repairs was less than the value of the car then they can recover the difference via the small claims court, but they need to do some research and prove some figures.