Strange abandoned vehicles in the area...

[01rangerxl]

There are a couple of abandoned vehicles nearby that have caught my eye just because they are so out of place.

One is a '99-'02 Silverado Extended Cab LT Z71 in what appears to be decent condition. It does have a broken front ball joint, wheel bearing or something though because one front wheel has extreme negative camber. The truck has been sitting for months in the parking lot at a local strip mall. There are no businesses there related to auto repair or anything like that, just restaurants and other small retail stores. Cosmetically the truck looks good and I can't figure out why it would be dumped. Even if the owner couldn't afford to repair it, they could throw a for sale sign in the window and get at least a couple thousand dollars for it. It's probably a $5000+ truck repaired. The police have certainly driven by the truck many times and I'm sure the businesses have noticed the truck, but it continues to sit.

The other weird car showed up about four days ago. It's an early 2000s Nissan Sentra in very good condition with a Georgia tag parked on an access road for a cell phone tower next to a railroad track. It's an open field around the car, so it's very noticeable and not in the woods or anything. There is a neighborhood across the road, but I don't know why anyone would park there when there is ample, unrestricted street parking in that neighborhood. The car hasn't moved at all since it showed up. I did see a cop checking it out today, but the car is still there for now.

I wonder what leads to these cars ending up like this? I was thinking stolen for the Sentra, but I would have thought the cops would have done something with it by now. It's located on a road multiple cops drive on multiple times a day. Weird stuff.

 

[antiqueshell]

Probably the Silverado was to be repo'd and they parked it there because the repo guys probably wouldn't think to look there. My guess is that the car is not from the immediate area.

I think the Sentra could also be a repo subject. Although I have not heard it talked about much in the media the repo stats for cars is at an all time high and shows no sign of slowing down for a long time.

 

[gathermewool]

While parking in a friend's garage I commented on a really strange looking Jeep that had seen far better days. She didn't have all of the details, but apparently the current owner saw the Jeep sitting on the side of the road and figured out how to make it his, after fixing what I think was a relatively minor issue. That was more than four years ago and even then I was spotty on the details, but I'd see about making those abandoned vehicles yours and selling for a profit, if it's not too much of a headache!

 

[PandaBear]

Maybe the owners are traveling and just park there for free.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Maybe the owners are traveling and just park there for free.


This is Charlotte though, there are plenty of free places to park that are better than the cell phone tower next to the railroad tracks. There are tons of cheap hotels around.

The repossession idea is definitely a possibility.

 

[Mr Nice]

Is it in a bad part of town?

Abandoned cars in a nice area quickly attract attention and get towed. But since you mentioned cell phone tower I'm guessing its the area is not so nice?

 

[fdcg27]

Who knows?
If you pay attention on the routes you drive every day, you'll see decent vehicles sit seemingly abandoned for months on end.
The record that I saw was a Pontiac clone of the Citation that sat elevated at the front end on a large diameter log in someone's driveway for at least eight years.
One day, it was gone.
Then there is an old 300ZX with California plates that has been sitting unmoved in the same drive for at least five years.
And then, there is a W123 diesel that has been siting unmoved in a parking lot for at least five years.
The odd abandoned cars are out there, if you look.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Is it in a bad part of town?

Abandoned cars in a nice area quickly attract attention and get towed. But since you mentioned cell phone tower I'm guessing its the area is not so nice?


The spots where these vehicles are parked are not particularly bad, lower middle class, but very close to a bad part of town. Ghetto is 5 minutes away.

Cops here generally deal with stolen cars quick though. A few years ago my roommate's Ranger was stolen and recovered the same night.

 

[Silk]

They would be stripped of any parts and then burned within a week over here.

 

[eljefino]

I like the repo idea. They probably get the subjects quaking in their boots with mean letters long before they actually try and grab the car.

The owners could also be homeless and camping in the woods nearby or something. You can fall on real hard times and still have a fairly nice car.

 

[qdeezie]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Is it in a bad part of town?

Abandoned cars in a nice area quickly attract attention and get towed. But since you mentioned cell phone tower I'm guessing its the area is not so nice?


The spots where these vehicles are parked are not particularly bad, lower middle class, but very close to a bad part of town. Ghetto is 5 minutes away.

Cops here generally deal with stolen cars quick though. A few years ago my roommate's Ranger was stolen and recovered the same night.


Lol sounds like N. Tryon or Sugar Creek!

 

[NHGUY]

I guess thats one Chevy that wont survive the apocolypse...

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: qdeezie
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Is it in a bad part of town?

Abandoned cars in a nice area quickly attract attention and get towed. But since you mentioned cell phone tower I'm guessing its the area is not so nice?


The spots where these vehicles are parked are not particularly bad, lower middle class, but very close to a bad part of town. Ghetto is 5 minutes away.

Cops here generally deal with stolen cars quick though. A few years ago my roommate's Ranger was stolen and recovered the same night.


Lol sounds like N. Tryon or Sugar Creek!


LOL, good guess. I am close to those, and even closer to the Plaza.

 

[JHZR2]

NC right? The state was (is?) boomtown ovr the last few years, lots of growth and folks going there. Prices going up. Money being made. For what? I didnt really understand why... But I know a lot of people and money went down there. With scenarios like that, people do stupid things.

Likely some folks got over-extended on toys like cars, couldnt afford the issues when they broke, were upside down and so walked away.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

There was a newish BMW 6 series parked in the exact same location, without any signs of being moved at one of my school's parking lots for a whole semester. No one did anything about it. Then the next semester came and either the permit expired and it got towed or it finally aroused someone's suspicion and it was gone. Always wondered why anyone would leave such a nice car there. Surprised no one tried to steal it during that time.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
There was a newish BMW 6 series parked in the exact same location, without any signs of being moved at one of my school's parking lots for a whole semester. No one did anything about it. Then the next semester came and either the permit expired and it got towed or it finally aroused someone's suspicion and it was gone. Always wondered why anyone would leave such a nice car there. Surprised no one tried to steal it during that time.


Trust fund kid. We had immobile cars at my college with flat tires and dead batteries-- kids would drive them in in september, get good parking spaces, then leave them there until Xmas. Then wonder why they didn't start.

Trust fund kids are also good at going to Amsterdam spontaneously for the pot and leaving all their stuff where they left it. Airport parking authorities have auctions all the time of cars that have been there forever. And don't forget the empty apartments... neighbors I'd like to have.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl


I wonder what leads to these cars ending up like this? Weird stuff.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
NC right? The state was (is?) boomtown ovr the last few years, lots of growth and folks going there. Prices going up. Money being made. For what? I didnt really understand why... But I know a lot of people and money went down there. With scenarios like that, people do stupid things.

Likely some folks got over-extended on toys like cars, couldnt afford the issues when they broke, were upside down and so walked away.


Yes, NC was a boomtown until the late 2000s. I don't understand why either, but a lot of it was a perception of being a cheap place to live and still get a good job.

Charlotte has been hit particularly hard by the current economy because it was a real estate boomtown. Lots of big banks operating here, and lots of construction was being done here. People flocked here not only for the financial industry jobs, but also the jobs in the trades building houses. It ended pretty abruptly, and there are neighborhoods that have been only half completed for years now. Every neighborhood has foreclosed houses in it now...the house I am living in now was a foreclosure in 2010! The economy here is just kind of stagnant now.

To add to the problems, a lot of people in Charlotte making over $100K think they are some kind of big shot, so there was/is a culture of living way beyond your means.

 

[JHZR2]

Lol, $100k makes you a big shot? That's just funny, but likely the reason why.

 

[01rangerxl]

Oh yeah...new cars every couple of years, huge houses with manicured lawns, and nothing in the bank to cover it when the stuff hit the fan. I would say the bulk of the foreclosures are not in "poor" areas.