It would be a crazy assumption that they have had, what used to be, a running and perfectly fine car, that they let sit there for 16 years and then suddenly decide that they dont only need that car repaired, but, that it also needs to be done within a 3 months time. Also, their registration is only $300 something, nearly $400. I had to pay fines for not registering my car for i think 3 years just a few months ago and it was nearly $900 to register (and 2 of those years were basically just storing the car in my driveway). If they have just been storing it, they very likely would not have been paying registration on it annually and it would cost far more than $400 to register a car after 16 fucking years.