Maricopa, Pinal County: selling the car that gave out

Abandoned versus junk under state law

Arizona keeps two labels apart. "Abandoned" is about time: under ARS 28-4801, three unattended days on any property, or two days on a road right-of-way, counts as evidence. "Junk" is about condition: ARS 28-4881 covers a car so worn out that dismantling, salvaging or restoring it wouldn't pay, and after notice MVD may let the landowner or a recycler get rid of it.

A Maricopa car that merely won't start falls somewhere between. Cities can adopt their own removal ordinances under ARS 28-4833, so a neighbor's complaint may bring local rules into play.

No title? The scrap exception

Titles vanish on cars that sit for years. ARS 28-2098 allows only two kinds of buyers for a Maricopa car with no title, registered scrap metal dealers and licensed automotive recyclers, and every one of these must be true:

• model year at least 12 years back
• value no higher than $1,200
• never titled, title lost, or title already returned to MVD
• nothing owed against it

That buyer takes photos of the seller, the vehicle and its VIN, and pays with a check rather than cash. The seller signs that the car is headed for dismantling or scrap. After reporting, the dealer must wait 3 business days before crushing. A false statement there, or a sale of a car that still has a lien unpaid, is a class 1 misdemeanor with a $2,500 fine. Other paths are in our no-title guide.

Or order a duplicate for $4

ARS 28-2003 sets the replacement title at $4.00. Request it under Title Replacement on AZ MVD Now, or mail in form 96-0236 with one owner signing; by mail, budget up to six weeks. A car an insurer wrote off may come back branded salvage, restored salvage or nonrepairable, which salvage title explains.

Title office distance

For Pinal County we looked up the office at 240 W Cottonwood Ln, Casa Grande, about 17 miles southeast of central Maricopa as the crow flies (source: ADOT MVD hours and locations). Arizona title work happens at state MVD and authorized Third Party offices instead of the county, and plenty can be done online.

The handoff

Two owners on one title? The connector between the names, OR, AND, or AND/OR, controls who has to sign. Sign it over on paper or with eTitle Transfer, keep your plate when the car rolls away, and send MVD a Sold Notice inside 10 days at no cost.

Emissions testing

Arizona tests only around Phoenix and Tucson. Area A reaches into parts of Maricopa, Pinal and Yavapai counties, so look up your own street on myAZcar.com. Plenty of people sell after the car fails again and again. Read failed emissions.

Nearby

Casa Grande sits about 16.6 miles away and Chandler about 18.7. Statewide rules: Arizona.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send us the details online. For a car in the city of Maricopa, the offer form gets us started. The truck can pull up on your street, at a storage yard, or at the repair shop where it stalled.