quick survey

[topgear]

we have all seen maestros at the side of the road, either dumped, or in the process of being vandalised.. and i know how tempting it can be to think how useful the off part from it would be... but would you ever actually take parts of an abandoned maestro or montego at the side of the road for the sake of your own? would you have the nerve?
Vote honestly!

[Austin-Rover]

If i knew for sure it had been abandoned, i would maybe take some parts (When it is dark :) ). Abandoned cars find their way to the scrapyards sooner or later, so where is the harm in 'transplanting' some parts to your own car?

The most recent abandoned Maestro i have seen was a dark blue C-reg City X near my college. Its gone now - possibly to the big garage in the sky. :(

[Crank]

A while ago there was a dumped Maestro near me which I wanted some parts off. I phoned the local nick and asked them to check it and also about the legality of removing parts. He confirmed it wasn't registered to anyone, and said it was legally property of the council. I phoned them and explained what I wanted to do. The reply was " Just take the bits you want". I still felt uncomfortable when I was vulturising it, and got some funny looks from passers-by.
As already said, these cars will end up going straight in the crusher and meantime you'll be handing over your hard-earned for the bits you need. Silly!

[Dave]

Intersting this one. I probably wouldnt from any car, but if it was something rare or unusual, yes.

For example; there was a C-Reg Monty VP complete with 7l wash bottle, wash jets, rear electric windows... very abandoned at the side of the A34 near Newbury. On the way back i had all of my tools ready, torch, all in the front footwell..... Some git had burned it.

But you must remember - us students a willing to "improvise" when it comes to things we should really be paying for.... (e.g. Garden picnic table made out of old tyres (added bonus here, saved paying the garage to dispose of them!))
Dave.

[e692wtt]

Here's an idea (honesty dictates I say that I didn't think of it...)

We all know that cars get dumped because it costs money to get them taken away and scrapped. So...... it would be a good idea for the Council to set up a 'dumping tolerance zone' where people can leave their unwanted cars without fear of prosecution, and where others who are seeking bits for their cars can get them for free or perhaps a nominal price? Perhaps set up this site adjacent to the local scrappers so transportation costs for the (hopefully partially) stripped wrecks would be insignificant? Or let the scrappers take the cars in for the punters to strip the cars in the scrappers themselves?

Just an idea...

The other other Rich.

[Austin-Rover]

I bet the enviromentalists would have a bit to say about a 'Dumping Tollerance Zone' Its a nice idea, but why create another lot of scrapyards just to cater for people who wont pay to send their old cars to the scrappers? The answer lies in making the disposal of expired cars free, which will reduce the number of abandoned cars on the roads.

[SimonR]

Yeah - I have done in the past but only because the car was definately dead.

I was at university at the time and at the end of my second year I admired a nice metallic blue 'C' reg'd 1.6 HLE(or S??), with a blue, practically unmarked mk. 1 interior and x-spoke alloys parked in the car park with only 48,000 miles on it. When I came back after the summer it was still parked there, only every window was smashed and the whole bodyshell was mashed too :mad:

It got taken to a field on campus which was well out of the way so I went down there one night with a mate and my (long-suffering) girlfriend and took everything that could have been of use - Carb, fuel pump, ECU, practically new HT/coil set, lights etc... The x-spokes were long gone tho :(

Funny thing was that there was a Fiat panda next to it, also abandonned, and a friend of mine at the time needed a spare wheel for her car. Problem was that the bonnet had rusted shut so I just got the corner of it and bent it up and over, to reveal the wheel and a very manky looking tin-pot engine. What a shocking car!

We must have looked a right sight carrying very dirty car parts from one side of the campus to another! - I never did get the smell of petrol out of the carpet in the hall of our flat, prolly still smells now.

Makes me so mad when vandals just smash cars like that up for fun, especially when they're rare, good condition examples like that one was.

[beetroot]

there was a maestro dumped outside a school on my route to work, i was tempted to aquire some of the parts for it but when i intended doing it, it had already been towed away. my local scrappy tend to have expensive maestro parts when i ask...it only cos they know how much i love my car... :)

[topgear]

Just as i suspected, we are all tempted, and would probably do it.. if only we didnt think it was quite so on the ilegal side. Fantabulous!

Theres a T reg BMW thats blatantly been dumped for the past 30 mins in the car park in town, i think ill go and rescue it! :-) Not!

[Simon]

Just be really careful: I've heard that "undesirables" sometimes leave used hypodermic syringes fitted with needles propped needle point facing up under the seats of abandoned cars so that when you sit down.....JAB! Cases have been reported of the same lowlife placing used injection equipment adjacent to the bonnet safety catch, so when you reach in....JAB again!

[e692wtt]

No........

The 'dumping tolerance zone' is next to the Scrapyards or 'municipal tip' *and* it costs nowt to dump a car there. As opposed the £25 to get the b*gg*r towed...

Comments re hypodermic neeedles are 'closer to the bone' than Simon realises. I work for my Local Authority, and one chap who deals with 'empty properties due to be re-let' had a nasty surprise. A minority of our tenants have a 'drug problem', and used hypodermic needles are an occupational hazard in 'abandoned' properties needing to be re-let', said needles placed in positions such as to harm Council Staff (ie pointing upwards so anyone who sits down gets a 'jab', as Simon says), but who would bargain on used needles being stuffed up chimneys so that a Gas Engineer checking for Safety would get a 'needlestick' injury?? Mind you, this is mebbe 30 or 50 tenants out of 9,500... Just to confirm what Simon said, while the chances of grief are rare, be careful! It's fun driving round Council Estates then visiting Scrapyards later and 'comparing and contrasting'...

It's also the First Anniversary of the last 'drug war' death of one of our tenants, today - not an Anniversary to be proud of, I know!

The other other Rich

[topgear]

God! Im totally surprised by what you say about the needle problem! Something i would never have thought about when considering taking parts off an abandoend car. Thank yor for bringing this to everyones attention. We should certainly all be very, very careful and not leave anything to chance.

Some interesting survey results so far it seems too, absolutely nobody would never consider the idea of taking parts of an abandoned maestro or montego! Glad to hear it! :-)

[Jonathan]

Now that is surprising, hypodermic syringes would probably be just about the last possible hazard on my mind too. The things some people will do is beyond belief isn't it :(

It's been years since the last time I came across a dumped Maestro or Montego around here.