# removal of vehicles



## NewEnglandProp (May 23, 2012)

Here in CT when we remove or tow a vehicle, we are required by law to store it for 30 days and file paperwork with DMV. I have always wrote the bid to say "tow vehicle ($150) and store for 30 days @ $10 per day BID $450.

Well this is a first, as one national spit it back and stated for me to re-write the bid to just show the tow, as storage would be the responsibility of the owner. Well I agree storage is the responsibility of the owner, which is now the bank as far as I am concerned. Am I wrong here? One does not say oh well the debris is owners responsibility remove.

thoughts?


----------



## PropPresPro (Apr 12, 2012)

I would say that regardless of who owns the vehicle, the service company is requesting that it be removed, and they are responsible for its storage fees. How they want to pay for that is entirely up to them. They can either absorb the costs, try to get you to absorb the costs, or pass the costs on to their client. 

I've got a pretty good idea how I'd respond to them.


----------



## SwiftRes (Apr 12, 2012)

What are your intentions with the car? Around here people will pay you to come get the car and store it for the 30 days at their own expense and do the required paperwork. Or at minimum, take it free.


----------



## Racerx (Aug 29, 2012)

NewEnglandProp said:


> Here in CT when we remove or tow a vehicle, we are required by law to store it for 30 days and file paperwork with DMV. I have always wrote the bid to say "tow vehicle ($150) and store for 30 days @ $10 per day BID $450.
> 
> Well this is a first, as one national spit it back and stated for me to re-write the bid to just show the tow, as storage would be the responsibility of the owner. Well I agree storage is the responsibility of the owner, which is now the bank as far as I am concerned. Am I wrong here? One does not say oh well the debris is owners responsibility remove.
> 
> thoughts?


Reminds me of a situation I had earlier this year, did a CFK and the owner of the duplex was never on site (supposedley in Jamaica) but there were two vehicles left in the rear of the property that belonged to him a "97" Lexus and a "92" Infinti ,long story short after placarding them he finally shows up and says he'll have them gone by Friday... on Sunday I go to the property to clear snow from the property and sure enough the Lexus is gone..on Monday he calls me and says "I'm gonna get the Infinti out of there today, I say "cool " as I'm about to hang up he has one last question "what did I do with the Lexus? "


----------



## P3+ (Aug 16, 2012)

*Hypothetically* speaking. I would almost think it is less hassle if it somehow ended up out in the street @ curbside parking. Just sayin. 

Not that I have *ever* done such a thing. But hypothetically if I did, I'm sure my camera would have ample pictures showing ALL of the vehicles parked in the street.


----------



## BPWY (Apr 12, 2012)




----------



## GTX63 (Apr 12, 2012)

I hired some guys one time that had worked for another company doing trashouts and evictions. They told us that their old boss would have them push the abandoned cars into the street or the alley and just walk away.


----------



## P3+ (Aug 16, 2012)

I'm not even going to say which national I learned that trick from...but they have been around for a LONNGGGG time.


----------



## BigMonkey (Sep 16, 2012)

I always just call a tow company. They take it for free, do the paperwork to try to contact the owner, and then sell it at auction after 90 days. I still get the $150 for facilitating that.


----------



## BamaPPC (May 7, 2012)

I've been told by the tow companies here that they won't touch the vehicle unless they have titile to it. So I'm kinda stuck. If I move a car, I have to store it. Do the paper work for the abandoned title. Then I can sell it to a salvage company or whatever. On abandoned vehicles, I bid $600 less discount.

Hmmm, I haven't removed any abandoned vehicles lately...


----------



## nurumkin (Sep 28, 2012)

*re*



GTX63 said:


> I hired some guys one time that had worked for another company doing trashouts and evictions. They told us that their old boss would have them push the abandoned cars into the street or the alley and just walk away.


Someone once told me they knew a guy that would get rid of paint that way. he wasn't in the preservation business but when he would get a bunch of hazardous waste to get rid of he would just wait until he had a junker car and would fill the entire thing and park it in the street until the city came and took it. I was never sure if I believed it because I figured they would just track you down by the VIN and charge you.


----------



## BigP (Dec 27, 2012)

BamaPPC said:


> ... I bid $600 less discount....


Okey, I'll bite 
$$$ less Discount? Discount for what??

They are already discounting the rate they are trying to peddle.

I tell them, "You get 10% Discount IF, AND ONLY IF, I am PAID within 10days. I give no discounts otherwise. And you can either accept my bid or you can give it to someone else. I am a general contractor and not your employee."

Obviously I don't get much work from "Nationals", but that's ok, the locals keep me busy anyway, and they take the 10%Net10 every time too.

A fella's gotta make a living, I am not a Non-Profit but a "Greedy Capitalist". 

If you don't run your business like a business, then they will take you behind the woodshed and play hide the pickle.

Or am I missing something in the math here? :blink:


----------



## thanohano44 (Aug 5, 2012)

BigP said:


> Okey, I'll bite
> $$$ less Discount? Discount for what??
> 
> They are already discounting the rate they are trying to peddle.
> ...


Well said.


----------



## BamaPPC (May 7, 2012)

well, I work for a national. they take 20% off the top. If (or more likely when) I don't want to work for the national, then there won't be any discount.

Today, there's a discount. and yes, I know they pocket money on the front end as well. It's their game, their rules, their yard, their ball. I do run my business as a for profit business. And, so far, the last 5 years playing in their yard I've managed to make a profit. I don't always accept the price they offer. I negotiate when and where I can. I bid high for items where they don't have a set allowable. I bid high for some items where they do have a set allowable. We argue, we negotiate, sometimes they win. Most of the time I get more than the allowable. I contribute that to my being able to...articulately embellish...what is required to get the job done. 

Best advice I ever got, "Don't get mad, get paid!" And the nationals will make you mad. But to get paid, you have to be creative. Example, boarding a crawl space opening. They have a set price they want to pay. But in this instance, it's not just a 36x36 opening. Down here in Alabama, they used to build houses on "piers". That is, the entire dwelling is set on stacks of bricks to keep the house up off the ground. (Many reason for doing this, no reason to explain for my purposes here.) So, the entire circumference of the dwelling is open - crawl space is(on a 60x40 house) 200 linear feet long x 1 to 2 feet high. I'm not boarding that for the $80 allowable. So, you can't submit a bid to - Board crawl space - $625.00. It comes back "Exceeds allowable, return and board for allowable". 

It would read more like this. Bidding to secure approx 200 lnft of crawl space with 1/2" plywood. Opening is approx 200 lnft x 2ft. Will require approx 13 sheets of 1/2" plywood. Approx 5 man hours. will require special tools. generator, power saw, extention cords, cordless drill, pop-string, and approx 1lb of decking screws. Bid also includes, custom building a hinged door access to allow for future inspection to underside of dwelling. Bid does not include padlock (padlock bid under securing)

I haven't told them I'd do anymore than secure the crawlspace. But I did it - articulately. And for an investment in labor and materials of about $285, I'm paid $500 with a net margin of $215. (plus the padlock) you can do the math, but that's a margin percentage of about 43%. I'll take that.

On most jobs we complete where we do nothing but work for allowables, we average about 23%. At then end of the day (or month) we've been averaging approx 29% overall. It pays the bills with some left over.

You just have to realize when to say "No, I cannot complete for that amount" And let some other schmuck take the no profit jobs.


----------

