Abandoned vehicle - Want to buy it, how to find owner?

cormie

Hey folks,
There's an abandoned vehicle (commercial if that makes a difference) I'd be very interested in buying, it's been sitting in an industrial park for months according to who I've spoken to in the units beside it, unfortunately nobody knows who owns it though.

Besides putting a note on the window and maybe not hearing anything for months, or maybe never hearing anything at all, is there any way to find out who owns it?

I'm guessing all them vehicle data checks don't give any owner info and the garda wouldn't due to data protection etc.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate any tips

zilog_jones

You'll probably find it's not even locked, but it's also highly unlikely there's a logbook in there. If it's really abandoned, nobody's coming back from it, and nobody will be bothered doing anything about it - if it's on private property the guards won't care either.

KevRossi

If it's on private property then the Gardai will care. A lot. If the owner complains.

I have 2 'abandoned' vehicles on private property. One is for parts, (though it looks to be in good shape from the outside), the other will be done up next year. If anybody laid a finger on them I'd have them prosecuted.

You need to find out who owns them and approach the owner. If you can't do this then leave it alone.

Akrasia

KevRossi wrote: »

If it's on private property then the Gardai will care. A lot. If the owner complains.

I have 2 'abandoned' vehicles on private property. One is for parts, (though it looks to be in good shape from the outside), the other will be done up next year. If anybody laid a finger on them I'd have them prosecuted.

You need to find out who owns them and approach the owner. If you can't do this then leave it alone.

If those cars are on your own private property that's fine, I think the OP is referring to vehicles abandoned on property owned either by the state or an industrial/housing estate

cormie

This vehicle is definitely in need of some TLC and repair, but it's a 2012 and it's a particular model/horsepower/size I want and is pretty rare to find, so I'm hoping I can contact whoever owns it and they are willing to part with it cheap :pac:

I might try security at the industrial park.

I don't suppose, if it's owned by a company, this means Garda can tell it since it's nobodies "personal" data

Wishbone Ash

It may belong to a company which hit the wall during the recession. I'm sure you can check if there's finance owing on it?

salmocab

If it’s a 2012 it may belong to some company that went out of business so is technically the property of whoever wound the company up or there may be outstanding payments on it. The owner may not even know where it is.

Beaten to it

MrCostington

This *might* be worth a try - go to the local garda station and explain things (maybe take a pic to show them). Bring an letter (open let them see it) and a stamped envelope and ask really nicely would they please consider mailing it to the registered owner - this way they don't have to disclose any info to you.

Or, just ask for their advice...

RobbieMD

KevRossi wrote: »

If it's on private property then the Gardai will care. A lot. If the owner complains.

I have 2 'abandoned' vehicles on private property. One is for parts, (though it looks to be in good shape from the outside), the other will be done up next year. If anybody laid a finger on them I'd have them prosecuted.

You need to find out who owns them and approach the owner. If you can't do this then leave it alone.

I don't think the Gardai would care if it's on private property. They would have little powers on private property. At most they would check to see if it's stolen. If a car is abandoned on private property then it's for the property owner to resolve.

RobbieMD

MrCostington wrote: »

This *might* be worth a try - go to the local garda station and explain things (maybe take a pic to show them). Bring an letter (open let them see it) and a stamped envelope and ask really nicely would they please consider mailing it to the registered owner - this way they don't have to disclose any info to you.

Or, just ask for their advice...

That'd be a data protection interest though surely. Pulse stores information on what Garda checked a car reg and the reason for so checking. The Garda would need a reason to check it and a private sale wouldn't really be enough. I don't know what the OP can do. Tricky situation.

Cuddlesworth

Run a finance check and make sure the VIN matches the reg. Could be stolen, could be from a bankrupt company/owner.

zilog_jones

RobbieMD wrote: »

I don't think the Gardai would care if it's on private property.

This 100% - if it's not on a public road, they don't care. There was an abandoned car outside our office in an industrial estate for over a year - the guards didn't care, the property owners didn't care, so it just stayed there. It eventually moved to someone else's car park in mysterious circumstances (with the addition of being full of rubbish), then disappeared.

You'll never find the owner.

imitation

RobbieMD wrote: »

I don't think the Gardai would care if it's on private property. They would have little powers on private property. At most they would check to see if it's stolen. If a car is abandoned on private property then it's for the property owner to resolve.

This is a load of nonsense, going on to private property and taking something is theft, it's like the basic detention of burglary. If it's reported you took it, it will be theft and cars are pretty darn traceable.

cormie

Rang the industrial park phone number and the lady seemed to know about the van and thinks she might know who owns it so will see what happens


If I ran a finance check on it and it still had outstanding payments, would the finance check show who the lender is and maybe I could get in touch with them and offer to buy direct from them I wonder?

mgbgt1978

A finance check will just tell you that money is owed....not who the lender is. TBH on a 2012 Van I can't see there being anything owed on it. If there was the Finance Co. would have lifted it by now.
I'd say your best bet is to hope the Lady you spoke to can get you more info.
Have you called into any of the premises beside the Van and asked about it ?
If it's an Estate with smaller Companies you should get lucky with one of them.
Personally I wouldn't bother with the Security Guys as they are usually reluctant to give out any info......unless you happened to meet the one Guy who is only too happy to chat with anyone about anything:).

edit; sorry, just saw that you called into the Units beside the Van. I suppose you could try all the Units in the Estate and hope that somebody knows something.

mullingar

I'd ring Shannon to see what the procedure is, I'm sure it's not a query they never had before

mgbgt1978

Unless Cormie has actually purchased the Vehicle and never received the VLC Shannon will not be able to do anything

RobbieMD

imitation wrote: »

This is a load of nonsense, going on to private property and taking something is theft, it's like the basic detention of burglary. If it's reported you took it, it will be theft and cars are pretty darn traceable.

I think you misunderstood me. To be clear I'm not suggesting stealing the car or going into private property and taking something. Of course that's theft, and to be specific when you mention burglary, that would be entering a building or part of a building, not just entering private property.

What part of what I said earlier is nonsense though?

The Gardai have no powers to take a car away on private property, unless they have a section 10 warrant or warrant issued for hit and run.

bodyguard1

Find out from the other business owners who is the management company of the industrial park, the unit must belong to someone or is being let by a commercial estate agent and contact them to find out who owns the commercial unit or if they know anything about who last leased it chances are they own the vehicle

cormie

Thanks again for the replies. Yep I mentioned above I rang the management company so just waiting to see if the lady can find out who the owner is for sure and pass on my details. I'll give her a ring next week and see if she had any luck, otherwise I'll just pop up and knock into as many units as I can