Abandoned car mystery - WWYD

[Wotchaz]

For the last 4 weeks there has been a car parked outside our house, it literally hasn’t moved. When it was originally parked it was quite busy so I suspect they thought it would be inconspicuous, but that was actually the only time in the week that there are ever cars parked there (youth football training over the road on a Sunday morning), so it’s very obvious.

It’s untaxed, and its MOT ran out a year ago. It’s parked over the edge of a bus stop so buses now can’t pull in and have to block the road to let people in/out.

After a couple of weeks we reported it to the police, who said that because the plates aren’t stolen they’re not interested. Have told the council because of the bus stop thing, and also reported the lack of tax.

But the really odd thing is that it’s got a buggy and a suitcase in the back, and when DH last night (on a whim) tried the door, he found it’s unlocked. There was a bit of folded up paper on the front seat which we looked at (in case it was a suicide note/something to indicate someone needed help), and it was a council tax notice for a property 40 miles away.

Is this sufficiently odd for us to contact the police again? It’s not bothering us being there, but the bus stop thing is causing a bit of chaos and I don’t expect the council to actually address it in any sensible timeframe since we report it through the same portal as for potholes and they definitely don’t get fixed! I find it really hard to think of any story that doesn’t involve it being stolen/abandoned and if it was my car I’d like to think that it wouldn’t just be ignored.

Alternatively DH has joked about sitting in it, releasing the handbrake and pushing it off the bus stop to an actual parking space but I don’t know if this is genius or highly illegal.

To be fair the MOT is only as good as the hour is spent at the MOT station - you could come out of there and the vehicle develop a dangerous fault & be unroadworthy but the mot is still valid as it lasts for 12 months!

Just here to find out what's in the suitcase!

Maybe it's the owner?!

Id request a welfare check on the owner. Baby buggy and suitcase. They could have been trying to flee domestic violence and were caught by the person. Its a safeguarding issue. How would you travel with a baby and no pram.

You can check online via dvla
https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

DVLA do clamp or remove untaxed vehicles but they take 2-3 weeks from my experience (unless it's in a dangerous place

Wow this has blown up since I last looked, sorry for the slow reply I wasnt expecting any more input!

I won’t be opening the suitcase, or driving 40 miles to the owner’s house. Not concerned about prints as they’re literally just on drivers door handle and the piece of paper in the front, I didn’t touch the steering wheel or anything and have evidence that I’ve reported it to police/council.

isitnicked say the VIN matches the plates so actually doesn’t appear to be stolen.

And to the poster saying I’m bothered because it’s “lowering the tone” 😁. It’s actually a pretty tidy VW and not in my way at all, if it weren’t for the bus stop issue and general curiosity I’d have left it well alone!

Also useful to know that the steering will lock if I try and move it - that probably rules out that idea because it’s not been parked with its wheels straight!

Might so some fb sleuthing if I have a minute later, and yes I am tempted to request a welfare check on the owner because it’s damn odd.

Ah I love it when OPs update! Let us know how it goes.

I’ve found her on Facebook! Sent a message, will update if I get a reply.

DVLA can only go after the unpaid tax if the vehicle has a registered keeper, and if they do (and they do, trust me!), you'd probably never know about it. The keeper would be fined but the vehicle wouldn't be removed unless a wheelclamping team are operating in the area. Then it might be clamped and towed and, if there's no keeper, it will be destroyed. If there's no keeper on record - which seems likely - then there's no-one to chase for the tax and that's all DVLA are responsible for. If you report it to DVLA they might send Enforcement Officers to the area, but the best they could do would be to knock on doors to see if anyone will admit to owning the vehicle or knowing who does. There are very few Enforcement Officers for the whole of the country because their jobs were cut for cost savings. Unless, of course, you know who the keeper is and are willing to go to court as withess for the prosecution. - very few people are. MOT certificates are the responsibility of DVSA, and again, if there's nobody on record there's nobody to prosecute. If you have good reason to believe it has been abandoned and it's on the public highway, it's the council's responsibility, unless it's causing an obstruction and/or is in a dangerous condition, in which case the Police can get involved.

Did you hear anything.?