This morning I found a sticker left on the windshield of my car by my apartment complex management saying my car will be towed on the 29th because it has out of date tags and inspection sticker. For one thing, I think this should be none of the apartment complex’s business, but I can’t do anything about that, I don’t think.
I have been holding off on getting an inspection sticker because the drivers-side seat in my car (92 Honda Civic) broke, and there is a big piece of metal sticking out of the side of the seat. I looked into getting it repaired and was told it would cost $700. I have looked for a replacement seat, but every junkyard I call says they don’t have any (apparently seats are in high demand).
Does anyone think I might be able to get a sticker on this anyway, perhaps if I put a seat cover over the seat concealing that part? The lights, horn, etc. all work fine on my car.
Secondly, does the apartment complex really have the right to tow my car away for this? It’s not illegal to not have an up-to date inspection sticker unless you are driving it. They said that this rule was in the community policy, but I don’t believe it was on my lease.
You should definitely check your lease, as well as any other documents (policies, general rule lists, etc.) from the apartment complex. Perhaps the point is noted somewhere.
I’m not going to defend the complex’s right to tow your car, but I can understand why they might have such a rule. When I lived in an apartment complex with underground parking, cars without current plates or stickers (let’s call them “forgotten” cars) were a problem: they were seen as easy marks by those wishing to steal what they contained (stereos, for example), as well as car parts. These cars attracted a criminal element, in other words, who saw them as a pretty safe bet.
Problem was that late at night, when the crime element came into the garage to hit the “forgotten” cars, they often noticed the other cars, and since they were there anyway…
You can imagine what happened. Anyway, my apartment eventually implemented a “keep your plates and stickers current and check your car every day or so” policy. Maybe you’re in the same kind of place.
Well, for one thing the mechanic has to get in the car to test it, and it’s kinda tricky getting in my car without cutting your side open if you don’t have practice.
What state are you in? In Massachusetts, if you fail inspection, you get a temporary sticker that gives you 30 days to get the car fixed - that might be enough time to get a replacement seat.
They’ve never made me get out of the car during an inspection, so they might not notice, anyway.
Duck tape it, man. You can fix anything with duct tape.
Seriously, bandage it up so that it’s not dangerous. I doubt that a broken seat is something they’re looking for. Just make sure that the seatbelts work and the airbag indicator works properly.
As far as the apartment, leases I’ve had say something along the lines of “community rules are a part of this lease by reference here.” They gotcha, buddy.
The apartment company has an obligation to maintain an attractive and safe property. Collecting abandonded cars runs afoul of that responsibility. Don’t take it personally. It doesn’t sound like you’ve got an inspection problem, anyway. Get it inspected or run it over to a friend’s house until you can get the problem straightened out.
I’m in California, where the only “inspection” that cars have to undergo is emissions - apparently general roadworthiness inspections were ruled racially discriminatory somehow (I do not know this, and would be interested in having that story confirmed/refuted.). You can’t register your car without passing smog, so the only thing they really have to go on is vehicle registration.
That said, the school I’m at states, in the written policy governing parking:
I think Spoons is absolutely right about the reason - abandoned cars are something of a problem here.
I used to live in an apartment complex in San Diego with what I would, under normal circumstances, consider to be a fairly decent amount of parking spaces. Over a period of about four years, however, many of the good spaces got filled with crap. A few people with apartments overlooking the lots decided they wanted to ‘keep an eye’ on their fishing boats/ trailers, and they would move them into the best spots forcing people with real cars to park further and further away. Then you had people with broken down cars that they (I’m sure) intended to get running again at some point, and never did. These too, also seemed to get dumped in the best parking spots in the complex.
At first, I don’t think anyone really cared, but after having to carry your groceries several hundred yards more in the rain for no good reason because some asshole has a boat, trailer, jet ski, etc. (note: why the hell are people in apartments buying all this shit to begin with?) in the good spots, you get pissed. Then someone suggested they make a policy about it, and, well, the cars were considered ‘abondoned’ if they had no current sticker, and people with non-mobile pieces of junk had to haul them to the distant ends of the parking lot (which seemed fair to me since I guess you can’t demand they get rid of their stuff if you have tons of unused parking)