Hello, Im at my wits end early this year I took my car overs to a friend of a friends house to get baged, and now havent heard from him in a few months. no one knows what happend to him, the few times I have talked to him he kept saying "IT WILL BE READY IN A FEW WEEKS" well that WAS a few weeks ago! dose anyone know what I can do with in the law? ANY INFO WOULD HELP! thank you hope all is well-bigbadwolf-
He could be dead, hospitalized (car fell on him), or in jail. Do you have a written estimate? First off, drive over there with your friend and knock on the door. It's his friend, so it should help. Then call for a city cop to take a report, as they can check the guy out, and see if there is any record of the guy or car. They may blow you off, in which case you might try the county police. If it is in the police impound lot, it could be very expensive to get out. I'd hire a lawyer, and they will be able to find him, and start the ball rolling. Usually these hand-shake deals have all sorts of legal hurdles, but the fact is you have the ***le (hopefully) and he doesn't.
Kinda what I was thinking. But I've been telling myself "just a few weeks" for years now. Who should I call?
Check your local laws about stolen cars, and see how your county district attorney prosecutes stolen cars. Here, if you loan out your car, or take it to a shop, and it's not returned, it's considered a civil matter since you gave the person permission to use it. Most of the time the police won't even take a report in a case like this, since the D.A. won't do anything about it anyway, and refer you to a private attorney. I'd start hitting the pavement looking for your car, be sure to bring your proof of ownership with you in case you need to prove it yours to the police. This is why I never loan out my vehicles, or take them to a less than reputable shop......it's also why I do most of the work myself. Good luck.
I knew you were in trouble the minute you said "a friend of a friend" If you cant do it yourself, buck up and take it to a regular shop with a sign over the door and a business tax number. We all learn this the hard way. Welcome to the club.
dont wanna be a **** about it, but...this has nothing to do with a car, really. you gave someone your property (whether it be furniture, a tv, a computer, etc.) and he kept it. you did, however, offer to pay for some service i.e. "repair" or in this case, "customization". that said, i can understand you wanting to perhaps see if anyone else has experienced this with their own car. i gather you're not in the states so i really have no idea how they do things in switzerland. do people get *** whoopins over there for stealin' stuff?
Same type of **** happened to me and my 57. Took a lower estimate on body and paint $4,000.00 compared to $6,000.00. I paid the guy $2,000.00 up front and I was to pay for materials. Once the car was totally dismantled and stripped of paint the S.O.B said he wouldn,t finish it unless I coughed up another 2 grand on top! The guy wouldn,t let me have my car back even though I was paid up for the work so far....I called the cops who advised me that it was out of their hands but to tell the guy I had reported it. He changed his tune and I took the car after he deliberately pushed it outside one night in the rain.Took me another 2 months to get my trim.If the cops there are like the ones here you are on your own......
Me too! I'm really startin to piss me off! As for the car, can you see in his shop/garage. If it's there just call the cops and tell them he's got your car.
I had something similar happen to me. I sold a guy my car but he couldn't afford the whole thing. He gave me a $2k down and signed a contract with me to pay the rest ($6k) off in weekly installments. BAD MOVE! After 8 weeks he stopped paying me, stopped taking my phone calls, and generally couldn't be found. Police said it was a civil matter since I sold the car to him, and I had a contract. I thought I was screwed, but after 6 weeks without a payment and no contact from him... I hired a repo company, for $400 dollars. $200 down, and another $200 if they found it. 5 days later it was back in my possession. I promptly sold it again. Thus I'm the first and third owner of that car. Those repo guys were mean, they did everything within the limit of the law to get my car back. They know what they can do and what they can't legally. They called the guys entire family asking if they'd knew were it was. They called his boss. They called his girlfriend and her mother. They'd hang out in the tow truck at his dads house idling on the street at weird hours. They'd be at his work in the truck when he got to work, and return just as he got off and follow him to his apartment. They talked to his neighbor's, his dads neighbors, his girlfriend's neighbors. They never threated violence. They just let everyone know that he had a car in his possession that was no longer his. His dad finally had enough and told his son that if he couldn't handle his financial obligations, he needed to pay the consequences. His dad then rolled up his garage and Repo-Man flatbedded my car back to their lot. How do I know this? He called me 6 months later to apologize, and told me the whole story. Your situation falls into a civil matter I believe (I'm not a lawyer). Bagger dude is not hold up his in of the deal. Trot down to Repo-Man's yard. Show them the ***le, and give them some pictures of the car and all the info on him, his family, and his business you can find, and let Repo-Man get your car back.
Another bad story. There was a guy north of Dallas area that had a "restoration" shop. His thing was to get you to let him restore your Oldsmobile. He would put in his lot and keep telling you he was going to start on it in just a short while. Meanwhile, you would get fed up with his short whiles and go after your car. He would tell you how much the storage fees were and they were usually more than the car was worth. He would then file a mechanics lean and take your car. All legal. One time was enough for some and just so happened he ended up with a stolen car on his property. He's now doing time.
If you cant do it yourself, buck up and take it to a regular shop with a sign over the door and a business tax number. that's funny... a sign and a business license mean nothing. anyone with a mig welder and first and last months rent on a place to work can start a hot rod business.
not in out arear they cant. It requires a business license, insurance and all other sorts of ****. ABout $5K later you will be good to go for your first year.... I feel for this guy- Many of my customers cars came from 'shop' (and I use THAT term loosely) that had the cars for a year or several months and nothing got done with it or they were started and never finished. After one month if a car doent get started (or itsnt being worked on according to the agreed schedule) I would raise a red flag. Some of my customers cars dont get started right away, but they want me to hold off or get parts first or whatever but you GOTTA stay in contact on a regular basis.
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