Damaged the car, theres one the exact same dumped nearby....

Lamps

I destroyed the door on my car today when pulling into my mates house (he has a little wall that sticks out of the tiny driveway, which I caught and put a big dent as well as a huge deep scratch into my door and im fuming :mad:

Now It would probably cost a fortune to repair and im broke and the car is 11 years old so is probably not worth getting the door fixed, but...

theres a car the exact same as mine and exact colour dumped in a carpark near me. Its been sitting there about a month now. The tax and NCT have expired and the roof is badly damaged (its as if someone has danced all over it) so i definetly know its not being used.

Its probably going to end up getting towed away and crushed or whatever, so how do i go about finding a way of getting the door legitametly ie not just pulling up and taking the door off. I have been thinking of contacting the garda but as the plates are still on the car they wont want to know.

Any hints here or ideas?

Or anyone know how much it is roughly to have a big deep set of scratches repaired?

Thnaks for any help!

Bradidup

If the plates are still on the car you should still be able to trace the owner unless they left the country which happens. Cops in general dont like giving out the details on registration however If you knew one personally or someone in the County Council or a parking warden they could possibly enquire.

You would want to act quick as you could find it burnt out if it looked abandoned or it could be collected by the council and scrapped. It is a offense to leave a car abandoned in a public place.

Lamps

Its not parked in a public place, its actually a private car park afaik with a garage, mechanics, shops etc but opposite it is a large apartment complex which people usually park there cars at.

I know i need to act quick before its taken away but don't know anyone in the Garda/council etc to find out who owns it

I'd actually give the owner a few quid for it and ensure its scrapped properly if i could contact him.

What if i took the plates off and then went up a day later and took the door off, if any garda approached me i'd just say its dumped and im salvaging a couple of parts?

Tipsy Mac

It's kind of theft , like stealing the fireplace from an unoccopied house that the doors have been knocked in.

gary the great

But if the car is obviously abandoned is it still theft?

A good door will be just going to waste

Big Nelly

How do you know its dumped? owner could be on a long vacation

NeMiSiS

Replace their door with your door.. if the roofs allready smashed in then.. they might think it was some boyo, knocked in the door..
I don't condone this kind of illigal behaviour whatsoever.
TK

gary the great

Yep that sounds like the best idea in this situation. If the roof is fecked its hardly going to be used anyway and afew scratches on the door wont make a difference.

Why dont you just go down to a scrappy and get a door? How much does a door ina scrappy usually cost?

Big Nelly

gary the great wrote:

Yep that sounds like the best idea in this situation. If the roof is fecked its hardly going to be used anyway and afew scratches on the door wont make a difference.

Why dont you just go down to a scrappy and get a door? How much does a door ina scrappy usually cost?

Feck all

Lamps

Thanks for the suggestions lads. I cant get a door in the scrappy as it’s a rare enough car in a rare enough colour so I doubt I’ll find one.

The thing is im not exactly that handy and taking a door of a car is likely to take me ages, even longer if im nervous and afraid of being caught! Would way rather get the name of the owner and sort something out with him, but doesn’t look like I can do that.

Anan1

Lamps wrote:

Would way rather get the name of the owner and sort something out with him, but doesn’t look like I can do that.

I wouldn't give up on the idea that easily. Have you tried asking the Guards?They're often pretty helpful about stuff like that. If they won't give you the name of the owner at one station then try another.

Bradidup

Lamps wrote:

Its not parked in a public place, its actually a private car park afaik with a garage, mechanics, shops etc but opposite it is a large apartment complex which people usually park there cars at.

In that case I would get on to the landlord, Im sure it would be in his interest to see it moved and im sure he knows who owns it. It could have also been baught as a parts car by one of the tenants, probably why theres still out of date screeds in the window, do you spot a similar car in the area? Some of these private complexes hire towing company if theres is unauthorised cars parked.

gary the great

Maybe if a sound anonymus Garda was reading this they could PM him and help him out? Probably not though.

We know the Garda can get a name but how will they get a phone number for the owner of the car?

Personally i'd have the plates off and tow the car home, do what you have to do and bring it back/ring the council to collect it. Then everyones a winner.

Anan1

gary the great wrote:

Maybe if a sound anonymus Garda was reading this they could PM him and help him out? Probably not though.

We know the Garda can get a name but how will they get a phone number for the owner of the car?

They can get a name and address, which should be enough.

gary the great wrote:

Personally i'd have the plates off and tow the car home, do what you have to do and bring it back/ring the council to collect it. Then everyones a winner.

I'm not sure i'd do that, that is theft.

Lamps

Bump!

The car is still there, cant get any contact details and the Garda I contacted didnt want to know as he said the car is parked on private grounds at the moment. If it was on public grounds he might of been able to help.

Its a head wrecker this is!

FX Meister

So call a different Garda and tell them the car is on public grounds.

Anan1

FX Meister wrote:

So call a different Garda and tell them the car is on public grounds.

Good idea. I'd probably be prepared to go through a couple of them before getting lucky.

Jo King

Put a note on the car, giving your contact details, stating that you are willing to pay for parts from the car. Whenever someone gets around to doing something about it they will probably contact you.

Supercell

Tbh if the Garda don't want to know about it and its clearly abandoned just swap the doors like someone already suggested assuming its unlocked or you pick the lock somehow, on older cars this is probably trivial to do.
Its going to be dumped/set on fire almost certainly at some point, I wouldn't feel guilty at all about doing this, its a green thing anyhow to recycle, imho that keeps my conscience clear.

Lamps

That garda dont want to know about it, they've just told me not to let them see me doing it!

One Garda tried to trace the owner but its registered to a foregin national in an industrial unit. He just said then thats its abandoned " you'll be doing well to find the owner of that" take the plates off and ring the council!

So im going to take the plates off and tow it somewhere and take the door off! Then ring to get the council to take it away

skibum

If it is a MK3 golf give me a shout, could do with a few parts myself