Posted by Paul on August 11, 1999 at 15:38:16:
In Reply to: Stupid government posted by Galen on August 11, 1999 at 12:26:55:
No, I'm not British. However, i ran a salvage yard back in the early 80's and can give some insight on the problems of scrapping entire vehicles.
Until the mid 80's, Kentucky was not a title state. (1984 I think but can't remember for sure.) Before this, you had a Bill of Sale from the county courthouse. The yard I ran was in Indiana, which has been a title state for many years, near the Ohio river.
A long time problem was car stolen in Indiana would be taken to Kentucky, where Bobby Sue would sell you a Bill of Sale for $20. This car with clean paper now would be sold a few times and the title transfered each time. After a few times of this, it would be sold to an unsuspecting buyer. If it turned up to be stolen, the buyer took the heat for receiving stolen property. Usually, no charges were filed but they lost their car and what they spent for it.
Another problem was chop shops. The title work would be used to show ownership of a car which would be said to be a water car. This would look perfect but had been under water and would rust out in no time so it wouldn't be sold whole. It may not have been near water but that would be the justification for breaking it up.
In Indiana, the police take this very seriously. If the paper work says it's to be scrapped, and you put it on the road, how do they know you aren't trying to pull a fast one? I had trouble with cars that I would buy for resale but the owner wrote salvage on the title so I couldn't resell it. Many a good car went to the parts bin in the sky rather than fight the paperwork. You lose your salvage license and you go out of business.