Author Topic: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee  (Read 3394 times)

Kashmani

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http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/towing-company-not-liable-for-auctioned-car-judge-rules-416177304.html

From the article:

Quote
Sonja Pecanac, a retired nurse, testified the 2004 BMW 750Li she was leasing from Kobi’s for more than $600 per month needed servicing so she and her son were told by an Osborne Village garage to park it on Wardlaw Avenue in November 2014.

On Nov. 23, the city ticketed the car as an abandoned vehicle, and Tartan towed it, first to another street about a kilometre away and then to its impound lot.

Pecanac discovered the car was gone and searched the area. She calling the city’s 311 service and local tow truck companies, including Tartan, but no one knew where it was.

She reported it stolen and, on Dec. 9, 2014, police told her they found the car impounded at Tartan’s lot. She couldn’t afford the fee to get the car back, she testified, and told Tartan Towing that in a phone conversation.

I feel sorry for the lady since the City obviously screwed up - it should not take several weeks to find out that a car was towed and impounded at the behest of a municipality. But who in their right mind leases a 10-year old luxury car at $600 per months from a used car dealer specializing in high-risk loans, especially if finances are so tight that one cannot afford a $2,000 impound fee? She could have bought and financed a brand-new Honda Civic for that same price, and have a car that might last her for the rest of her retirement. That level of status anxiety is pretty scary...

jinga nation

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Re: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2017, 05:50:35 AM »
Case of keeping up with the Joneses/Jones'. Dear Nurse Pecanec, feel free to NOT drive a lux-barge like the doctors you work with. They can afford it, you can't.

Regarding Honda Civic, that's IF she qualified for low-interest financing.

A neighbor is a user-car dealer who's main customer base is low-income working class who can't qualify for low-interest loans. His typical customer loans a 7-10 year old Buick/Lincoln/Mercury/etc so they can get to work in a decent car.

lizzzi

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Re: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2017, 06:10:13 AM »
I feel sorry for her, but as others are saying, what in the world is she thinking of leasing a car like that in the first place? It hits a nerve, because I have a good friend, frugal in all other regards--a retired public servant, with a state pension similar to what a retired nurse's might be--who insists on driving BMWs. I totally don't get it.

rothwem

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Re: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2017, 06:33:55 AM »
Two things stick out for me here:

I had no idea it was possible to lease a used car, and it's a fucking brilliant business plan since used cars don't depreciate very much. I'd be interested to see the terms of the deal though, since leases are based upon a predetermined depreciation amount set by lenders. I wonder if they used KBB.com to set the residual?

The second thing is that I wouldn't pay the impound fees either. $2,000 won't break me, but I'm not letting that money out of my pocket to go to the govt, because I know that once I've paid it, I'm never getting it back even if it was not my fault. Props to her for sticking it to the man.

slugline

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Re: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2017, 01:04:24 PM »
1) OK, there was a screwup with registering the VIN. But did the car have license plates?

2) I see the words "lease" and "loan" being used in the article. Which was it? Or was Pecanac under a rent-to-own (**barf**) agreement?

wevan

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Re: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2017, 01:08:25 PM »
The second thing is that I wouldn't pay the impound fees either. $2,000 won't break me, but I'm not letting that money out of my pocket to go to the govt, because I know that once I've paid it, I'm never getting it back even if it was not my fault. Props to her for sticking it to the man.
Unfortunately, there's a principle of law saying that you need to mitigate your losses:  you first pay the impound fees and then sue the city to get it back, rather than let the fees continue to increase while the suit goes on.  I don't know how it'd work if you legitimately couldn't pay them, though.

moof

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Re: Retired nurse leases 10-yr old BMW 750; cannot afford impound fee
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2017, 02:35:52 PM »
How could you have a BMW 750 in for any service and NOT have $2k on hand first.  Just keeping a BMW roadworthy as a daily driver takes a few thousand a year for normal stuff.  Those white glove oil changes ain't cheap!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!