Tale of Woe - Word of Warning

Hi,

(...)

Strange it happens. Here, in France, cars which have slightly not run for a while invoke a procedure : cops try to find the owner (through plate number), then control again the car still hasn't moved, then calls a scrapyard who comes with a truck and the owner. Then, the owner has to make the choice : 1/ He pays the bill for wreck aborting (something like £1k), 2/ he pays for the car breaker's journey (+/-£100). They often take the 2nd choice, and the breaker goes away with the car.

I would have thought it was the same in UK.

Regards, G.T snipped-for-privacy@worldonline.fr

205 Diesel & turbo-Diesel :

What County do you live in?

Really sorry to hear about that - it makes me mad just thinking about it. I have an old 305 GR in the front garden which is past it's best but doesn't look too bad from the outside. A couple of weeks back, a guy knocked on the front door and stated 'I'm in the area picking up cars and I just wondered I could take that old Peugeot'. Frankly it just seemed really odd that a guy would come up out of the blue and just think we'd want to get rid of it. But to actually steal your car like that is disgusting. If it was my car, I'd check every single breaker's in the area and keep on searching. Don't give up - your car is most likely a wreck but you might be able to find the people responsible. Of course, if you do find it, it probably wouldn't be a wise idea to confront the perpertrators unless you have a decent-sized gang of hoodlums at your disposal - but you can pass this information onto the police. Whether they'd be able to act on it is another matter.

Chris.

Northamptonshire

My thoughts entirely, but I am honestly afraid to know. I don't know whether I would be able to control my temper. I'd end up introuble with the law or retaliation. Best I write it off in my mind.

Sounds like you may have been a 'victim'of this:

Not at all, I did check and they compound the cars, without damage, or, as in the case of mine, they would be sued for the damage. This tw*t put a chain round the roof. Mine wasn't on their list anyway, and as the registered owner, and local, would have been contacted first.

when you say "off the road" was it on your property, or just off the road but still on council land etc ??? i think this is outragous either way, but i don't see how they have the power to take it from your property SORN or not, have you sent the log book off declaring the car scrapped.... personally if someone did that to my car i would smash the windows in the truck that was towing it away....but i can get angry like that sometimes.. mind you, the level of scrap motors littering the streets can be an ugly sight sometimes, something needs to be done, maybe not in this manner though.

It was taken by thieving scum, nothing to do with the authorities, they had no power, they stole it.

I agree with you over abandoned or vandalised vehicles, but this was in good shiny undamaged condition.

Just thought I'd let you know of another instance of this - I read "Practical Classics" magazine and one of the writters on there was restoring an old "stacked headlight" Merc 280 - he had a donor car that he used for spares parked (off road) and the exact same thing happened to that - guys in a flatbed turned up, loaded it up and drove off.

I'm reasonably sure he's from the same part of the country as you too...

I wouldn't "write it off in my mind" - regardless of the cost to you, it is blatant theft and I would stop at nothing to find out who'd done it - The idea of going around all the breakers yards local to you is a good one - they've obviously taken it for parts.

I'm angry just reading about it - christ knows how you're feeling...

Matt

Angry enough to not want to be sure who did it mate.

If I had a focus for my anger, at a low point I may just be tempted to act on it, and where might that end.

I know it's still theft, and would still annoy the arse off you, but, I could understand someone mistaking a donor car, for an abandoned one, a wheel off, or the interior full of other spare bits, but look at my car

Excuse the half-finished crapwebsite, I'm a total numpty at this keyboard. Thanks for the sentiment anyway, it's appreciated.

Fair enough - It's one of those situations where the police are doing "chocolate fireguard" impressions...

I would agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that the car was in a yard in an industrial estate well away from the road - they people who took it would have had to come looking...

Will take a look at lunch (got a web proxy at work so have to use it out of working time!)

No probs...

Matt

Have you thought about going to the press, national or even local? What may happen is that a bunch of people say me-too (AOL style) and the police are forced to do something about it.

F.