abandoned-looking car

[Bright_Star]

Today I get a knock at my door from this guy who tells me the cops put an abandoned car sticker on my windshield. I've had my car parked right near the front of my house for over a year. I Haven't driven it cause the battery is dead & it needs a head gasket repair which is an expensive fix. I don't have the money to fix it. PLUS it hasn't been paid off so I don't have the title cause IF I did then I could properly dispose of it.

It's been there over a year & it's parked properly not getting in the way of anything. NOBODY has complained about it until quite recently. Got a nosey neighbor who likes to get into everybody's business but oh well...lol.

The sticker says I have 7 days to take care of it OR the city will tow it & I'll be fined $500!!! I'll pay that if I have to but that's going to hurt.

So knowing I have no options at this point should I just let them tow it? Should I take off the license plate before they do it? I'm in Pa.

What would you do?

[Plaidman]

Not sure how to help. Maybe friend and yours can push it? What would be more expensive, a gasket or the 500 dollar fine?

(Plaidman knows nothing of cars...).

Maybe call and explain to the city. It is your car. It is on your proptery. Its not abandoned.

[TheSHAD0W]

If it hasn't been paid off, then you may be exposed to liability if the city takes it. Contact the finance company, tell them they can have it if they want it, or you'll let the city take it.

[BarbieGirl]

I'm assuming it's on the street infront of your house? I know the street I used to live on the ticket patrol would drive around and if a car hadn't moved from their spot in a week or so they would get a sticker, we got one once and all we had to do was move it about 10 ft down the road so it was obvious that it had been moved/used. Do you have a drive way you can push it on for a week or so? then move it back and forth in front of your house every week or so.

[protege]

It's been there over a year & it's parked properly not getting in the way of anything. NOBODY has complained about it until quite recently. Got a nosey neighbor who likes to get into everybody's business but oh well...lol.

Sounds like one of my former neighbors. They actually tried to get me written up for having an "abandoned" vehicle at my mother's. The MG had been sitting outside for awhile before I started working on it. Nobody else on the block cared--not even the house directly across the street, and they had to look at the orange car every damn day

Still though, I got off on a technicality--most of the time, the car wasn't even visible when I wasn't home. That is, I'd roll the car outside to work on it...then pushed it back into the garage. I'd heard that the cops would stop by during the day (I'd be at school), but because the car wasn't visible and they didn't have a warrant, there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

Funny thing about those goofballs... recently they had a newer Pontiac sitting in their driveway constantly. Why? Well, it seems that the owner apparently forgot maintain it. I got to see that thing fail spectacularly when he was driving home from work one afternoon. Seems that he'd forgotten to refill the oil...and the engine blew up

[Tanasi]

Today I get a knock at my door from this guy who tells me the cops put an abandoned car sticker on my windshield. I've had my car parked right near the front of my house for over a year. I Haven't driven it cause the battery is dead & it needs a head gasket repair which is an expensive fix. I don't have the money to fix it. PLUS it hasn't been paid off so I don't have the title cause IF I did then I could properly dispose of it.

It's been there over a year & it's parked properly not getting in the way of anything. NOBODY has complained about it until quite recently. Got a nosey neighbor who likes to get into everybody's business but oh well...lol.

The sticker says I have 7 days to take care of it OR the city will tow it & I'll be fined $500!!! I'll pay that if I have to but that's going to hurt.

So knowing I have no options at this point should I just let them tow it? Should I take off the license plate before they do it? I'm in Pa.

What would you do?

Check around in your area to see if there is an automechanics school. If so contact them and to see if they'll do the work if so mostly likely all you'll have to pay for is the parts. Also depending upon the car head-gaskets aren't that difficult to replace. Oh another thing I noticed on the Power-block TV within the last two weeks a company is making a product that specifically stops head gasket leaks. I don't remember the company or the product name but a auto parts store should have it. You pour the stuff in the radiator and get the car hot and it should then start to close the leak. If the battery is down find a buddy to give you a jump.

[draggar]

Not sure how to help. Maybe friend and yours can push it? What would be more expensive, a gasket or the 500 dollar fine?

(Plaidman knows nothing of cars...).

Maybe call and explain to the city. It is your car. It is on your proptery. Its not abandoned.

I had a car that blew a gasket (literally). It would have been $500 just to look at it and anywhere from $750 to $4,000 to fix it.

Call the finance company and let them know - and let them take it.

Tell the city it is not an abandoned car - it is your car parked in your space. I'm sure it's not an eyesore (rusting all over, falling apart, etc..).

[protege]

Check around in your area to see if there is an automechanics school. If so contact them and to see if they'll do the work if so mostly likely all you'll have to pay for is the parts. Also depending upon the car head-gaskets aren't that difficult to replace.

Replacing the head gasket itself isn't hard--take off the valve cover(s), cylinder head(s), to put it simply. But, on some cars, if the head gasket fails...you can end up with a warped cylinder head, especially if the parts are cast aluminum. Still though, the mating surfaces should be checked for trueness, and leveled off if they aren't. That, plus putting the engine back together, making sure it's set up correctly...is what drives up the labor cost.

BTW, the classic signs of a blown head gasket are white smoke from the exhaust, a loss of power, and nasty "mayo" inside the valve cover and oil filler cap.

[blas]

protege, you forgot bubbles in the oil dipstick and a slight greenish color

[protege]

protege, you forgot bubbles in the oil dipstick and a slight greenish color

LOL The bubbles aren't always visible though--they can be hard to see. Oh, and coolant isn't always green...depending on the condition of the cooling system.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Still though, I got off on a technicality--most of the time, the car wasn't even visible when I wasn't home. That is, I'd roll the car outside to work on it...then pushed it back into the garage. I'd heard that the cops would stop by during the day (I'd be at school), but because the car wasn't visible and they didn't have a warrant, there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

How the hell can they call it abandoned when it's in your own garage?

[Tanasi]

LOL The bubbles aren't always visible though--they can be hard to see. Oh, and coolant isn't always green...depending on the condition of the cooling system.

Or the oil will be milky looking.

I did say depending upon the car. On my antique cars I wouldn't hesitate to replace a head gasket but on my Escape I wouldn't attempt it.

[Red_Dazes]

We had that happen with the Beaus old car. Because it wouldn't run after winter so it sat there for a few months... we ended up just rolling it 10 feet down the side walk every month or so till we got rid of it. Never got another warning. You might want to try that... take the sticker off the window and move it to the other end of the block. That way they see it's been moved... keep it up for a while just pop it in neutral and move it once a month or so. I'd recommend getting the title for it as well, that way you can always call into the ((I assume police)) place who gave you the ticket and prove that you live there and it is your car.

[blas]

When I screwed up my Neon, my water pump went, the timing belt went, in doing so I warped the head beyond repair and bent all 16 of my *what the hell are they called* and the best part was after I got a new engine, I saw the radiator gushing antifreeze.....I mean just days after I got my car back. I'm thinking that whole action put a crack in the radiator and it just grew after the car was running again.

[Tanasi]

When I screwed up my Neon, my water pump went, the timing belt went, in doing so I warped the head beyond repair and bent all 16 of my *what the hell are they called* and the best part was after I got a new engine, I saw the radiator gushing antifreeze.....I mean just days after I got my car back. I'm thinking that whole action put a crack in the radiator and it just grew after the car was running again.

Those things are called valves and bending or breaking them is a real real bad thing.
In your case one set of valves are used to let the fuel/air mixture into cylinder were they are combusted. The other set of valves then lets the burnt fuel or exhaust out of the cylinder into exhaust manifold and eventually into the exhaust system Cat converter/muffler etc.
I have two daughters your age and when they wanted their first cars I bought them used cars and we then went through the rebuild process. I did that because they knew how much work went into the process and maybe just maybe would have more respect and care for their cars. My middle daughter absolutely didn't want to do this and kept trying to play the girl card, it didn't work.