It doesn't have a payment on it and it's not insured, so it feels free. It isn't. Here's what an abandoned car quietly takes from you while it sits.
The visible costs
If it's parked on the street, many Lower Mainland municipalities ticket uninsured vehicles, and some tow them after enough notices. If it's on a strata property, expect a letter long before the fine. And if it's on your own driveway, it's dragging down the first impression — and sometimes the appraisal — of your property.
The invisible costs
Cars rot faster parked than people expect. Tires flat-spot and crack. Brake calipers seize. Fuel goes stale and gums up the lines. Rodents move into the engine bay and eat the wiring. Every one of those is money off the offer when you finally do scrap it — the same vehicle, quote it running last year or seized this year, and the number is lower.
The honest question
Ask yourself: what would it take to make this car drivable again, and is anyone ever going to do it? If the honest answer is 'probably nothing' and 'probably no one', then the car isn't a project — it's a slow leak. And leaks get more expensive the longer you leave them.
“A parked car doesn't hold its value. It spends it.”
