Selling a dead or junk car in Phoenix

Seen from beyond the lot, it counts

Section 36-161 cares about sight lines. On a residential lot it bans:

• "any vehicle which is inoperable and is visible from beyond the boundary of the lot", and
• "any vehicle which does not display current registration and is visible from beyond the boundary of the lot."

A car that runs perfectly but wears expired tags in an open Phoenix driveway is caught by the second clause. A dead car parked where nobody beyond the lot can see it falls outside the section.

Some properties are exempt. The code lets outside storage stand where the zoning district permits it, or where it exists as a nonconforming use "pursuant to the Phoenix Zoning Ordinance."

Fifteen days, twenty days, twenty-four hours

• Fifteen days is the repair window for a car registered to someone living there.
• Twenty days covers a car dumped on your property: removing it "within twenty days of its placement" is a defense if it arrived "without the consent of any owner."
• Twenty-four hours is all a broken car gets at the curb. "No person shall park any vehicle which is inoperable on any street or public right-of-way," and the defense is removal "within twenty-four hours of becoming inoperable."

That last clock matters when a car quits on the way home. In Phoenix the curb is a stopgap, not a place to think things over.

Emissions and the Phoenix car

Phoenix is inside Area A, which takes in parts of Maricopa, Pinal and Yavapai counties; the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality runs testing through myAZcar.com. Three groups skip it: vehicles no more than five years old, those from 1966 or earlier, and electrics.

Failing a test parks plenty of Phoenix cars. If yours failed, see failed emissions and repairs cost more than it is worth.

Arizona title steps, in order

Maricopa County has no role in titles. MVD offices and authorized Third Party providers do, and AZ MVD Now takes much of it online. Arizona keeps titles in electronic form, and a paper copy no longer arrives automatically.

1. Choose eTitle Transfer online, or sign the reverse of the paper title.
2. Hand the title over at the moment the car changes hands. MVD's seller list includes no notary step.
3. Most 2011-and-later models need an odometer disclosure.
4. Two owners? The OR, AND or AND/OR printed between names determines whose signatures count.

Within 15 days, the buyer must apply for a new title. Phoenix cars with an Arizona title can be sold using ADOT form 38-1306, the "Title Transfer Bill of Sale."

Plates and the Sold Notice

Plates leave with the seller in Arizona, so take them off before the car goes. Registration ends at the sale. Within 30 days, the plates must be moved to another car, surrendered, or covered by an affidavit of destruction. Unexpired fees can be claimed as a credit, with $12 deducted for processing.

ADOT's news release gives 10 calendar days for the Sold Notice, which is free online or on form 46-8502. A.R.S. 28-4835 lets a filed transfer report rebut the abandonment presumption against the last owner on record. After you sell has the rest.

If there is no title

No title? A Phoenix car can still go to a licensed automotive recycler or registered scrap metal dealer. Phoenix cars qualify at 12 model years or older, worth $1,200 or less, with no lien. They pay by check and photograph the seller, car and VIN. A duplicate title is $4 through AZ MVD Now or form 96-0236. See junk car with no title.

Nearby

Distances from Phoenix as the crow flies: Glendale 6.3 miles, Scottsdale 15.3, Tempe 15.6, Peoria 19.4. Statewide rules are on Arizona.

Getting an offer

Selling in Phoenix? Call (877) 421-6008 or fill in the offer form, and mention its last emissions test. We collect it from a driveway, a carport, a complex's lot, or the repair bay where it died.