I live in Austin but I was planning on going to California so I thought I would see if I could find some Fieros. I did!!! I bought 3.

#1 - The first one was a 1988 T-Top outside of Fresno that has been sitting for a couple of years. It needs a fuel pump.
#2 - The second was a 1988 coupe in Garden Valley that is in good condition but without an engine and transmission that the buyer wanted for another Fiero he was working on.
#3 - The third was a 1985 SE that has been garaged. That one I drove back to Texas from Caramillo.

The first 2 cars I was given until the 31st of October to come back and get(this is stated on the bill-of-sale). My plan was to come back and trailer car #2 to Fresno and remove the fuel tank from car #2 and put it in car #1 and use whatever other parts were necessary to get it running. Now the owners of car #2 want it gone within a week(6-20-2013). This puts me in a hard place. Apparently the wife is the one creating the problem because they have some events that are to be held at the house.(I actually bought the car from the son of this couple-he lives with them) The car is in VERY good condition, the exterior panels are perfect. No rust. It housed a V6, 5 speed all the linkages are intact as well as the rear suspension. The motor and trans were lifted out of the top therefore it is a rolling chassis. Glass all around is good, Driver seat a little worn, passenger seat perfect.

I need help in solutions in moving and storing the car until I can get there in a reasonable time. I am pretty flexible but I can not get there in a week to do it myself. ANY suggestions???? I am open to numerous solutions just need some assistance from information to actual removal from this guy's property

Thanks

fresno is 3 hours from sacramento....

[This message has been edited by mmeyer86gt/gtp (edited 06-13-2013).]

Yes, I drove it. Then I drove to Camarillo, San Diego, then back to Austin, TX.

The full solution does not have to be carried out all at once. The big thing now is just getting it off of this guys property. Does anyone know where I can even store it for a while till I can get there?

I am a bit on edge right now so if I sound snippy please forgive me. Even where you are to Garden Valley is over an hour in driving time. Is there someone that has a friend that will allow a car to be on their property for a while that is in that area? I am willing to pay for services rendered, just need some answers. Even if they are not complete solutions I can fill in the blanks if I have a starting place.

[This message has been edited by hcforde (edited 06-13-2013).]

use yellow pages dot com to look for a Public Storage or similar place. Some of them rent parking place - probably cost $100 or so per month, but it solves your problem ...

or you could consider uship dot com to get it transported to you, i guess ...

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 06-13-2013).]

Garden Valley is over an hour from Sacramento - it's up in the hills past Placerville, which is itself quite a drive.

There are at least a few storage places I have personally used to store cars, but you'll be on the hook for ~$150/mo to do that. I guess that was for indoor storage and you might be able to get a better deal on outside storage. Never looked into it!

I think your best bet is to find someone up in the foothills with space to store a car for a while, that will minimize towing and storage costs.

I'm in Sac and happy to help if I can (and don't have to pay for gas ), but my gut tells me that forking over $100+ to move the car, then $200-$600 to store the car is going to put you in a silly financial place.

(Too bad it's not a fastback, or we could have probably worked something out )

[This message has been edited by thesameguy (edited 06-13-2013).]

thesameguy;
Work something out like what? What are you looking for exactly? I have fastback body parts? That is a start toward a solution.

I have been looking at places to store it and most of them are concerned about the legal issues of it not having a "non-op" registration in my name, and me not being there to sign the contract.

I have looked into renting a U-haul and trailering car #1 & #2 back to Texas, WOW, I could have them shipped cheaper with less wear & tear on myself.


EDIT:
I did look at and have now posted on Uship. HOWEVER, I am still looking for solutions. I will post some pics in a bit here.

Do any of you out there know anyone that might need a 1988 chassis for a Kit car. Don't for get I am looking at all options from how I can keep it to how I can sell it if necessary. It all has to be done in the next week.

[This message has been edited by hcforde (edited 06-13-2013).]

quote Originally posted by hcforde: Work something out like what? What are you looking for exactly? I have fastback body parts? That is a start toward a solution.

I'm not looking for anything specific, but could have possibly justified buying the car for you and then making the fuel system available to you when you got here. Really, though, I need nothing and need a parts car at my place like another hole in the head.

quote Originally posted by hcforde: I have been looking at places to store it and most of them are concerned about the legal issues of it not having a "non-op" registration in my name, and me not being there to sign the contract.

The title of the car really shouldn't matter... It matters in a legal sense, but I've never had anyone ask me what I planned to store or whether it belonged to me or not. You pay your rent you get the space, it's like that. The not being available to sign the contract *is* a bit sticky, because it compromises their rights in the event you don't pay. But I have definitely stored cars that don't legally belong to me before - more often than not, that's why I'm storing them - because I can't have 'em on the street.

quote Originally posted by hcforde: I have looked into renting a U-haul and trailering car #1 & #2 back to Texas, WOW, I could have them shipped cheaper with less wear & tear on myself.

Yeah, UHaul is NOT the way to go. Mileage on top of the rental fee on top of the fuel sucks ass, BTDT. May I ask how you originally intended to get the Garden Valley car to Fresno?

I was going to 1. rent a truck and take it to Fresno by dolly. OR 2. take what I figured I needed to fix up the GT T-Top to run then I was going to take off whatever else I needed and then see if some wanted the chassis for a kit car based on a 1988 Fiero. Great plan, right!!! If I had know that I could not have let the car stay where we "contractually agreed" I could have done all of this while I was in the area. I arrived in Fresno on the 4th, bought the GT T-Top on the 5th. Was in Garden Valley on the 6th and purchased the car in question at 9:00AM. I did not leave to go to southern California until the 7th early in the morning; more than enough time to get it in another place had they simply let me know. They did not contact me until Monday the 10th that they wanted it out. Legally, I could probably hang them by showing that I had made arrangements pending on the sale of this vehicle after the sale was completed and thereby they have harmed me and ask for damages by having to spend time and $$ through no fault of my own and their rescinding the terms of the contract with prejudice. But I really do not want to do anything like that, just not me.

My next move is to talk to the pastor in the area that is in the same denomination that I am in. Maybe someone will have an empty garage or live in the country where I could put it for a couple of months. BTW, this is interesting http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/...ast_facts/ffvr01.htm You have to pay if you own a vehicle and even are not planning on using it?

[This message has been edited by hcforde (edited 06-13-2013).]

quote Originally posted by hcforde: BTW, this is interesting http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/...ast_facts/ffvr01.htm You have to pay if you own a vehicle and even are not planning on using it?

Yeah, you have to pay to have an unregistered car on your private property. What they call a PNO registration (Planned Non-Operation). It's incredibly stupid but there's no avoiding it if you ever want to drive the car again. People who ignore this requirement end up with a car that's toxic and has to be hauled away.
When I was shopping on Craigslist, I saw obvious warning signs of this situation constantly. Lots of otherwise interesting, structurally healthy cars end up dying this way. It's frustrating and sad.

People park a car for whatever reason. They ignore the registration and don't get a PNO. A few years later they try to register and discover they owe exorbitant back-registration penalties. So then they try to sell it. If anybody buys it, they're on the hook for those penalties.
Once that happens there's only 2 solutions I'm aware of:
1) Sell it out of state
2) If it sits long enough, supposedly it will eventually fall out of the DMV records. I have no idea how long that takes.

I think lots of people who park a car just don't realize the importance of a PNO until it's too late. But along with emissions, it's one of the reasons an out of state buyer can get a good deal.

quote Originally posted by armos:2) If it sits long enough, supposedly it will eventually fall out of the DMV records. I have no idea how long that takes.

Seven years. Ask me how I know. Always baffled that in the age of computers they continue with the seven year rule and on a few occasions I've expected to go to the DMV and find out it's changed, but as of a couple months ago it's still seven years.

Back registration on old cars isn't awful. It's very close to 150% of one year's registration plus current registration plus $200. On a 1988 Fiero, where registration is probably about $80, you're looking at a maximum fee somewhere in the neighborhood of $400. That gets AWFUL on a new car. Let my Solstice registration lapse and the maximum fee would be about $1100. Yikes.

I agree - if they made a deal with you to keep the car and now they're not going to, you've got them in breech. Of course, if the deal you made is with the son and not the property owner, you may still be out that money... the son can't make promises on the behalf of the property owner.

Have you exchanged money with the owner of the Fiero? Do you have the option of cutting it loose? Mind if I ask how much is on the table?

Yes, to your legal observation. The son was the one that signed the paper so I could go after the son because he lives there and the dad knew what was going on. HOWEVER, that is not my style. The son and the dad are willing to send me a money order for what I paid so that is not a problem. The pastor of the church there contacted me today and I informed him of the situation. If they can not find anyone that can store it for me then how much would you want to buy it for? I will make you a great deal because not that much money is on the table and I would rather see it NOT CRUSHED.

If you've got the option of getting your money out, I'd go that route. The only reason I could possibly have for it would be to remove the cradle to build something for my car (someday...) and then I'd crush it too. At most I'd be talking about a couple hundred bucks, since it would take me a couple hundred bucks to go get it.

quote Originally posted by thesameguy: Back registration on old cars isn't awful. It's very close to 150% of one year's registration plus current registration plus $200. On a 1988 Fiero, where registration is probably about $80, you're looking at a maximum fee somewhere in the neighborhood of $400. That gets AWFUL on a new car. Let my Solstice registration lapse and the maximum fee would be about $1100. Yikes.

There's a maximum? Do you mean maximum grand total, or maximum per year?
A couple years ago I looked up back registration for a Fiero I thought about buying, and it looked like DMV wanted full registration plus late penalties for every year that it was unregistered. That was on a car that only owed 2-3 years worth though.

That basically is a punitive car tax. In this economy it would hurt those that are poorer first because when they lose their job they have no reserve. They are then basically force to sell at a loss, and then later buy a vehicle at a higher price if they get a job later. OR, is it something more sinister like trying to force people into public transportation which means the government can control their access to being mobile.

It is neither. It is California trying to clean up emissions by making it unattractive to keep inoperable old vehicles forever..... and it works pretty well, even if car-nuts like us want to stop the clock and keep 25 year old cars going way beyond their useful life. That does not sell well in Texas, or Michigan for that matter, but given the same geography, other states would do the same thing without a thought given to 'access to being mobile', whatever that is.

It's just another money grab from a state that can never find enough of it. Environmental religion justifies everything out here, but in the rare event that you do take a vehicle back into service, it still has to pass emissions testing.
Anyway, PNO registration is cheap (should be free, but whatever). Forgetting to do it is what's expensive.

I am not convinced of the altruism of the 'State' anymore. Neither do I believe that things are done for singular purposes.