Originally Posted by
mbeach
Isuzu (if that is in fact the leinholder -which I doubt) only has one option if someone doesn't pick it up.
They'll be forced to drop it at an auction, for whatever they can get. I suppose they'll try to go after the original purchaser for the difference afterwards.
By abandoning the vehicle, he's lost all right to demand a fair price. The leinholder could sell it for a dollar if they wanted to. It's still his responsibility to pay for it.
Laws may vary a bit from state to state, but you've summed it up correctly. When someone stops making payments on a vehicle, normally it goes into repossession. When someone drops a vehicle off for service and fails to pay for that service, the mechanic can put an additional lien on the vehicle, and charge storage until the account is paid in full and the vehicle is picked up. If this vehicle falls into both categories, it will make for a sticky situation for both the financer and the dealership, who both want to collect their money.
Normally what happens, as you mentioned, is the car gets put up for auction, the finance company takes the sale price, and deducts it from what the ex-owner owes. Because the dealership/mechanic is the secondary lien holder, they'll probably never see a dime, which is why they don't want to release the vehicle to the financing company to be auctioned off. Right now they still have some grounds on which to negotiate (they have possession of the vehicle).
Once the vehicle does finally get auctioned off (which may be the only legal way to sell the vehicle at this point), the ex-owner will still owe the balance of the loan as well as the charges for service and storage. Most of the time an ex-owner in this situation will never pay the fees and they'll go down as negative events on his/her credit report.
So to make a long story short, if someone really wants this vehicle, it would behoove them to find out who is ultimately in charge of handling these types of issues for the dealership. Give them your name/phone number/email and keep checking back every so often. If you are patient (and the VX is still in their possession), I'm sure they'll be happy to let you know who will be auctioning it off when the time comes, but right now it sounds like nobody you've talked to really knows what the heck is going on. It's all about finding the guy who will ultimately be responsible for cleaning up the mess.
Last edited by kpaske : 11/30/2006 at 10:11 AM
Calmini Cone Air Filter, PowerVault PV2 Muffler, OME Trooper Springs, Rancho RS9000X Shocks, 285/75R16 Nitto Grappler AT's, Pioneer DEH P8000R In-Dash CD, Amps and Drivers Built by Orion, Wires and Fuse Blocks by KnuKonceptz, Vibration Damping by BQuiet, Alarm System featuring Auto Start and Remote Windows, Yakima LoadWarrior w/Full Size Spare, Debadged/Custom Titanium Grill Logo, Tint (5% Rear / 20% Front), Steel Braided Brake Lines, G2 Painted Calipers