Fiat Spider Sold
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jacksplace
Fiat Spider Sold
Just a note to let everyone know that Cpl Jon Vander Ark purchased my 1978 Fiat 124 Spider. Like any brave young Marine, Jon showed courage beyond the call. He came to Yuma and drove the car back to San Diego in the suffocating heat and never once complained. What a guy! I wish Jon the best of luck. I'd also like to thank everyone on this site. I was able to glean a wealth of information here, thereby saving myself the problem of having to reinvent a few wheels. The members here are quick to share info and experiences. Thanks.
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Jon
long story!
So yesterday was fun.
When I bought the car from Jack Friday night he removed the base decals and the license plate. Growing up, my father also always removed the license plates to the cars he sold, so I didn't see a problem with this.
Jack was an incredible seller, extremely honest, pointed out all the little quirks and bumps about the car. It was a real pleasure doing business with him.
I drove the car home from Yuma that night, we left his house around 1100-1130pm, and arrived back in San Diego about 300am. I went straight to bed. I work up at roughly 1030, cooked a good breakfast, called Jack to let him know the car ran great, and we had no troubles as he had requested I do. Cleaned the house a little bit, went outside and the car was gone.
Called the police station only to be told my car was towed for expired registration. I told the officer that was impossible, because I just bought the car and the registration that was in the map pockets said March 2008, and since I bought the car late Friday night, the next time I could register it in Cali was tuesday, because of the holiday. He ran the VIN again and said the registration belonged to a guy up in Riverside, and was expired Dec. 05. I explained that the car was registered in Arizona, not California and after a bit he was able to find the car registered there. So his next question was, why aren't there any license plates? I said the license plate was taken off by the seller. The officer asked, so they were stolen and you know who did it? I tried telling him they weren't stolen but he said that Jack, the seller, wasn't supposed to take the plates, which came as a surprise to me. He also said that my car would be impounded again if it was parked in front of my house with no license plates. To avoid this I have to file a police report saying my plates were stolen. Which doesn't really make sense to me.
Does anyone know how that is all supposed to work? Am I supposed to get the plates back from Jack? Or were him and I right in thinking that he was supposed to keep them? I'm kind of confused right now.
At any rate, when they impounded the car they put in on a flat bed. Which would be no big deal, except they hooked the cable up to the panhard rod, which snapped. They didn't mention this to me, I found it out as I tried to drive the couple miles home. So now, after a $369 errouneous impound fee, which should be reimbursed by the city I'm told, I have to also fix the rod, which the towing company is telling me they're not responsible for. How in the heck are they not responsible for damages incurred when they towed my car?
I was able to get the car home safely with the help of a couple friends. I was going to bring it back to the impound lot, but they told me I would have to pay $30 a night and I'd have to wait till Tuesday to pick it up. No thanks.
All in all, great car minus a panhard rod, long Saturday where I learned how little I know about the laws and bylaws of registration/towing.
I guess sometimes there's only one way to learn things!
When I bought the car from Jack Friday night he removed the base decals and the license plate. Growing up, my father also always removed the license plates to the cars he sold, so I didn't see a problem with this.
Jack was an incredible seller, extremely honest, pointed out all the little quirks and bumps about the car. It was a real pleasure doing business with him.
I drove the car home from Yuma that night, we left his house around 1100-1130pm, and arrived back in San Diego about 300am. I went straight to bed. I work up at roughly 1030, cooked a good breakfast, called Jack to let him know the car ran great, and we had no troubles as he had requested I do. Cleaned the house a little bit, went outside and the car was gone.
Called the police station only to be told my car was towed for expired registration. I told the officer that was impossible, because I just bought the car and the registration that was in the map pockets said March 2008, and since I bought the car late Friday night, the next time I could register it in Cali was tuesday, because of the holiday. He ran the VIN again and said the registration belonged to a guy up in Riverside, and was expired Dec. 05. I explained that the car was registered in Arizona, not California and after a bit he was able to find the car registered there. So his next question was, why aren't there any license plates? I said the license plate was taken off by the seller. The officer asked, so they were stolen and you know who did it? I tried telling him they weren't stolen but he said that Jack, the seller, wasn't supposed to take the plates, which came as a surprise to me. He also said that my car would be impounded again if it was parked in front of my house with no license plates. To avoid this I have to file a police report saying my plates were stolen. Which doesn't really make sense to me.
Does anyone know how that is all supposed to work? Am I supposed to get the plates back from Jack? Or were him and I right in thinking that he was supposed to keep them? I'm kind of confused right now.
At any rate, when they impounded the car they put in on a flat bed. Which would be no big deal, except they hooked the cable up to the panhard rod, which snapped. They didn't mention this to me, I found it out as I tried to drive the couple miles home. So now, after a $369 errouneous impound fee, which should be reimbursed by the city I'm told, I have to also fix the rod, which the towing company is telling me they're not responsible for. How in the heck are they not responsible for damages incurred when they towed my car?
I was able to get the car home safely with the help of a couple friends. I was going to bring it back to the impound lot, but they told me I would have to pay $30 a night and I'd have to wait till Tuesday to pick it up. No thanks.
All in all, great car minus a panhard rod, long Saturday where I learned how little I know about the laws and bylaws of registration/towing.
I guess sometimes there's only one way to learn things!
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ventura ace
Jon,
Sorry to hear what you had to go through!
I don't know all the laws either, and hindsight is always so much clearer than foresight, . . . . it seems that the more proper approach would have been to keep the AZ tags on the car until it was properly registered in CA, then send the AZ tags back to Jack.
IMHO, what's happening to you here is a product of all the car theft that persists around these parts (and everywhere else, too). The police are constantly on the lookout for stolen and unregistered vehicles, and your car fit the description of a suspect car. Similar thing happened to our family a few years ago. I had been keeping a '68 Cougar (my 1st car from my high school days!) in my garage for several years, registered as non-use, or whatever they call it. When my son became old enough to drive, we got the car out, fixed it up a bit, sent in the registration by mail (as the DMV told us when we called them). Supposedly, the car is registered as of the time that you drop the envelope in the mail -- it says so right on the outside of the envelope.
Next day, my son was pulled over by the police for having improper registration, and there was nothing we could say to convince the officer or the police department that the car was properly registered. We tried to be friendly, persuasive, logical, etc., but the officer wouldn't budge. Had he car towed to the impound lot at our expense, even though the car was entirely able to be driven anywhere! We got the car back a few days later, but it took weeks to clear up the mess, and we only got a small portion of the money back. I took 2 separate days off from work to go discuss the matter with the local police department, who reluctantly took the case off our driving record, but never once apologized or admitted making a mistake! You see, they have been given every possible excuse imaginable from all the real cases of stolen and unregistered cars on a daily basis, and they seldom run across a legitimate mistake, so they just don't know how to handle it!!
I hope your local police are more reasonable than the ones up here in Ventura. I wish you good luck!!
alvon
Sorry to hear what you had to go through!
I don't know all the laws either, and hindsight is always so much clearer than foresight, . . . . it seems that the more proper approach would have been to keep the AZ tags on the car until it was properly registered in CA, then send the AZ tags back to Jack.
IMHO, what's happening to you here is a product of all the car theft that persists around these parts (and everywhere else, too). The police are constantly on the lookout for stolen and unregistered vehicles, and your car fit the description of a suspect car. Similar thing happened to our family a few years ago. I had been keeping a '68 Cougar (my 1st car from my high school days!) in my garage for several years, registered as non-use, or whatever they call it. When my son became old enough to drive, we got the car out, fixed it up a bit, sent in the registration by mail (as the DMV told us when we called them). Supposedly, the car is registered as of the time that you drop the envelope in the mail -- it says so right on the outside of the envelope.
Next day, my son was pulled over by the police for having improper registration, and there was nothing we could say to convince the officer or the police department that the car was properly registered. We tried to be friendly, persuasive, logical, etc., but the officer wouldn't budge. Had he car towed to the impound lot at our expense, even though the car was entirely able to be driven anywhere! We got the car back a few days later, but it took weeks to clear up the mess, and we only got a small portion of the money back. I took 2 separate days off from work to go discuss the matter with the local police department, who reluctantly took the case off our driving record, but never once apologized or admitted making a mistake! You see, they have been given every possible excuse imaginable from all the real cases of stolen and unregistered cars on a daily basis, and they seldom run across a legitimate mistake, so they just don't know how to handle it!!
I hope your local police are more reasonable than the ones up here in Ventura. I wish you good luck!!
alvon
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mbouse
I knew there was more than one reason I'm glad I don't live in California!
In Winter Wonderland it is common practice to keep the plates when you sell the car. Usually, you wanna re-title them to another vehicle. And, they are not transferrable outside the family. So, it is not uncommon to see a vehicle traveling down the road with no plates.
In Winter Wonderland it is common practice to keep the plates when you sell the car. Usually, you wanna re-title them to another vehicle. And, they are not transferrable outside the family. So, it is not uncommon to see a vehicle traveling down the road with no plates.
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So Cal Mark
Sorry to hear about your troubles, but how are police supposed to know if a car is registered if it has no plates or temporary operating permit?
IMHO, it's not because of diligence in finding stolen cars, it's merely fundraising for cities. Tickets and impound fees all add to the local coffers, and there is a high percentage of cars that get sold from the impound fees and the cities prosper greatly from that. Our city took a lot under emminent domain, turned it into a city-run impound lot and the local cops had a contest to see who could impound the most cars. The lot was overflowing within the first month, and is constantly full. They run sales every 3 months, and the cops have a tote board in the station to keep track of each officers' impound counts
IMHO, it's not because of diligence in finding stolen cars, it's merely fundraising for cities. Tickets and impound fees all add to the local coffers, and there is a high percentage of cars that get sold from the impound fees and the cities prosper greatly from that. Our city took a lot under emminent domain, turned it into a city-run impound lot and the local cops had a contest to see who could impound the most cars. The lot was overflowing within the first month, and is constantly full. They run sales every 3 months, and the cops have a tote board in the station to keep track of each officers' impound counts
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spiderrey
- Posts: 2623
- Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:08 pm
- Your car is a: 70 124 spider-74x19-03 ranger edge
- Location: San Dimas, Ca
if there is no plate or temp registration in the window. hows anyone to know its registered. i was reading your your post about how ur dad always removed plates. that kind of puzzled me. never heard that one. i guess its just an out of state thing. i had a spider i bought on ebay trucked from washington. they locked on to the front bumper, when i picked the car up, the bumper brackets had ripped out. they said they werent responsable, and if i wanted to sue them i had 2 do it from another state. well i wasnt going 2 anotrher state, so i just ate it.
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Jon
registered?
If there's no plates they check if it's registered by running the VIN. unfortunately, the Arizona DMV (or whatever they call themselves, it DOL in Washington...) didn't register it correctly (124c5 instead of 124cs). So to get it registered on Tuesday, what I need to do is call the Arizona DMV and then go to the California DMV. It should be interesting, or so I'm told by the SDPD.
I think it may be an out of state thing, I've never bought a car with plates on it!
I think it may be an out of state thing, I've never bought a car with plates on it!
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mdrburchette
- Posts: 5754
- Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:49 am
- Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 Sport
- Location: Winston-Salem, NC
What a nightmare! When I bought my 71 from a guy in NY, he left one plate on it with the registration signed over to me. How did you drive it all the way from AZ to CA without a tag? Could you have used a tag from another one of your vehicles? In NC, I could use a tag from another vehicle and if I were pulled over, I would have 3 days to transfer that tag to the new car. Of course, State Patrol is so busy issuing speeding tickets here that you get three days to move an abandon car from the side of the highway before they impound it.
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So Cal Mark
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Mark_vaughn
They are more forgiving in the Southeast. I have lived in 7 states over the years and not one had laws like that. At least not enforced.
An example:
The previous owner bought the car from the original owner. Kept it for 2 years with some random plate on the car, never registered it. When I bought it he gave me the original owner's signed title. I was a little worried and made sure I had the guy's actual address and tag number from his other car etc... But everything came out OK. The DMV didn't even blink.
Around here they see speeding tickets as the revenue source.
An example:
The previous owner bought the car from the original owner. Kept it for 2 years with some random plate on the car, never registered it. When I bought it he gave me the original owner's signed title. I was a little worried and made sure I had the guy's actual address and tag number from his other car etc... But everything came out OK. The DMV didn't even blink.
Around here they see speeding tickets as the revenue source.
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jacksplace
I'm truly discouraged to hear of Jon's situation. The tag that I took off the Fiat is the same one that I had on a previous car (MG). When I sold the MG the buyer from NM had a temporary permit with him when he picked it up. I later renewed the tag for the Fiat. When I purchase another car, I intend to renew that same tag. I don't know the CA laws on this subject, but in AZ if you are stopped and the tag is registered to someone else then you've broken the law.
In retrospect, it would have been better to leave the tag on the car. If Jon had been stopped for any reason he would have simply been driving my car! He could have then returned the tag to me at a later date. Of course, that situation never occured to me. This certainly destroys the happy transfer of this machine.
Jon, there is one other thing to be aware of. There are two different panhard rods used on the Fiat. The older one is straight and the newer one is bent. The one on your car was bent.
I sincerely hope that this all gets ironed out and that Jon will be happy with his purchase. I'm not superstitions but I have almost $600 and a couple of months of frustration in the windshield on that car. There was no logical reason for that to be true. Now Jon is having these problems that certainly seem unreasonable. My military mind tells me there is no connection, however..........
Good luck Jon, and please keep me posted
In retrospect, it would have been better to leave the tag on the car. If Jon had been stopped for any reason he would have simply been driving my car! He could have then returned the tag to me at a later date. Of course, that situation never occured to me. This certainly destroys the happy transfer of this machine.
Jon, there is one other thing to be aware of. There are two different panhard rods used on the Fiat. The older one is straight and the newer one is bent. The one on your car was bent.
I sincerely hope that this all gets ironed out and that Jon will be happy with his purchase. I'm not superstitions but I have almost $600 and a couple of months of frustration in the windshield on that car. There was no logical reason for that to be true. Now Jon is having these problems that certainly seem unreasonable. My military mind tells me there is no connection, however..........
Good luck Jon, and please keep me posted
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JustDoug
It is rediculous to consider leaving YOUR plates on a car when you sell it. Those plates are YOUR'S.
Never, ever, EVER, EVER give up your plates. If a parking ticket goes unpaid, YOU WILL BE HELD LIABLE! A couple of tickets pile up, and a bench warrant will be issued for your ARREST!
Sounds to me like someone needs to get a lawyer. The Police should not have ordered the car impounded. They either assumed that this car was the one they were looking for, or simply made all of that shit up! The VIN number should have been checked... maybe ticket(s) written.
Oh, just for the record- The towing company IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE INCURRED WHILE YOUR CAR IS IN THEIR POSSESSION.
Come on, Guys. I know these cars are small, but don't leave your BALLS at home...
Never, ever, EVER, EVER give up your plates. If a parking ticket goes unpaid, YOU WILL BE HELD LIABLE! A couple of tickets pile up, and a bench warrant will be issued for your ARREST!
Sounds to me like someone needs to get a lawyer. The Police should not have ordered the car impounded. They either assumed that this car was the one they were looking for, or simply made all of that shit up! The VIN number should have been checked... maybe ticket(s) written.
Oh, just for the record- The towing company IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE INCURRED WHILE YOUR CAR IS IN THEIR POSSESSION.
Come on, Guys. I know these cars are small, but don't leave your BALLS at home...
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deriley
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spiderrey
- Posts: 2623
- Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 2:08 pm
- Your car is a: 70 124 spider-74x19-03 ranger edge
- Location: San Dimas, Ca
first off doug, let me explain. my balls arent at home. they r in my girlfriends purse. this plate thing is an out of state deal. when u sell your car you fill out a transfer of owenership paper and give it to the dmv. thjen u r clear. if you dont fill it out bad things might hasppen , good things might happen too. i sold a car without doing the paperwork. 6 months later i got a letter to come get that car cause it was impounded and still registered to me. free car.
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So Cal Mark
in Calif the plates are registered to the car. If you want to retain them after disposing of a car, you must fill out transfer paperwork with DMV. Rey is right about notifying DMV of a release of liability; you turn that in with the date of the sale and the new owners' info and you're not responsible anymore.
In Calif, an unregistered car can't be operated or parked on a public road. An unregistered car parked on the street will be impounded
In Calif, an unregistered car can't be operated or parked on a public road. An unregistered car parked on the street will be impounded