Golf parked at entrance to international airport in short-term spot for a YEAR racks up eye-watering six-figure fine
A VW Golf parked for over a year in a short-stay spot at the entrance to an international airport has racked up an eye-watering six-figure fine.
The owner has been hit by a crippling £170,000 bill after leaving their motor outside Berlin airport.
The grey Golf seems to have been abandoned and its owner is currently unknown, despite the best efforts of airport staff.
Vehicles are supposed to use the carpark only for short periods of time.
The first ten minutes are free, 15 minutes costs £4.20, and every additional minute adds £1.60.
An hour in the carpark sets drivers back a hefty £19.30.
These rates mean that the daily parking fee outside the German airport is a whopping £464.
These steep prices explain how the car accrued such a ridiculous penalty.
Airport staff and the local authority are stumped over what to do with the car.
They have no idea who it belongs to or why it was abandoned in the short-stay parking spot for such a long time.
German newspaper Bild reported that one theory suggests the car was stolen and then dumped.
Another German newspaper, Berliner Zeitung, asked cops from Hanover and Berlin about the car, but there was no sign of it in any records.
Stuttgart-based company APCOA Deutschland GmbH runs the airport’s carpark, and its manager told the newspaper they were aware of the unusual case and in contact with the relevant authorities.
With no idea where the owner is, it seems unlikely that the £170,000 fine will ever be paid.
APCOA said: “Whether parking fees owed in this context can be collected depends on whether the debtor can be identified and has the necessary financial means.”
An abandoned Saab dealership was visited by a group of urban explorers last year who uploaded the footage online.
The eerie showroom recently featured on the YouTube channel Forgotten Buildings.
In the video, the curious YouTubers can be seen entering the building through a gap in the wall, and coming into a long-abandoned room covered in dirt and muck, with paper, trash and boxes scattered across the floor.
Curiously, plants are still growing in the corner of the room, presumably due to water getting into the building through the ceiling, while a creepy children’s slide is propped up in the corner.
But most amazingly, the centre of the large room is taken up by three unsold Saab models.
The Saabs, which appear to be 9-3s – the final cars the Swedish marque built before they entered financial difficulties – are missing their wheels, lights, and other valuable parts.
But their original price tags remain, showing that the cars were once on sale for around £9,000 before the dealership closed.