Selling a junk or dead car in Alabaster

Alabaster's 30-day limit

The core sentence is plain: "It shall be unlawful for any person to park, leave or store upon any lot, place or premises within the city any inoperable motor vehicle for a period greater than 30 days." The code gives two ways a car qualifies, and either one is enough:

• it "cannot be started or driven under its own power"
• it has no current and valid Alabama registration

There are two ways out besides removing it. The car can sit "in an enclosed building," or be "screened from view by a visually impervious barrier such as a privacy fence or landscaping." A see-through fence does not meet that test. Properly zoned and licensed businesses are exempt when storing cars is "a reasonably necessary incident" of the work, which covers a repair shop, not a backyard.

Picture a minivan that died in June and still sits in plain view in August: it is past the limit, even if a repair is planned.

Parks, impound and the 60-day sale

Street rules in Chapter 42 matter if the car ever leaves your lot. Section 42-7 bars overnight parking at any city park or facility unless the city has authorized it. A dead car pushed into a park lot overnight is a ticket waiting to happen.

Section 42-128 lets police impound a car driven by someone who cannot show a valid license, "regardless of ownership of the vehicle." It does not apply if the driver's license expired within the last 90 days, or if the owner or a family member of the owner with a valid license is in the car.

If a car you own does land in a lot, Section 42-130 sets the deadline: a car "not redeemed pursuant to this article within 60 days may be sold by the city or by the wrecker service for fees owed." See towed or impounded if you are weighing whether to get it back.

Alabama title and plate steps

Alabama titles come from the Alabama Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Division. In Alabaster, plates and registration are handled by the Shelby County license offices.

• No notary. Your signature on the title assignment does not need one.
• Exact mileage. The odometer reading must be certified and match exactly between your assignment and the buyer's application.
• Matching names. Every owner on the buyer's application has to be spelled exactly as on your title.
• Plates come off. You keep them, and they may move to a car you buy later. Missing the window to transfer a valid plate brings a $15 plus interest penalty.
• Lost title. A replacement costs $15 through ADOR's Public Title Portal; see junk car with no title.
• Old and cheap. In Alabaster, a car at least 12 model years old and valued at $1,000 or less can go without a title in your name. The dismantler uses ADOR's SCRAP system to file Notice form MVT 5-18 instead.

Alabama has no emissions test, so a failed check-engine light does not stand in the way of a sale.

Getting an offer

For a quote, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Have the odometer reading, the model year, make and model, the title status and a yes or no on whether it cranks. We can haul it from behind the privacy fence that kept it legal, or from the shop that stopped working on it. Helena is 6.1 miles off and Pelham 8.8; Alabama has the statewide rules.