Council took car... advice needed

daninacan

So I was an idiot and left my car untaxed for a month. (I moved out of my parents house, havn't been using my car and didn't pick my mail up for too long)

The council took my car a few days ago. I have got in contact with them via email and they want

£200 pick up
£40 a day

So far this is about £400. My car is worth about £500.

The problems are:

- The car isn't taxed or insured, so I can't 'pick it up', plus I don't have anywhere to put it, if I announce it off the road.
- The car won't move, battery is dead and it is too dangerous to drive as a CV joint needs replacing...
- I can't get time off of work until the weekend, which means another £200 in daily charges.

The fees (+tax/insurance, or a pick up truck) will cost more than the value of the car, so it means it is pointless me going to get it back.

What are my options? I'd rather just leave it...

Thanks for your time,
Dan

peter_the_piper

Problem is that you will still have to pay the dvla fine and tax you have not paid. Not sure about council tow but its likely you will have to pay something as the value scrap is not much.

vax2002

"Your" car is "registered" to the DVLA which legally means, they are responsible for it and you become the "keeper" the rules they allow you to keeper the car are laid out, if you break these rules, they can "seize" = to take back, the car as you signed it over to them.
In this contract "registration certificate" you agreed to be bound by the terms of registration, a full set of the rules can be viewed at Apha centurion moon 5 on a wednesday afternoon...

daninacan

Oh you devils. Really can I just ask for them to keep it and pay the DVLA fines? I really don't want this to snowball and get the council asking for £1000 in daily charges. (Seriously I can park my car in central London for cheaper than that)...

JimmyTheWig

Phone the council and ask them what they can do.

fred7777

daninacan wrote: »

What are my options? I'd rather just leave it...

Your only option is to pay the money and collect your car.

The car is your responsibility and the council get no benefit from keeping it when they can charge you £40 a day for evermore for storing it.

TrickyWicky

Council I used to work for operated this scheme. They'd take untaxed cars and impound them and offer them back at unaffordable rates. They'll almost certainly automatically can it for you it you don't collect it BUT (and this is the shocker) despite being paid for the scrap value of the car they'll probably charge YOU the owner for the disposal and storage of it. In other words it may actually be cheaper for you to collect it on a low loader and then put it elsewhere.

As for the elsewhere.. friend/families drive, field, etc.

That said, if you simply don't want the liability anymore such as storage and repair costs it may well be easier just to let them crush it and send you the bill. You'll still have the DVLA to own up to though and you won't be able to use the 'SORN'd via the post' excuse if the council took it as it was clearly on the road.

The councils don't crush all cars, just the ones they won't get anything back on. Obviously cars that are worth more than scrap and storage charges (eg £2k or more) will be sold of at auction by most councils with or without keys.

paddedjohn

If the car was parked on public road with no tax or insurance then getting your car back is only the start of your troubles. You can be fined for not having tax, charged the back tax, fined for no insurance and possibly for not having a sorn on the vehicle. Call the council and ask whether you can waive your rights to the car and if you can are the storage/towing charges dropped or will you still owe money.