Think i found my old stolen caddy...now what?

so about 3 years ago i had a nice clean 28,000 mile caddy the one in my avatar. i traded it for a 46 plymouth (dumb move i know) well the guyi traded it to said it got stolen a week later and accused me of doing so. no one has seen or heard of the car since it got stolen. and im still a suspect in the investigation.

so back to today, a buddy of mine tells me today that a guy we both know from way back has been talking about this 61 coupe deville he just got done building. he said he had some pics of it on myspace.com. so i went on there and found the kids profile with his pics of said car. now the pics aint the best but from what i can tell its damn near a match to my old car. how many people in the detroit area have 61's let alone ones with 59 cad tail lights like mine had. there a few more things i woould need to see in person to know if it was in fact my old car. i sent the guy a email saying ive been looking to buy one and how much will he take to part with it. at keast so i can get a look at it you know.

so my question is what should i do if it is my old car? the guy never transferd ownership so its still leagaly my car. im guessing i need to be 100% sure its my old car and call the cops. i no longer have any contact info on the guy i traded with but im sure the cops do. any of your guys ever ran across this before. from the start we thought this guy was pulling a insurance scam on his home owners. think there is any way of me being able to get this thing back? this is my fav car ive evr owned and regret trading it every day. i would love to get it back.

Thanks
Bryan

 

Find the asshole and beat him to within an inch of his life.

 

and repeat the following day

 

he eplied to my message on myspace... said to send him a im on aim. but then 2 min later said no the cars not for sale he has to muc money into it and its ful custom and could never be duplicated. i told him i have more then that im willing to spend and i want more pics. i think he might of figured out who i was in those 2 min. i hope not. funny thing is back in the day when i was like 12 the kid stole the chrome valve caps off my bmx bike and im still pissed about that haha

 

That kid may not be the one that stole the car in the first place. If he lets you, go take a look and make sure it was your, if so then notify the cops with the info.

If not hey it's for sale.

 

If you have ANY documentation [traffic ticket -registration copy parking permit or anything with your name and the serial number of it you are good to go]
You will have to have it inspected to se if they changed the numbers etc or forged your name on the legal title etc -but I'd say you have a good chance of reclaiming it.....
A guy in St Louis a few years ago was restoring a 59 Corvette and had to have it number inspected at the Mo state highway patrol.
After the examination-He was given a reciept for it and told to have a nice day-THEN they returned the restored Corvette to its first owner from whom it was stolen some 30 years ago!!
side note- that first guy was also paid for it by his insurance co[ back in the day] too!

 

Hell he's on the net... might even be a lurker... n be reading this....

 

i should have a old registration or something from it. i know the kid will know who i am if i go see it though. but he might not know it was my old car. but he was good friends with the guy i traded with's son. so im willing to bet he has alot to do with thi whole deal if it i my old car.

 

Possession is nine points of the law. Just because you hold the title doesn't make you the "legal" owner. If the guy you traded the car to filed a stolen vehicle report then the car is stolen...period. If I were in your position I would notify the police...or better yet, have your buddy who found the car notify the police. If you are in any way impicated it would be best to distance yourself from any further involvement with the identification/recovery of this vehicle.
As for those who would advocate the use of force...remember, you don't know who is guilty of theft. The guy who has it may have paid someone good money for the car and be completely innocent of any theft.
Personally I wouldn't put a dime into a car until I had the paperwork resolved so if that is your car, either the kid isn't savvy enough the get the paperwork cleared or he's the one who took it...either way he's not too sharp.

 

My thoughts exactly.....delete this post. Talk to the cops...

 

If you sold the car you have no legal right to it even if it's still un transfered from your name. The guy that made the report had to show the police some kind of papers to file the report. Do the stand up thing. What ever it takes find the person you sold it to and hand him the information you have. Let the law take it's course. You might tell the Legal owner you'd like to buy it back if he wants to sell. Don't try to be a Dective unless you are. If you scare this guy the car could just dissapear again.
The Wizzard

 

Find what ever documentation you have on the car that shows you as the owner and call the police right now!!! Also try and get the police report number from the police. This happend to a friend of mine and the car was gone 3 days later after he confronted the guy himself. Worst case scenario is that its not your car. get the police involved ASAP therefore you are not put in any possible danger (both physical and legal) by investigating it on your own.

 

It sounds like maybe he graduated to 'big boy' thieving. Has he, by any chance, done a whack as a guest of the state since then?

If there is a case and a case number with The Man, I would let them know. Especially if they think you might have done it. Cops are weird little critters and even if this is not your car, it might show them that you have your eyes open and probably aren't the person they are looking for.

If he never transferred the title it sounds like you might be the one to get the recovery (I'm sure it will be contested though) unless someone filed it on their insurance and got paid, in which case the insurance company in question will be sure to be in on the recovery.

 

>>

 

I think if I was attached to this car as you are and was pretty sure I had a gut feeling this was my car I would go on that ...I would go talk to or call a dective and tell him what you, suspect and they can move on it pretty fast ...I think that is the best chance you have of getting the car...There is a good chance the guy you sold it to has been paid off by the insurance so, that makes them the legal owners. I would be onto them, to see if you could buy the car back.... tell them you have some personal attachment to the car..their human... it might just help, and if, by some chance they offer it back to the insured first it's more than likely that the guy you sold it too ain't attached to it like you were... he has probably moved on and will not want to pay the insurance com back to get a car he has no connection to....but if you wait and by some freakin chance he is a lurker or has a partner or a friend that knows anything about this it could dissapear, get burn't, parted out, or stashed till it can be sold off in parts...I can tell you your gut feeling is usualy right.....fatchuk

 

If the title is still in your name, (I believe) it's technically still yours...as far as the state of Michigan is concerned. I don't know LEGALLY how the mess would unravel if it's been reported stolen. If you get the chance to go see it, ask for the title. If he produces it, and the last signature on it is yours, it hasn't been transferred. At that point I would get the authorities involved, maybe you could get it back, because of mis-representation on the part of the buyer.

I'm not sure if this is the best way to go, if you signed off on the title, maybe that makes the second buyer the true owner and the only one who could claim it was stolen. You may not have any legal recourse. Get in touch with an attorney or the police. Maybe call the cops and explain to them what happened and ask their advice FIRST.

I do know the state goes after the original owner:
I sold a 1980 Caddy once, I hopped the title. In other words, I bought it from one guy, who signed off on the title...then gave that title to the guy that bought it from me. When he left it broken down on the side of the x-pressway, they came after the guy I bought it from for tow charges...not cool. By then a year had passed, and when they sent him the bill he was like, what the hell, I sold that car! I don't know what ever happened with it, but neither party involved ever contacted me about it. I assume it went to an auction. My friend never bothered to get the car re-titled in his name, so they went after the last owner. That tells me the state doesn't care who owns the car, except for the last one it was titled to, which I guess in your case would be YOU.

 

yea I second that emotion.
I wouldn't see about buyin' it. Just cruise over and scope it out. Then take it home with ya.

 

my buddy had a old pickup he sold and the guy still owed him about a grand, so my friend kept the title untill he paid. So like a year later my friends really pissed about getting screwed around and goes to the cops gets an officer to come with him to the guys house tells the story and then drives it home. It was so easy, mainly cause the cops were with us. If you have proof of the car belonging to you go ask the local cops if they have a few mins and go check it out. just my .02 cents

 

Get someone else to talk to the guy and go look at it. Give your friend things to look for that will identify it as yours. Non factory welds, body repair, non factory parts, etc.

 

We sold a Harley to a guy who got murdered. He still owed us $1000 and we were still holding the title. We went and got the Harley from his buddy as soon as we heard he got killed.

Who did it belong to??

The dead guy had partially paid but we had the Harley and the title. The cops were (typically) nasty to us but did not say ANYTHING about who owned it. I still dont know the proper answer to the question of who owned it. We were not out to cheat anyone but we wanted the money due us or the Harley back.

 

well my plow top him that i have over 15g to buy it didnt work. he said he wont sell no matter what. said he went thru to much work and had to go to wisconsin to buy it. said he has had it for a little over 2 years. about the same time mine went missing mmmmm. heres a pic i took from his sight and one of my old car. i know its hard to tell from these but u can kinda see the 59 tail lights hanging off the ass end there. i just know its my old car. im calling the cops tommrow and im going to see what i can find out from them. i doubt i will be able to get it back but least it will clear me if it is my old car.

 

That happened to my dad. He sold a beater 72 ford truck to my cousin. My cousin in turn sold or traded it to one of his friends. About 6 months after it was sold, dad gets a letter in the mail from the Delaware state police saying he owes $400 impound fee on the truck. It had evidently broke down in delaware, and they abandoned it. Dad called the del. cops, they told him tough shit, his name is on the title. After a bit of arm twisting, he got my idiot cousin to pay the bill. Moral of the story: To the state, the name on the title is who owns it. That's what they use as a basis of taxation, so it should stand up in court.

If it was me, i'd call a detective, explain to him the entire story, and let them go for him. It clears your name, and you'll probably get the car back.

 

From what i can tell tail lights are the same, rims are the same, tires look like they are probly same but probly same style was put on as a replacement but there are no door handles so if you ask me i say that is your car from the pictures just repainted, im pretty sure he painted the bumper red to make it look different cause if he left it chrome it will look the same as in your pictures cause then all he would have done was paint over the flames you have. I say since the title is in your name and technically its yours, go report it and see what happens. If he forged your name it iwll make it look even worse even if he bought the car.

 

It sounds like your initial contact was via e-mail. Do not delete that message. The cops should be able to trace back to his ISP and get an address and pay visit to him. Call the cops immediately before he gets suspicious and moves the car.

 

did you actually sign the title over to the buyer and he never transfered it? or did you never sign it over at all? if you never signed the title over to him it's your car. if you signed it and he never transfered it it depends on your state. in some states it's yours until he retitles it in his name. in some it's his as soon as you both sign the title transfer on the back. in NC you have to have both sigs notified signed at the same time. at that point it's yours wait as long as you want to title it you are the legal owner. don't sign or don't have it notified then it's still your car. get the cops involved like yesterday. your already giving him time to stash the car all over again. seems as theres a good chance it's your car and he actually did a poor job of hiding that fact in my opinion...ken....

 

Any chance you still have a key layin around from the car? I know I still have some keys from cars I drove in HS, lost them and found them again later. If thats the case I think you can see where I'm goin with this!

Scott

 

Hell yeah, call the cops. I do not see anything bad coming from it. Best case sccenario you get your car back. Worse case scenario you get a chance to buy it back. If he stole it or knows the guy who stole it then you will get another bastard car thief brough to justice. Let us know what comes of this. I am very interested in seeing how this plays out.

 

If anyone collected insurance $$ on it the insurance company will go after the thief harder than the cops. Of course the insurance company will own it...

 

check the vin, have the vin run by the local pd, see who it comes back to. Is the car in stolen status? I doubt it if the car is still in your name and you didn't make the report. One other thing, if you traded the car in good faith to the guy, why do you want the car back? Technically (not legally though) it's his car.

 

please keep us updated what happens here, really courious, not to mention hate fuckers that steal...