Kind of a wild and unexpected scenario... as the title states, I got a call from family that I used to live with about 10 years ago that a letter had arrived from the NYPD. I asked them to open it for me and sure enough it's a notice that I have 10 days to collect my impounded vehicle before they sell it at auction.
I sold this car 10 years ago for cash to a guy in the Bronx, and it seems he never put it in his name. Sadly, I do not have any paperwork on this car since I lost it all when a thief broke into our home years ago and stole a bunch of documents (have police report etc.). I do still have the license plate number, VIN, and some other details as well as a bunch of pictures from when I owned it. So theoretically I could request a copy of the title if it was never registered by the guy I sold it to.
Last detail on this is that I probably can't get a new title in less than 10 days, and even if I could I'm leaving the country for 3 weeks on Thursday of this week.
Question is, what do I do with this? I'll be calling the PD tomorrow to get some more info, but as I see it my options are as follows:
- Do nothing, tell PD I sold it years ago and let them sell my old car at auction and be done with it.
- Try to buy back (fees likely around $1k, unsure of what it's worth since I haven't seen it and don't know the condition).
- Negotiate lower buy-back since I didn't receive notice until it had been on lot for 2 months.
Some other details:
- Vehicle is a 2002 Chevy Tahoe, has some sentimental value but otherwise likely not worth much. Sold with 100k miles on it in great shape, no clue on current condition.
- Lived in NJ when I owned the car, sold it to someone in the Bronx for cash which is where it is currently impounded.
- Car was sold on eBay, which is the only proof of sale I have since other documents were stolen.
- Currently live in MD and am not too close to where it's located, making it difficult for me to scope out the situation in person.
Any thoughts?