Legal Files

We’ve all learned that car collections quickly become storage problems. It is easy to fall into the spiral of having bought so many cars that more space is needed. So a new garage is constructed, but that leads to buying more cars, which makes it necessary to build an even bigger garage. And on and…

Sensing that I was getting retinal damage driving at night, I wondered if I was developing cataracts. My optometrist who provided me with innovative eye treatments assured me that was not the case, so I started flashing people to dim their high beams, only to find that their high beams were even brighter. Eventually, I…

Tyler Reddick, driving for NBA legend Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing team, just went from 3rd to 1st on the last lap to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It gave the NASCAR regular-season champion an automatic entry into the NASCAR Championship 4, and a shot at the 2024 season championship. Amid the celebration, you wouldn’t know that…

Collector car dealers who sell customers’ cars and never pay them their money is not a new subject for SCM readers. But it was a whole new experience for Hans Claassen of Montrose, CO. NBC 7 San Diego recently reported that Claassen is one of many clients who claims he is owed money from CPR…

Memory Lane Motors has been a collector car fixture in Portland, OR, for over 40 years, dealing largely in mid-range American and European classic cars. Manager Elan Davis says that in all that time, it has never sold a car at auction. To his regret, he made his first attempt early this year. The dealership…

The August 2024 “Legal Files” about California cracking down on Montana-registered cars produced quite a response. We received more letters about this topic than for any other recent column, so we’re revisiting the subject this month. The surprise was that almost all the letter-writers were unsympathetic to this practice. Many were highly critical of what…

We’ve lately received several letters inquiring about estate planning, including this one: I have eight “special” cars that I have acquired over approximately 20 years. I maintain and drive them regularly. They are basically cars I always desired while growing up, which is probably a typical story. I will probably not sell them before I…

“Trevor” was surprised when a California state investigator and two sheriff’s deputies rang his doorbell. They were armed with a search warrant authorizing them to search his garage and to seize his cell phone. The garage search located exactly what they knew would be there — a high-dollar sports car with Montana license plates. The…

In the March issue, we featured the story of famed E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg and his bad restoration experience. Weinberg was motivated to contact “Legal Files” with his cautionary tale in the hope that fellow SCMers might avoid getting into a similar situation. To recap, Weinberg agreed to pay $225,000 for a 1957…

Airbnb and Vrbo have become household names for vacation rentals, widely popularizing the idea of a “sharing economy.” A number of similar car-sharing services have also popped up in the past few years, all with a similar pitch: If you own a car, you can make extra money by renting it out through their app…