For people to get to own abandoned vehicles.

Checking into it today ( after someone offered me an abandoned truck for free) I found out that unless the last registered owner gives you the title to the vehicle you have so many hoops to jump to get thru to get ownership of one that it isn't worth it.

Say a Tow Truck operator gets a call to remove a truck for private property.
After receiving persmission from the RCMP/Police...they store the truck for 45 days ...meanwhile all sorts of application papers are filled out ..ad's are posted...

After a certain date the truck is available one may have to pay close to $4000.00 to buy a accident damaged truck for parts.

You see the tow truck driver wants all his charges
Time and labour charges to access vehicle
Hook up fee
Dolly fee
Mileage fees
Storage fees
Application fees

A company here had just disposed off 3 70's pickups last month and they got paid by the Alberta Government through the special program in place to get rid of junk cars & trucks.

Apparently the cost will then be passed on to the last registered owner.


The other problem is ...with dealing with the auto wrecking yards.

They can't or won't sell a whole truck or car..even moreso if the vehicle has a salvage certificate.

Because of the possible people with Actual Ownership of that vehicle coming back on them.

 

thats pretty sad!!! corruption...sheer corruption!!

 

wrecking yards can sell whole vehicles as long as the vehicle is brought to them for disposal and not in on a salvage sale.

Pick Your Part here is Edmonton has used vehicles for sale all the time. i know about a year ago the government forced them to stop selling them, but they worked out the rules regarding selling these vehicles. as long as the vehicles were not writtenoff by the insurance company, they could sell the vehicles out right.

you cannot register a written off vehicle in Alberta so that is why most salvage yards don't sell them. they don't want the legal hassle if some unscroupolis person buys a written off vehicle, does shoddy repair work then changes vin numbers and sells the unsafe vehicle to some unsuspecting person who then drives the death trap around. this was a very common practice at one time. i had a few friends who would buy written off vehicles and repair them and put them back on the road. at least they did decent work. but there was a lot of people who would do the same and duct tape and bondo the thing back and then sell it. also a lot of people were bringing cars in from out east that were written off (or stolen) and doing the same thing. made for a lot of unsafe vehicles on the road.

rgds
Mike

 

Pick Your part in Calgary does the same thing
Back in 1991 I snagged a car before they got actually it.
I got to talk to the owner of the car while the tow truck was in the line up.

For $50.00 more than he would have got, I paid him for it and had the car towed somewhere else.


But basically, That's what I'm talking about.

You see.Some of these so called written off vehicles were written off because the $1000.00 - 3000.00 repair (for what ever was damaged) is beyond the book value to be repaired as the owner didn't have a policy for an apparaised value.

The truck could have minor damage and still get written off for salvage.

So in order to keep that hardly damaged (Mistakenly written off) truck alive... you have to jump through so many hoops to get it to re-register it.

Too much red tape and beaurocracy involved.

There is a Gov't movement to REMOVE this old stuff from the roads.

That's my point

 

I have a old truck i bought for parts, and it was apparently never registered in Alberta, and do not know how to find the original owner, but i luckily have 2 others of the exact same so i can "switch" the tags over.

Is ther anyway to turn this around? there has to be a loophole somewhere.
Craig

 

The Frame VIN# is the actual Vin# they go by if inspected.

Doors can be replaced and "Rating plates" not VIN# Plates switched.

 

its not the government that writes off the vehicle, it is the insurance company that writes it off. the government is just closing a loophole that used to allow written off vehicles from being re-registered with shoddy and dangerous repairs being done to them or written off vehicles from out of province being brought here and sold to unsuspecting buyers as new or used vehicles.

most insurance companies will as procedure write off a vehicle as salvage when the damage is higher than book value even if it is only cosmetic damage for the simple reason that they don't want the liability of having someone flip the car and it getting in an accident or mishap and gettign sued. once they write the car off it becomes their property so they are just covering their ***.

is it a fair law, not allways unless you happen to be one of the people that bought a written off car and found out it was repaired with duct tape and bubble gum.
i think they should have two classifications for written off vehicles. those that a written off due to structural damage that is unrepairable and those that a written off due to cosmetic/money and can be safely repaired and road worthy. bad thing is that most new cars even in a minor bumper crash are designed with crush zones.

rgds
Mike

 

if a vehicle is in a repairable written-off condition, it has to be inspected both structurally and mechanically. this prevents the bubblegum and duct tape problem.

 

Yes but if the auto wrecker gets a hold of it..... That's it for that vehicle !

Only some wrecking yards sell fixable,driveable vehicles

 

I'm now scared My truck was written off this year because the shed I stored it fell in from snow load. I waited for 7 months for them to decide what they were going to do. Of course I bought it back. Now I wish I would have tried to work more with the insurance company to get it repaired. Now I have to also go and find where the s/n is on the frame because I think the cab may have been changed and if that is the case what then.

 

The main VIN# is the one on the frame,

Doors get changed all the time and sometimes they forget to remove and re-attach the rating plate

 

thats a sharp looking truck, hope you get her fixed up nice!!

 

Do you know exactly where on the frame Dennis? I don't remember seeing it.
96sherm Thanks I thought I was done in 2004. Congat's of the baby seat man!

 

thanks for the congrats,,,

 

No problem 96 sherm.

I just can't make up my mined on what to do with my old truck I am pretty sure I will end up fixing it. Just sucks now because I don't have a shop anymore and it's hard to work out of a garage.