£200 Celica (logistical shitemare thread)

[CortinaDave]

OK... I appear to have landed myself in a somewhat tricky situation.

 

 

Mate of mine rang me on sat to ask where he'd get the best price for scrapping his motor. long story short, he's got a company car now and cant be arsed with it so let the MoT lapse.

 

He booked it into a local garage for test and they failed it on brakes - nothing major, but he decided just to weigh it in as the cars only worth a grand or so.

 

Knowing the car, and seeing an opportunity to make a few quid out of it I offered him £200 as it stood and said i'd pick it up in a couple of days.

 

this is all fine.

 

HOWEVER....

 

He's left the keys for me at my work and the car is 60 miles away. I drove past it this morning just to check it wasnt in a compound etc where I'd have problems getting it out at night. Couldnt move it as I dont yet have the keys... heres where the shit starts.

 

He's left it on the STREET. no tax, no MOT, no insurance ( i was just going to put it on a one day policy and drive it the 15 miles home with a pre booked MOT)

 

He's also taken his private plate off, and the DVLA has it on its old number now but guess what? its still displaying its private plates. 

 

Basically it asking to be towed by the rozzers and crushed as it stands... I cant get plates made locally as I dont yet have the V5 so ive ordered some online with 24hr delivery.

 

 

Whats my best plan? obviously I cant leave it where it is. Do I... insure it etc and drive it home with the private number displaying? "make" a plate with the right number out of cardboard to drive it home? (asking for a pull) or do I leave it and wait for my internet plates to arrive and hope plod dont spot it meantime??

 

Any ideas??

[scruff]

Get on Shiply and get someone to winch it onto a lorry PDQ 

 

 

[cort16]

Defo get someone to haul it up the road for you. Go on gumtree there's loads of guys who'll do it for not too much money. I got my Smart moved from Lanark to Troon for 70 quid.

Anything else is just risking getting heat from the rozzers or getting the car impounded and squished. I imagine it's days are numbered if it's sitting out on the street. It's one saving grace is probably the plates as if he's got them on his new car it'll be on the MID even if it's the wrong car.

 

What is it?

[trigger]

It must be said, if your getting it cheap anyway you might as well invest £70 or whatever and get it collected quickly.

[EssDeeWon]

Yeah get a local geezer with a flatbed, 15 miles should be about 50/60 quid cash cash wink wink.

[CortinaDave]

Its a Celica VVTi. I'm at work now and have the keys but with the car being 60 miles away from me/the keys I cant even give them to a guy with a flatbed to left the thing.

 

 

Gonna have to get something arranged this afternoon and try and get it shifted tonight, and just hope the rozzers beady eye misses it in the meantime. Its been sat exactly where it is since at least saturday with me blissfully unaware, so its a bloody miracle its still there.

 

Its on a side street, so the chances of police driving by are slim, but of course small street = nosy neighbours phoning to report it for no tax.

 

Just checked askmid and it seems it IS still insured under the private plate which is one bonus at least.. its even coming up as the Celica so he's clearly not cancelled the policy.

 

DVLA definitely have it under its old number though. Whats the script with a plate change? Do you get a letter through telling you you must change plates from midnight on such and such a date or is there a "crossover"?

[cort16]

Could you not arrange it, drive over and meet the truck driver and give him the keys then get him to haul it back. Thats what I did with the smart.

Where is it?

[CortinaDave]

Paranoia, but I'm not saying for the moment in case any rozzers are reading the forum!

[Split_Pin]

Couldn't you just get a mate to 'tow' you home, hazards on?

[Wilko220]

Couldn't you just get a mate to 'tow' you home, hazards on?

 

Same thought occurred to me - seems the obvious answer...

[cort16]

I meant a general area .i.e Glasgow not a grid reference Just incase any shitters could help.

[derskine]

Black elletrik tape and some yellow vinyl

[Cavcraft]

Don't you know anyone with a traders policy who would drive it back to a pre-booked MOT?

[dome]

Day insure and a pre booked MOT close to home?

[Pillock]

Start a riot on the other side of town, keeping the police busy so they don't notice the car. Bonus, you can loot Currys.

[KruJoe]

Do you have means to tow / A-frame it home? Or borrow a trailer?

If you can drag it back, get the back plate off it, or cover with trailer board / ON TOW sticker to avoid ANPR. It might* be something I've done. ANPR doesn't care what shape your rig is, so long as the visible plates check out ok. I usually put an amber beacon on my roof and wear a hi-vis vest, and make sure the tow-car doesn't appear under-sized for the job, and I've not had a pull yet.

[garbaldy]

Just checked askmid and it seems it IS still insured under the private plate which is one bonus at least.. its even coming up as the Celica so he's clearly not cancelled the policy.

 

 

Then simply book it in for mot or mot related work and get someone who has drive any car not belonging to them cover   job done

[NorfolkNWeigh]

As long as his new car is all legal the number won't ping up any problems on an ANPR camera, just hope you don't come across the one copper in your area that can tell a Celica from a Kia or whatever.

[CortinaDave]

Right, I went back tonight with my mate. No ticket , no hucklement from plod. Result. I know someone who works in a building less than half a mile away that has off street parking so I shifted it round there for the night. Hopefully the plates will be delivered in the morning and I'll go up tomorrow night , swap them over and drive it home on a day insurance policy to a pre booked MOT.

 

I'm a lot happier now it's not sitting on the street with its last October tax disc winking at the neighbours

[explosive-cabbage]

Rip all ID off it and tow it cross country at night with no working trailer board using a peice of stolen barbed wire as towrope.

=No money spent

=More profit!

[CortinaDave]

The car is now home in my drive and safe from any plod after tonights very short collection mission

 

Its an 03 plate Celica 1.8 VVTi in blue. 120k on the clock and 6 speed gearbox which is a novelty to me as I've never had one before.

 

decent car but clearly neglected for the last year or so. Its sat not being used since October so the brakes are sticking and generally a bit shit. they dont look bad so I reckon the calipers just need a bit of love.

 

theres dog hair all over the back seats and the clutch has the start of slippage if provoked, which is a bit of a bastard, but otherwise its pretty good, engine seems spot on, bodywork is decent and it handles like a demon. 

 

Definitely not scrapyard fodder, and at 200 notes I'm delighted.

 

Not sure whether to bung it on ebay as is, and see if it raises me a few extra quid, or to get the clutch done and an MoT on it then either play with it for a bit or sell it on.

 

either way, now that the thing is back home it seems worth having,

[Split_Pin]

Nice one, sounds like something worth hanging onto for a bit.

[aldo135]

Sounds like it'd be worth fixing/cleaning and running for a while, be good to get to enjoy it for a few months after the hassle you've had, and your hardly going to lose on it

 

 

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[HillmanImp]

These were a massive departure from the earlier shaped cars weren't they? I really like them as they look so odd.

 

They do seem cheap at the mo, defo worth looking at for the average shiter. I do prefer the earlier ones but these have got to be an option for a cheap and pretty cool* runaround.

 

 

*subjective

[cort16]

My Dad's had one for years and it's been pretty good other than a constant problem with draggin brakes he can't seem to get resolved. They've got that stupid shoe in disc setup for the handbrake, which causes no end of problems. They do drive quite well though.

[KruJoe]

Has the master cylinder been looked at on your old man's one?

[junkyarddog]

I had one of these Celicas,

Had it 4 years,never had to lay a spanner on it apart from servicing it.

Brilliant little car,still miss mine.

 

Best of luck with yours.

 

[cort16]

Has the master cylinder been looked at on your old man's one?

No is it a common problem? It's driving him up the wall.

[CortinaDave]

Junkyarddog: yours looks WAY nicer than mine! I have no leather/sunroof etc.

 

What are they like on Fuel?? I had a previous generation L reg twin cam GT and it was a brilliant machine in every way except for its frightening thirst for petrol.

[junkyarddog]

I reckon mine was returning 35ish,40ish on a long run with the A/C off.

Mine was the 190 VVTLI version,

went like the clappers.

 

Had to go as I needed something bigger.