Help needed (all who do not suffer fools gladly please avoid this thread)

i_see_a_darknes

I have got myself into a little "situation" (unfortunately my teenage daughter watches "Jersey Shore" and everything is a "situation" - i know, i'm a bad parent)

I was on my way to Dublin about three years ago, catching a flight to Birmingham for an important meeting. I had just started my own business after years of being a PAYE worker and the recession was biting so cash wasn't plentiful (no change there then).

On my way to Dublin (flight was @ 6.30am) my car developed problems and I had to leave it parked outside a garage. I struck up a conversation with the local taxi driver and he said that he knew the garage owner and gave me his mobile number so I called and arranged for the car to be cared for.

Got to Birmingham and had problems getting back to Ireland as I missed my flight so ended taking a flight to Cork Airport instead.

I rang the garage as soon as I got back and agreed a price with him for repairs and gave him my contact details etc.

To cut a long story short my meeting in Birmingham, though encouraging at the time, came to nothing and I ceased to trade. At that point I signed on and due to the fact that I had had my own business (though barely traded) they would not deal with my application for many weeks.

Due to the stress of the business failing and subsequent financial difficulties I began to attend my local GP for depression. The upshot of which was that I never collected the car from the garage.

18 months passed and I had started a part time job and was getting on my feet again so I called the garage and told them the story and said that I would be with them in the next few months to collect the car and pay the account. They told me that they had repaired the car but, due to the fact that they had heard nothing from me, had taken the part out of the car again.

Three months later I travelled to the garage and asked to see the owner. I had great difficulty in tracking him down and when I did he advised me that the car was gone. He said that it had been parked outside the garage and some local youths had damaged it beyond economical repair so he had it towed away.

I'm still not fully after catching up with my mortgage and other things that had been left to one side while I was attending my GP but am getting there. I can't really afford to instruct a solicitor in this matter and, to be honest, have an inherent distrust of all matters legal (in relation to solicitors etc).

Was wondering if anyone reading this would be able to point me in the right direction as to where to go with this or what direction to take..

Thanks for reading. I know it probably doesnt make much sense to some as to how I could have let this matter get to this but my depression has been very debilitating, even what seems to be the smallest of tasks turn into great issues...

Bandara

Forget it, just write it off and move on.

You can easily be billed for a storage fee for the car if the owner so wishes. You can't really expect him to hold onto the vehicle for years without hearing anything from you.

And to be blunt your depression didn't kick in the day after you got off a plane, you could have easily got it sorted.

Anyway, I'm assuming you don't need stress and arguments in your life at this time so as I said, just move on and chalk it down to your past.

Best of luck with things

HT.

i_see_a_darknes

Hammertime wrote: »

Forget it, just write it off and move on.

You can easily be billed for a storage fee for the car if the owner so wishes. You can't really expect him to hold onto the vehicle for years without hearing anything from you.

And to be blunt your depression didn't kick in the day after you got off a plane, you could have easily got it sorted.

Anyway, I'm assuming you don't need stress and arguments in your life at this time so as I said, just move on and chalk it down to your past.

Best of luck with things

HT.

Thank you HT for your kind words of encouragement. The depression kicked in way before, when I left my previous job but was untreated. On the 2nd point there was contact from my side but none from his. Agreed, I did let it go too long but car was still my property, surely he should have made some effort to contact me in light of what happened? If there was a charge for storage he could have sent me an invoice long before now. If the car was of issue to him he could have called me or contacted me in writing. I know i've been foolish in this matter. Thats not in question.

Wile E. Coyote

I'd have to agree with Hammer, write it off and move on.

You can't expect the garage owner to be responsible for a car you abandonded 3 years ago. If you did try take him to court over it there's nothing stopping him from sueing you for the work he carried out and subsequently had to undo and also for 3 years of storage fees.

langdang

Check to see if it's still in your name or has it been destroyed. The fact that you haven't had a parking fine or a threatening letter from a toll operator suggests that it isn't still roaming the roads under your name (or that you no longer live at the address to which it was registered)

I'd forget about it and move on too, you've enough to be dealing with. Sounds like it wasn't worth a whole pile. (No offence, I've had 4 cars that went to the crusher as they were worth so little and were not economical to repair...)

Sorry to hear about your troubles, good to hear you are on the road to recovery. Do you mind me asking what kind of car was it, the value of it would be a large contributor to my views on the situation.

Mr.Boots

Did you keep it insured for the time it was at the garage?
If you did you have a claim...if you didnt then i think move on.
Not worth the hassle and you have no chance in getting a cent back.

Slushfund

Sorry for your troubles mate.

Type the car reg in here :

https://www.motortax.ie/PSE/start.do?page=welcome

If it comes up "Vehicle Registration Number not found"

Chances are it's been scrapped all right.

If the car was only worth 1 or 2 grand, or less, I'd leave it, he could have charged you a lot more for storage.

Fresh start, fresh car mate.

Best of luck.

Sweatynutsack

Would probably cost you more to persue the matter through solicitor and courts, and as stated above do you really need the extra stress in your life? I would just make sure the car is out of your name incase you incurr any fines etc

tossy

I would send the VLC to Shannon saying you have scrapped the car to avoid any difficulties in the future with tolls,speeding fines or criminal involvement of any kind OP.

Sorry to hear about your troubles hope everything works out ok for you.

pajo1981

Unless the car was worth a lot of money I'd let it go.

Look forwards not backwards

monument

I agree that dropping it could be best for stress and the OP should have contacted the garrage quicker, but...

Did some of you even read the OP?

How could he be charged for storage if the garage left the car back outside of its grounds?

Moreover how can he be charged for storage when the car was then damaged and the garage owner got it scrapped?

And how could he be charged for work which was undone? Undoing work in any trade is a way of getting something back when a consumer does not pay etc, but you can't then try to bill them again.

The story also brings a few other questions:

If the car was damaged (regardless of where the garage left it), did they report the damage to the Gardai? If so there should be a record of such.

Did the garage make any attempt to contact the owner? If not, why not?

Is there any record of the car being scrapped?

If it was scrapped, did the garage owner have any legal right to scrap or get the car scrapped without first obtaining legal ownership or a right to scrap it?

Regardless of what happens all the time, in a completely different kind of case a garda told my OH that only the owner can scrap their car (outside of the likes of local authorities and even then only after attempts to contact the owner are made).

It may be worth the OP's time to have an informal chat to the gardai outlining what happened, and they can advise further. At worst, they may give the same advise as others here.

tossy wrote: »

I would send the VLC to Shannon saying you have scrapped the car to avoid any difficulties in the future with tolls,speeding fines or criminal involvement of any kind OP.

OP -- run a million miles away from that advice!

You can't claim to the authorities that you have scrapped car which may or may not have been scrapped. What happens if the car was not scrapped and he starts lying that he scrapped it?

JJJJNR

OP fair play for dealing with your illness, as mentioned this is in your past and your lucky you haven't been getting PP notices, speeding tickets, parking fines, and storage costs etc invoiced to you.

That car was part of a dark period of your life, you've turned the corner now don't drag the past up, keep moving forward, you should look at it from a positive rather than a negitive, talk to your councilor about how to handle the situation if you feel you are getting anxious about it.

Also once you've got a couple of grand in the pocket check out the bangernomics thread on this forum, some real bargains out there at the min.

Best of luck and chin up.

greenermetals

tossy wrote: »

I would send the VLC to Shannon saying you have scrapped the car to avoid any difficulties in the future with tolls,speeding fines or criminal involvement of any kind OP.

You cant do this anymore, we have had a few people try this and Shannon have sent them a letter asking for the Cert of Destruction (which we cant give them as the car didnt come here) They then had to get a sworn affadavit from themselves and the scrap yard it was taken into, and they ended up in a whole mess for months.

When you get your car lifted by the Guards, they charge E30 a day storage, 3 years storage at this rate will stand you E32000. The garage owner obviously wouldnt have charged you this but you catch my drift.

My advice to you is to take the VLC to the garage owner, and if he is amenable, sign the car over to him, then it doesnt matter what happened to it, its not your responsibility (from that point on)

Chalk it down to experience, and good luck getting on with the rest of your life

Reloc8

You say you can't afford to engage a solicitor.

You will get no where here without one.