Photo: bought a garage – found a car (Getty Images) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
In fact, this story is not at all rare: an old garage is sold to a new owner along with all its contents. Which may turn out to be an old and seemingly unusual car. What to do with such trust?
Read about what to do with a car that you accidentally got along with the purchased property in the RBC-Ukraine article.
We know of more than one such case, when a garage was sold to a person on the condition that he would take upon himself the trouble of disposing of everything that was left in it. Or – utility workers demolish old garages for construction and suddenly find a forgotten car in one of them – whole, complete, and even some forgotten model.
But as life shows, most often a car abandoned in a garage is abandoned for a reason – it is a real wreck, because the units and assemblies are worn out to the maximum, and the body has rotted so much during the downtime that it seems it will not withstand loading onto a tow truck. However, let's assume that we are dealing with some rare example of the Soviet era, a trophy from the Second World War or, say, an iconic right-hand drive Japanese car with rear-wheel drive – what to do with such real estate?
Problem: Found a car
The problem is not that critical, but: there is a thing that is supposedly valuable to someone, supposedly abandoned and supposedly not needed by anyone – however, it is also not so easy to take it from the ruins or take it to the dump! After all, it is someone's property and is registered to someone. What actions can be taken in such a case?
If you are interested in the car
Let's say for some reason you want to pick up a car from an abandoned or purchased garage. Then your first step should be to figure out what you can do with it. Figure out whether the car model has any value – and if so, you can:
Restore it . A multi-year process that will take you a lot of time and about ten to twenty thousand dollars will eventually bring you the joy of owning a historical car, but… Almost never will the retro car you receive, even restored in a reputable workshop to 100% authenticity, be worth the money you spend on it on the market. Exceptions happen, but for this you must find a rare model in the garage that was not common even in the years of its release;
Keep it as a weekend car . It is a very good idea to have an old car “for the soul”, but it cannot be abandoned and rusty. An adult toy should give the owner aesthetic pleasure and enjoyment from Sunday outings, and in return you will have technical problems and holes in the body. That is, again, considerable funds for repairs and further maintenance of the car in service. And keep in mind that ordinary service stations do not take on such cars;
For parts. If you come across a model that is really popular among retro fans, it may make sense to sell it off in units and small parts. Particularly valuable are trim parts and fittings – chrome bumpers, radiator grille, moldings, door handles, lighting equipment. But all these parts must be in perfect or close to perfect condition;
Resell. Some restorers may be interested in an old car, but it all depends on its condition. In fact, there are very few professional workshops in Ukraine that know how to make money on the nostalgia of their fellow citizens, and such professionals have a wide choice of materials for their new projects. They need a more or less rare model, in its original form, in the best possible condition – and preferably with documents. If your find meets at least several of these conditions, you can try, but often the price is not much different from the price of scrap metal;
What will the lawyer say?
Keep in mind that even if the owner of the car from the abandoned garage is no longer with us, there may be a contender for the right to own the “rarity” (for some reason, many citizens consider all abandoned cars over 30-40 years old to be rarities). These could be relatives, neighbors in the entrance, in the garage cooperative, etc. If you have an idea to compete with them for the right to own the find, make sure that it is worth it (see the previous chapter).
When the owner is unknown, you can search for him through the nearest Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, writing a corresponding request (the service is paid, but the tariff is symbolic). And having already met with the owner, try to negotiate with him about selling or otherwise re-registering the car.
It also happens that the owner cannot be found. In such cases, there is a procedure for recognizing the car as ownerless and then granting it the status of a find. Then the find will be taken for storage by the police, and after 6 months, if the legal owner is not found, the car can be officially sold – including to you.
Short
We ask our readers to forgive us if our reasoning has destroyed the faith in romantic stories about unique cars found in certain abandoned locations. Auto journalists from rbc.ua testify: such cases also happen, including in Ukraine. But the lucky ones are usually not random citizens, but interested people, historians, collectors and restorers who are purposefully looking for an object for restoration. In order, among other things, to enter the rescued car into a certain virtual register of the country's cultural heritage upon completion of the work.
In preparing this article, materials from Autocentre and Autobild Ukraine were used .
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported on the types of all-wheel drive available on pickups and SUVs.