legal ownership of cars

[nickpfc63]

Hi All. I have a car at my garage that failed its MOT 2yrs ago. The lady that owned it didnt want it fixed and verbally gave me the car to scrap. Its now been with me for the whole 2yrs. I,ve since repaired it and got the MOT so as to sell it. She,s found out and is demanding the car back but is refusing to pay for it. I never got the log book as she had lost it. Anybody know where i stand. Many thanks.

[SlackAlice]

And a bill for the repairs and MOT

[ummmm]

Yes...send her a brake down of repairs and storage and give her 'x' amount of days to pay it. If you only charged her £20 pw (very reasonable) then that's over 2k alone.

[jackthehat]

I believe you'll have to take this on the chin...........
The car was, and is, her property.
She instructed you to scrap the vehicle - you didn't.
You have fixed HER car at your own expense.
She is now aware that you failed to carry out her instructions and wishes the car to be returned. As it is her property you are obliged to do so.

However, there could be a case that YOU are still owner of any parts you have fitted, and if she is unwilling to pay for them you could remove them. As her car was unfit to run previously, you'll only have returned it to its former state...........

You'd be best advised to get Solicitors advice on the legal minutiae of your situation.

[tamborine]

Treat it as yours....apply to DVLA for log book. If she had claim to it she would have reported it stolen or have proof of rent for garage and paper agreement that you fix free.

[jackthehat]

You can't retrospectively apply a storage charge.
As far as she was aware you had scrapped it............why didn't you scrap it ?

That you chose to ignore her instructions and keep it is down to you.

That will be a legal non-starter.

[ummmm]

2 years though....that's a p1ss take.

[nickpfc63]

i didnt scrap it because she kept on stalling for a year about whether or not to fix it. the "when i can afford it" routine. In the end she left it to me to sort out and never gave it another thought till she heard it was fixed!!!. I,m sure theres a time scale involved her.

[jackthehat]

It seems unfair, I agree. BUT for some reason nickpfc63 chose to ignore the instructions given to him.
The owner has spent the last 2 years telling her friends about how the garage scrapped her car for her when it failed the MOT.............

She has now become aware that her car is still very much alive and kicking (how did she find out...........I can hazard a guess) and has asked for it back.

nickpfc63 ought to have approached her before now and made some arrangement over fixing/storing/selling...........

It is NOT his car.............

[dzug]

<You can't retrospectively apply a storage charge>

Don't see why not - it will be in any garages's standard T&C.

[ummmm]

Jack...we had a car that was involved in a accident (won't go into boring details) it was parked on a side street round the corner from our house. Still taxed and insured. The car disappeared. We found out the bloke who's garage was on this street took it into his garage so kids wouldn't vandalise it more. He then charged us storage.

[tamborine]

Usually when cars are scrapped the log book is handed over.....she didn't hand over the log book so she knew it wasn't scrapped.

[jackthehat]

Did you pay up, ummmm ?
I certainly wouldn't have................

[JanineG]

Has anyone contacted the DVLA about who the rightful owner of the vehicle is? If she lost the logbook, presumably its still registered in her name and she would need to contact them.

Jackthehat is right - you shouldn't have interfered with property belonging to another. However, if you do remove the parts that you have fitted (and which you therefore own), be careful to ensure that you replace any parts of the vehicle that you removed (and which will therefore be her property).

How much repair work was carried out?

[ummmm]

Yep...we had to to get the car back. The police said there was nothing they could do. So I presume this garage can also charge storage.

[nickpfc63]

We did contact her on numerous occasions and got fobbed off. The people who were going to buy it know her and asked her if she could find the log book.
Its been in the way for the best psrt of 2yrs. She,s morally in the wrong eitherway. She is not getting her car back without a major fight.
Also you cannot legally remove parts once they are fitted.

[jackthehat]

Doc - I was busy typing my response when the OP provided the second bite of information...................
You make the same point I raised in my post of 10.53 which was based on the original posting.

Tambo - Was the log-book scrapping in force at the time the OP says that he was instructed to scrap the car ?