Cars abandoned as owners can’t pay for repairs

AN average of 500 vehicles per year are abandoned at car repair shops in Almeria province.

The owners leave them for repair and then abandon them when they are unable to pay the bills.

Mechanics say that this has always happened, but more so in the past few years, and in 2009, almost 1,000 vehicles were abandoned at garages in the province.

They report losses that year alone of more than €2m because of what the unpaid repairs cost them.

However, the following year, a law came into effect by which, if they notify the traffic department and the car is not collected and paid for within a month, they can call for it to be taken for scrap, meaning they can take back any pieces used for the repair which helps to reduce costs, although there is no way for them to get back the time they have spent on the vehicle.

In most cases, when vehicles have been abandoned, the cost of the repairs was quoted at around €1,000 and the vehicle is between eight and 10 years old.