What to do with this?

I bought a P71 last summer for $500. I came from Montana, so there's no rust. It has a few engine issue, but that's not insurmountable. I'm storing at my buddy's house, paying him to store it there (that's only right) and there lies the problem.

Today my buddy calls me to say that there is a waring on the car from the police. There is a city ordnance about "derelict" car with no plates. I can understand this as this particular city seems to attract a lot of low rent people and they'd litter their lawns with junk, etc..

I spoke with an officer from the city. He said that he would go by the property and take a look. This car is in the back corner of his driveway, not easily visible from the street. He said that if the car cad a cover on it, the warning wouldn't have been issued as they are not allowed to lift a cover to inspect it.

Being undriveable at the moment, I don't want to plate it.

So what would you do? I'm half tempted to cut my losses and sell this thing. Do you think I could get away with putting a car cover on it now that its been more or less red flagged? What do legit storage places charge? I'm bucks down right now or I'd be working on it.

Berk.

Move car to another part of the yard with a cover on it.

What's wrong with it?

Yup, move it, back it in, put a cover on it.
buy a miata

What exactly does the ordinance actually say??

Mine says that race cars are excluded. Every car in my yard has a number on it.

The officer said it needed to be registered and plated. I suppose I could move it, cover it, and see what happens. I might stop by the village hall on Monday and ask for a printout of the ordnance,

While it wouldn't shock me if the ordinance said that (because many do), I would not trust the officer's opinion. They are not in the business of understanding the law, only enforcing.

It's pretty common that they write tickets for stuff that they are not authorized to write under the law.

I don't know if you have a newer ordinance, but here is an older copy:

McHenry Il codes

Page 885.

That does not say a registration is required, and allows for cars being repaired.

YMMV

Hey, thanks for looking that up. The car, however, is in a town just East of McHenry, called Lakemoor. Aaaand of course...

This section of the website is under development and will be available soon.

Please check back later!

If a cover is all that's necessary, just hit the local Lowes, Home Depot, or discount outlet and grab a blue plastic (silver lined) "tarp" and call it over with.

Bad time to sell a car, do it in the Spring after it's had time to marinate under that cover.

Out of sight, out of mind.

How much will it cost to put plates on it? I'm not familiar with what they charge in your state, but the car is old enough it shouldn't be all that bad...chances are it will be less than the cost of a car cover.

Couple of hundred bucks once I do a title transfer and registration.