An awkward parking lot can quickly lead you to the impound lot to recover your vehicle. The fine to be paid is often hefty. But sometimes procrastination is much worse than having to shell out a hundred dollars.
“Where is my car?” This is a question that hundreds of motorists ask themselves every day. When you can’t find your vehicle where you had parked it a few hours earlier, the first reaction is often to cry foul. Then to ask oneself – when one does not already know – if the parking was allowed at the selected location. And it is indeed very often awkward, abusive or even dangerous parking that explains why your vehicle has disappeared. Car kidnappings are legion every day in big cities, where finding a place to park is sometimes an impossible task. Once your car has been sent to the poundnormally the closest to your parking location, then begins a time trial to retrieve it.
A paid time trial since in addition to the fine for inconvenient parking amounting to 135 euros, impound fees come every day to salt the bill a little more. In a big city like Paris, Lyon or Marseille, they flirt with 30 euros for each day that your vehicle is impounded. The price to pay can very quickly soar above 200 euros.
An extreme penalty in some cases
But there is a worst-case scenario. If you have not been able to recover your car from the impound within 10 days – compared to 15 before the change in procedure in 2021 – you simply risk never seeing it again. The State has the right to sell your vehicle. All vehicles? No, those meeting specific criteria.
The law stipulates that the State has the right to sell under two conditions: the car must be between 13 and 30 years old and its value must not exceed 765 euros. To estimate the amount of the vehicle, an expert is mandated once the 10-day period has passed. If he considers that your car is worth less than 765 euros (and that it is more than 13 years old), then the State has the authorization to sell it without your consent. Does this mean that you no longer have any chance of seeing the car you parked a few days earlier? There is a possibility of recovering it, by approaching the organization in charge of the sale. But it will cost you an additional 129 euros, which must be added to the amount of the fine and the daily guarding costs. A price to pay that may well exceed the value of your vehicle!