Selling a junk car in Goodyear, Arizona

What Arizona counts as abandoned or junk

State law bans abandoning a vehicle anywhere, including private property. Under state law, a junk vehicle is one so worn down that taking it apart, salvaging it or restoring it would not pay. Once notice is given, MVD can allow the landowner or a recycler to dispose of it.

State law also lets cities and towns pass ordinances for removing abandoned vehicles from public or private property. Goodyear could add rules of its own to these. Check with the city too, not just the state rules.

Someone else's car on your Goodyear property

If the car is not yours, you cannot simply call a tow truck. A tow off private land in Goodyear starts with your signature: the property owner authorizes it in writing on MVD's form. MVD's letter to the owner and lienholder goes out within 5 days if the car is on Arizona records, or within 30 days otherwise, and the claim window is 30 days. A car nobody claims, and nobody reported stolen, can then be retitled to the party holding it with any liens wiped off.

One limit applies to rentals. For a tenant's car in an authorized spot, expired registration alone does not prove it was abandoned. The car abandoned on your property guide goes further.

Why the paperwork protects you

Whoever is listed as owner when a car is abandoned gets billed by MVD, and the charge rides along with their next registration or license renewal. ADOT puts that fee at $500 or more. Your shield is the Sold Notice, which costs nothing. Once it is on file, Arizona law treats it as rebutting any presumption that you, the last name on record, left the car behind. Use AZMVDNow.gov or form 46-8502, and do it within 10 days.

Selling a Goodyear car: title and plates

The state keeps Goodyear titles as electronic records. In Goodyear, these can be done through AZ MVD Now, at a state MVD office, or at an authorized Third Party office. A seller either finishes an eTitle Transfer online or signs a paper title on the reverse and delivers it when the car changes hands. Nowhere in ADOT's seller steps does a notary appear. A 2011 or newer vehicle usually needs an odometer disclosure as well. If more than one owner is named, the OR, AND or AND/OR wording decides who signs. Goodyear cars titled in Arizona can be sold with ADOT form 38-1306, called the "Title Transfer Bill of Sale." To see what belongs on one, read our bill of sale guide.

Keep your plate. Remove it before the buyer takes the car. The Goodyear buyer then has 15 days to file for the title. After you sell covers the last steps.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008, or describe the car on the form: its make and year, the miles, running or dead, and the title situation. A Goodyear garage, a side yard or a repair bay all work as a pickup spot. In a straight line, Avondale sits about 4.6 miles off and Buckeye about 20.1. State rules are on the Arizona page.