Selling a junk car in Daphne

How Daphne defines a junk vehicle

Section 10-41 is broad. It reaches "automobiles, trucks, vans, boats, two-wheel and/or four-wheel motorized vehicles" that lack "an unexpired license plate," or that are "in states of disrepair, disassembly, rusted through, wrecked or appearing to be wrecked." Boat trailers, utility trailers and livestock trailers are in the same list. The words "and/or" matter: one condition is enough. A car that runs fine but carries a dead tag fits, and so does a freshly plated car with a crushed front end.

The section also sets out two kinds of paper you might find on your door. A "corrective notice" is "a courtesy notice or other communication to advise anyone that there may be a violation." A "citation" is the harder one, a notice that "directs anyone in violation to pay the prescribed fine or appear in municipal court." Getting the first is the time to act, before the second arrives.

The sections we read do not print a number of days for a junk car on a home lot. Section 10-1 does use a three-day mark, but for something else: a "yard" under that section is any premises where someone lets discarded metal, rubber, glass and similar materials sit "more than three (3) days," and such a yard has to meet the city's salvage-yard rules. The city may have other provisions, so ask Daphne code enforcement if you have a notice in hand.

Stored vehicles under the land use code

Daphne's land use rules on parking and storing trailers and vehicles end with a blunt line: "The vehicles shall be classified as junked vehicles and shall be removed to a junk yard at the owner's expense." The same section requires off-street parking spaces to be an "all-weather surfaced area," at least nine feet by nineteen. A dead car parked on the lawn is outside what that section describes.

What a tow costs on a police call

If the police call a wrecker for an "abandoned, dismantled, or inoperative vehicle," Section 21-36 caps the bill for companies on the Daphne Police Department's rotation list. For a vehicle with a GVWR of ten thousand pounds or less, a tow from one point in the city limits and police jurisdiction to another may not exceed $200. A scene call longer than an hour can add up to $200 per hour, "calculated in fifteen (15) minute increments." Heavier vehicles cap at $500 per tow. Storage for a vehicle over one ton, or one needing inside storage, runs up to $75 a day.

Those are the city's limits on what the wrecker may charge you. They are a reason to move a dead car before the police do.

Alabama's abandoned-car clock

State law runs on its own schedule. Once a car stays on a public road or highway for more than 48 hours, it counts as "unclaimed." The same goes for over 48 hours on private or other public property when the owner has not agreed. Whoever has the car must tell the Alabama Department of Revenue within five calendar days. The title record is then locked for 60 days. After the owner and lienholder get notice, 30 calendar days go by and the car becomes "abandoned." Next, a sale notice runs once a week for two weeks. The auction may be held 35 calendar days after that notice. An owner or lienholder who objects to the sale can file in circuit court in the county where it will take place. Is it sitting on a tow lot now? Read towed or impounded.

Title, plates and storm damage

No Baldwin County title office appears here. In Alabama, county license offices issue plates and the state issues titles. No notary is needed in Daphne. Alabama lets a seller sign the title over without one. Pull the plate at the sale. You can use it on the next car you own. Baldwin County charges a $15 penalty plus interest when a valid plate is moved late.

On a bay shore, water damage is a real question. Damage of 75 percent of fair retail value or higher, paid out by an insurer, makes a Daphne car a total loss under Alabama rules. A flooded car's salvage title says "Flood Vehicle," and every later title keeps that mark. A car with a salvage title cannot be registered or driven until it gets a rebuilt title. The flood damage guide covers selling one.

The Public Title Portal replaces a lost title for $15. No title in Daphne? Daphne cars at least 12 model years old with a value of $1,000 or below can still be bought by a dismantler or scrap recycler. That Daphne buyer then submits Notice form MVT 5-18 through SCRAP.

Nearby

Fairhope is 7.1 miles away, Mobile 14.0 miles, and Foley 20.0 miles. The Alabama page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

For a Daphne junk car, call (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form. In Daphne we load cars from carports near Bayfront Park, apartment lots, and shops that could not fix them.