[smusamashah]

As a total noob about the cars or buying flats or the location you are from, my first though was that why didn't you get it fixed and drive it away. But you won't have the papers then. Do the scrap yards not accept it for the same reason?

[yardie]

It's very, very expensive to bring something back to operational after decades of neglect. Spend thousands of euros on a car worth at most 1000€

Also, we already have a car. Why would I want someone else's scraps?

[aziaziazi]

Another card noon here, especially in urban motor driving so please excuse my ignorance. In that desperate situation isn’t it cheaper to call a friend to seat on the car and handle the steering wheel while you attach the car to yours with those rods, then pull it to a metal scrapper shop that buy metal by the weight? Without plate, isn’t that car basically a non car but a pile of metal?

[yardie]

If you let a car sit long enough, the rubber tires will develop a dimple. If you let it sit decades the tires will completely collapse. Now you are dragging a multi-ton steel sled with rubber nonskid pads instead of free rolling tires. Also, this is an underground garage. Not a ton of room to move around.

> isn’t it cheaper to call a friend

Its not moving a couple of boxes of furniture. I'd never seriously ask any friend to do this on a lark. Just pay the insured "expert" their fee so you don't have to assume any liabilities.

[sjducb]

If you don’t have a title or ownership history then people think the car is stolen. That’s why scrappers won’t take it.

If you have a title then people will pay you to come and pick it up.

[ponector]

If you are irresponsible human being you can simply tow junk car to any other public location so it is a new problem for someone else.

In our city there is a separate service where you can report abandoned car. They check, leave a note and one month later tow it to the special parking lot. Later it is sold at the auction or scrapped.

[analog31]

Most mechanics won't fix a car on site, and there might not be space to do so. Also, a car that's been sitting for that long can't be started without at least charging the battery, and probably, replacing it. Then one wonders how much they're going to have to invest on something that might never work and that they'll still have to pay to get rid of.

[pjc50]

Basically yes. However I'm sure the management company (roughly what americans would call a "condo association"?) responsible could change the terms given sufficient notice to allow them to remove and auction abandoned vehicles. I'm surprised they don't given how valuable a London car park is. Maybe they're not actually abandoned?