Customer brought in his car about 2 1/2 years ago. Paid a small ck, and work was done up to what he paid. Has not been back since. Have called many many times, but never talk to him (answer machine) and he has never checked on the car. Left word on his machine we were pushing car outside, which we did. This has been about 2 months ago, and still no word. Car has good engine and rear. How do we claim the car? 2 1/2 years with no contact and no money.
Your state should have a procedure for claiming ownership of vehicle due to all the incurred storage costs. Normally its straightforward if you are a business. Google it.
I would go to his house to see if he was still alive, out of curiosity. Since he's up to date with the repairs (not counting "storage" fees...) you're really not out anything. Bob
2 1/2 years and not out anything? If it's on the property your paying for every squre foot it sits on every month. Some States have limits as to what you can charge by the day storage. Years ago when I had to file storage leans all the time (had a tow company) we could charge $5 a day. $5 a day x 2 1/2 years is a pretty good sum of money. Your local DMV should be able to walk you thru the process. I assume your a legit shop and this wasn't a "side" job. If your not a legit buisness not sure what you can do.
Here in Missouri we attach a mechanics lien. the state issues you a title, pretty much a done deal. how much does he owe for storage?
I think you have been more than fair and have gone way beyond by trying to get in touch with him. He should have been the one contacting you and keeping you updated on what is going on, but instead he pushed that off onto your shoulders. He has a lot of nerve, unless he died or something. Call your local authorities and begin proceedings to take possession of it. It may entail listing it in the paper, or a certified letter to him, and maybe an auction, but you certainly deserve it after all the time you have invested. Don
If he is local, why not visit his house? There is a difference between the technical things that can be done and the right thing to do. It wouldn't hurt to find out the situation before trying to "claim" his car.
Is it still his number? May sound dumb but people change phones like underware and it may not be his phone anymore. Just asking. Have an address for him? Have you tried to send a registered letter? I almost bought a car from a shop like this once that had a car for some time. The week before I was to pick it up, the owner came and took it after 2 years.
http://www.salethisvehicle.com/ don't know these guys, but 30 seconds on google and I found this. I leined 2 Sunbeam Alpines a few years back. got $4400.00 when I sold them. got a title in my name on one, and sold the other with the lien papers since it was a parts car with no motor.
you must be a patient man, after 2 1/2 years, numerous calls and no callback, in my mind a mechanics lien would be the "right thing to do". If the customer wanted it that bad, he would have made an attempt to contact the shop. Somebody has to be listening to the voicemails after that long of a time. my 2 cents worth.....
Hahaha he's probably a pile of goo and bones lying in his bed. Probably croaked it when he heard how much your labour costs were for the rest of the work
I'm all for kindness, but you've got to look at it realistically. What I quickly realized when I ran my own lab supply business was that I paid rent on every square foot of space that I had. So...something that sat in the warehouse for years and didn't sell was costing me money. If you're a real penny-pinching goober like I was, I actually knew what my dollar cost per square foot of shelf space was and how many times I needed to turn an item over every month/year to make that space profitable. A car sitting on your lot is not any different.
Every state has it's own laws, but a mechanic's lien is the place to start; make it legally yours and then you can either finish it, doll it up, or sell it as is.
When I get those messages that are wrong numbers I usualy call back( if they sound important) to tell them wrong number. Guess most people dont.
bag, sounds like you've been more than fair so far. Drop by the guy's place on the way to put a lien on it, then at least you'll know you did what you could and can sleep at night. Good luck with it.
Every hot rod shop should have a row or two of "mini-storage" type buildings with garage sized units. Every customer should be required to sign a storage agreement. In the shop and being worked on - no fee. Waiting for the last statement to be paid - out in the shed at the daily rate. Want to drop your car off until there is space in the shop (waiting your turn) - weekly or monthly rate. A delay caused by the shop - no fee. Go flat roller tires - fixed at vehicle owners expense. At one of my friend's shop the daily ritual of rolling out the dead beat vehicles in the morning and bringing them back in at closing time took an hour of time that was not billable. More if there were flats that had to be aired up.
Something similar to this happened to my family but it was with race engines. They were fully paid off and were only having work done to them which was also paid off. The shop always had excuses/delays as to the job being finished (similar to home contractors) and eventually the family member got sick and couldn't keep up with all his affairs/belongings for a couple years (meaning badgering/calling the shop etc.). Obviously his health was his #1 priority, not an engine. A year later he passed and I finally found some paperwork where one of the engines actually was. We've always had the same phone number/address so that was not an issue but neither of the shops' ever tried to contact us. After calling them I was told they would check into it and call me back. Still waiting 10+ years later. $35,000 down the drain. I bet this type of situation with lost/misplaced items due to health issues/death is more prevalent then you would think. Not to condemn all shop owners since obviously you are looking to do the right thing, but I wouldn't put it past some of them who are privy to these health issues to actual NOT go out of their way to get belongings back to the rightful owner's families. I can only speak of my personal experiences. The payment of storage fees would certainly be appropriate however many times these situations start due to the delays caused by the shop and the "abandoned" issues seem to arise almost from miscommunication or lack thereof. In the shop owners mind ...he can take the attitude, "its not my problem this guy won't pick up his stuff. I told him it would be done". Then they claim the item as their own. Even though there are a lot of "good" guys out there, I found there are equally just as many "bad" guys who prey on the weak/unhealthy in these circumstances.
You should have a line on your work order spelling out that "no money, no work" in 30 days mean storage charges start. In PA if you don't have that you have to send them a registered letter that you are starting storage charges, you cannot just back charge them, After that you can start the lien process. Not really easy, but not hard. Heck if it was easy I would have a flock of projects, on top of the herd I have now!
I see abandoned vehicle notices in our local paper quite often. I'm just not sure how many times it has to be published. Any of the larger garages/bodyshops should be experienced with the process and would probably explain what has to be done.
Years ago we did a bunch of work on an old dodge. The customer didn't pick up the car for over a year but it was a piece of crap so after doing the paper work to get owner ship, we scavenged it for parts. When we were done we had it towed to the junk yard. The junk yard called and asked if we'd ever looked in the trunk. There was an antique sea captains clock in there, worth big bucks.
Tort Law says, that you must exhaust all avenues to find the registered owner of the vehicle. Send a registered letter to his last known address, inform him of your remedies with regard to money owing against the car and your intentions, give him a date to respond by, apply a Mechanic's Lien against the chattel, put the car up for public auction, send him the information re auction to his last known address, and sell the car if he doesn't come forth. This will vary from state to state, but it is close as I can come not knowing the details.
Wasn't Jay Leno involved in a lawsuit with similar circumstances over a "lost Deusenberg" he got from a NYC parking garage? Sorry for the hijack.
Who has that kind of space to have a mini storage style parking compound at their shop? most guys I know are tight for shop and lot space as it is, before building a staorage facility