Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gajackson1]

I don't have a clue about this one - hoping someone with a Korean spouse /bi-lingual friend can help out.

Next to the villas we live in is a smallish parking lot - there just isn't enough room on the streets in our neighborhood for parking the cars people have. Whenever we can't park the car in front of our place, we take it over there, lock it up, and leave it for the night. Lots of people do.

And here is where it gets interrrresting/lucrative, Gentle Readers:

In this parking lot, there appear to be around 8-10 newish abandoned cars.

And I am not talking old junkers, a la Southern USA style, either. All seem to be early 90's & up; the 'worst' of the lot is a perfectly servicable Kia Pride, and there is a Sonata, a Sephia, a Matiz, a Tico and a Prince ACE (the one we are eyeing) as well, amongst others

It is pretty obvious that they are abandoned, as they have weeds growing all around them, up into the undercarriages (the city comes out and cleans/cuts grass around the lot regularly), and the one we opened up hasn't been used in over a year, if the gas slips & dead battery are any indication.

Since it is a community lot, and not a pay lot, there is no attendant. So....

Who can tell us how we go about contacting what office to see if we can claim the car, pay the taxes, find out who the owner is, etc. ???

I'm sure that a number of posters here would like to get a car, if they could get it at an auction price (or cheaper) . . .

Thoughts?

Glen & Christina

[katydid]

Can I have one?

[gajackson1]

If I can get a reply, I'll list them or post pics on my site for whoever is interested.

G.

[Squid]

Odd, I've driven past two... now only the one, for the past couple of months to the station and back. Same description- pretty good nick. I'll quiz wifey on how to acquire one.

[kimcheeking]

I wouldn't mind a newer car. One that is a little more gas efficient.

[bad guy]

Get the plate number and city it is registered to, then go to City Hall of that city, as that is where cars must be registered. They should be able to help you, although if you do not speak Korean take a translater. Tell them the situation, and they may be able to contact the owner and inform them of your intentions to buy the car if a reasonable price can be worked out. As the cars are just sitting apparently abandoned in a lot, the registration clerk might be very helpful in trying to assist you in contacting the owner.
I think that might be the easiest way to go around it, or you could just get the plate number and city it was registered in and phone the City Hall.
Good luck!

[gajackson1]

bad guy, that is preeettttyyyy much what I had alread guessed; I just wondered if anyone had heard of/done a Korean 'auction' like they do in the States.

I'll let you all know what I find out - I'm going to e-m a judge friend of mine & ask him.

Regards,

Glen

[Dr. Buck]

Just jimmy one open and take it for a joy ride first. Have fun with it. The locking system in most Korean vehicles is a joke. I've opened many a K-car in seconds with a thin strip of metal and a deft wrist. It's either a push or pull mechanism.

You probably don't want to buy one of these cars. If they look abandoned, with weeds growing around them, then its probably for a reason--most likely the owners don't want to have to pay the official car disposal fee at the junkyard, and also, if they have been sitting their for a long time, most likely the owners haven't been keeping up on their annual car taxes. For used cars, two years of back taxes can sometimes equal the value of a used good-quality "ddong-cha."

So, crack one open, hotwire the engine, and you're off for a grand road trip and nobody will notice the car is missing. Then, when you return, call all of the local waygooks up for a car-destruction party and hand out baseball bats and sledgehammers. Bring lots of beer and then torch the wreckage with gas out at the local cement plant. Make sure you have another car hotwired for a getaway car since you want to get out of their before the CAPS security patrol comes around an hour later.

[gajackson1]

*SIGH!* Memories of well misspent youth!!! The 'salad days,' so to speak.

the one we want isn't even locked (battery is dead; we are very curious to know what is in the trunk!), so that's how we pretty much guessed.

Since we have virtually the same car, but the abandon is an 'upgrade,' we would probably sell ours & take the abandoned one - providing it comes out in our favor or close. (we got ours from another poster for about 600k won)

(Ours is a 99 Daewoo Prince w/ 200k on it, in great shape. The abandon seems to be a (( or 2000 Daewoo Prince ACE or Brougham, with leatherish interior, powered moonroof, upgraded CD stereo, etc.)

Buck, I can always count on you for quality replies - to put a serious twist on a comical thread, and vice-versa. Glad to see you are still around!

Regards,

Glen

[Zyzyfer]

Ooh, free cars.

[helly]

Hey, there was a TV show on yesterday on just this topic - abandoned cars! Some celebrity personalities, along with a government agency schmoe, went around finding orphaned cars, tracked down their owners and shamed them into admitting that they left them to avoid taxes and promising that they would be better people from now on. The registration papers were usually in the car so look in the glove department.

On the same show, they created a bus that cruised around picking up drunk people and offering them refreshments and rides home. Let's Keep On the Surface Korea Clean and Idiot Free!!! Of course, if someone was really drunk and unruly, they'd pick em up and take them to the police station. "Oh, I'm sooooo worried about him, he seems like he drank too much. And, he yelled at me and grabbed my arm. I was just an innocent passer-by in a HUGE BUS trying to pick drunks up off the road, doing nothing wrong at all."

Bitter today, going away now.