If you turned over a signed tittle without discussing a sale price, then I think it is over…
Can you ask about any money coming to you now? Yes, but if you have a good business relationship with the shop, probable not worth hurting that and having to find another shop to work on your vehicles, it can be very hard sometimes to find a trustworthy shop…
I (me) would just chalk it up as a lessen learned to keep a good working relationship with your shop of choice…
Just to be picky, a contract requires consideration to be a valid contract. No payment, no contract. Don’t know how you pull a title back though after it is signed over. Sometimes the best lessons in life involve $2 or $300 issues. And geese, whenever I get a lien release in the mail, I immediately go to the dmv, pay my $10, and apply for an updated title.
You don’t. Any of the places I have owned cars, the title is the proof of ownership. Once you sign it, it’s a done deal- bill of sale or not. That consummates the deal.
I have given vehicles away but that appears more problematic than a sale so even $1 is a better approach than claiming it is a gift. I have junked numerous vehicles, some with compensation, some not. Once I signed the title, it’s their property.
Many titles have a place to record the sales price but some do not. Since most places have gone to the method of using blue book price guides to establish taxes due, a bill of sale doesn’t mean much to them either.
To those replying to my Q about the money, I’m wondering why they didn’t tell me what the process was. Why mention how much the “guy” paid for junked cars if they were just gonna keep the money? Could have not said anything. So when he said that I thought he was saying that’s how much I would get.
As for having “a good business relationship with them” - I thought I did until this happened. I get the feeling they knew I didn’t know anything about the process and took advantage. It’s not the money I’m upset about, it’s the fact he mentioned the amount the “guy” would pay, seemingly insinuating that’s how much I would get. If that wasn’t the case, again, why would he say it? So I’m trying to decide if that’s kinda shady or not. Is that a trustworthy thing to do, to a customer who always brought their car there? I’m not going to pursue it, but I am irritated by it.
“How much did they charge you in total for diagnostics prior to junking the car?” As I indicated, they charged me $125 for looking at it and saying it wouldn’t pass inspection, and basically advising junking it. So that’s the charge for “diagnostics” before junking the car. And yes, I did pay that.
“If you failed to negotiate a price for your junked vehicle, you essentially gave it to them.” I failed to negotiate a price for my junked car because I didn’t know it was something one did. I thought a junked car is a junked car. You don’t “charge” someone to take your junked car. I guess you actually do, or can.
As for the statement “Many titles have a place to record the sales price but some do not.” If that was on my title, no one pointed it out. Secretary just put it on the counter and said “sign here”. That was the end of it.
I expect you’ve discovered it’s best to take a different course next time someone asks you to sign something. No need to be rude, just say “please provide a copy of the document. I’ll take it with me, & consider it later”.
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Well, if they got any money for the car, then I would be asking for my diagnostic fee back.
It’s possible. Most of the time, the residual value of the car will compensate them for towing or any other expenses involved in disposing of the car. A recycler will disassemble the car and sell the useable parts. So the car still has worth above and beyond the scrap value. But I’ve had friends with cars so bad, they went directly to the crusher. Somebody has to pay the towing fee and documentation costs…so they paid “flat bed Ed” to haul them off.
From your previous post it seemed you told the people at the repair shop you intended to “junk” the car. To save you the effort they offered to take the vehicle off your hands. After all, did you have a salvage yard in mind? A method of moving the vehicle?
It was unprofessional for the manager to tell you how much he can get for an average disabled vehicle. But who knows? Maybe you have a $300 shop credit. Seems like a weird place: you took your car to a collision shop because of an engine failure?
That was the moment of transaction. She could have said “we will call you if you get an offer on the car”, but instead she probably said “goodby”. You gave them the car to dispose of it, the car is not on consignment.
You want a copy of your own title to study?
This would be the reaction: “You have three days to get the car off the property”.
That’s the point for hesitating to sign. OP then knows which options are available. If secretary had said “either sign this immediately or remove your car in three days”, same thing. But she didn’t say that. 3 days seems pretty generous to me btw. I’d guess they’d say 24 hours.
Yeah, I was thinking it but forgot to mention it, but Yes, it was a crappy move on the owner to even mention he would be selling the vehicle to a scrapper or whatever, there are things in life and business some times best not said… I mean just because you think your uncle Raugh has bad breath, doesn’t mean it is wise to tell him during Thanksgiving dinner… lol
But some people just don’t have any Kooth (couth) about them, and sometimes I don’t think they can help it…
And it is kind of bad business for a shop to tell you your car is junk and then say bring us the tittle we will junk it for you, that could be considered a conflict of interest, especially if they profit from it, even if it is beer money…
Flip side to that would be if they gave you the bad news and you said you didn’t know what to do with it and asked them if they could help…
But still pretty crappy to mention it and not share it… Unless they are doing some kind of shop credit fir you…
Hopefully you can pick the perfect, for You, vehicle and move on from this bad experience…
Nevada - You asked why I took the car to a collision shop for engine problems. Someone recommended them to me many years ago when I had a problem - not collision related. I took it to them because I thought it was engine failure. They never even addressed that because they said the frame was rusted out and that it wouldn’t pass inspection. Nothing else was said. What can be done if the frame is rusted and won’t pass inspection? The inference, not actually spoken, was it’s basically junk. I don’t even know if they looked at the engine or not, They never mentioned anything about it to me, just about the body. I thought that $125 charge was for them to look the car over.
They call themselves a collision shop but they do a lot of other stuff. But I only took my car there whenever something went wrong - like that time I posted about the dealer saying I needed a new engine and this shop finding out it was a cracked radiator. Here’s their site: https://www.donscollisionshop.us/
What kind of place would I take a car to if it wasn’t collision work? What kind of place is that called? Only signs I’ve ever seen about mechanics advertizing is their name - like Don’s Auto. What does that tell me, especially if they don’t have a website? Do they do collision work? Engine work? How would I know??
How does a mechanic advertize as opposed to a collision shop?? And how do I find a shop that knows my particular car? Word of mouth and friends/family aren’t any help. How do I vet a mechanic (if I can find one) other than reviews? Just because they’re great working on VWs doesn’t mean they’re great working on GMCs or whatever.
Anyway, I bought that 2021 GMC Terrain SLT with 14k miles on it that came closest to all my wants/needs. Hopefully I won’t have to take it to Don’s (or anywhere else) for a long long time - other than maintenance, that is.
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