Prescott junk and non-running cars, under Arizona law

Prescott's code was not online, so this is Arizona law

We looked for Prescott's municipal code and found none, so every rule below comes from state statutes. The city could still add rules of its own.

• ARS 28-4831 forbids abandoning a vehicle on any land in Arizona, private lots counted.
• Leave a car untended 72 hours, on public or private ground, and ARS 28-4801 treats that as prima facie proof it was abandoned. A road right-of-way shortens the time to 48 hours.
• ARS 28-4833 leaves room for Arizona cities, Prescott among them, to adopt removal ordinances of their own.

After a car is labeled abandoned, MVD sends notice to the owner and to any lienholder, inside 5 days if the car is on Arizona's records. If no one claims it after thirty days and it is not stolen, the car can go lien-free to the party holding it, which is often the tow company. And the Prescott owner of record still faces an MVD fee, added when the next registration or license renewal comes due.

Area A reaches into Yavapai County

Prescott skips emissions tests, which happen only around Phoenix and Tucson. Area A, the Phoenix one, includes slices of Yavapai along with Maricopa and Pinal. ADEQ runs the program through myAZcar.com. No test is needed for a car up to five years old, a car from 1966 or before, or an electric car. If a Yavapai car is stuck failing, read failed emissions.

Where Prescott title paperwork goes

Yavapai County has no role in titles. A state MVD office or an ADOT-authorized Third Party office handles them, and plenty can be done online through AZ MVD Now. Arizona files titles electronically, so many Prescott owners hold no paper at all; eTitle Transfer finishes the sale online. With a paper title, a Prescott seller signs the back and gives it to the buyer with the car. A notary is absent from ADOT's list of seller steps. For most 2011-and-newer cars you also disclose the odometer reading. If the record lists two names, the word between them, OR, AND or AND/OR, decides who has to sign.

Lost paper? A $4 replacement comes through AZ MVD Now, or through form 96-0236 by mail, allowing up to six weeks. Scrap metal dealers and licensed automotive recyclers can still take a Prescott car with no title, provided its value tops out at $1,200 and its age is 12 model years or more. In Prescott you're paid by check and sign a statement saying the car has no lien and is headed for scrap. See junk car with no title.

Prescott plates, and the 10-day Sold Notice

Arizona plates belong to the seller. Unscrew yours before the truck leaves. Selling cancels the registration. Over the next 30 days, the Prescott owner must transfer the plate to a different vehicle, surrender it, or sign an affidavit of its destruction. Leftover registration fees can come back as a credit, after a $12 processing charge.

A Prescott seller has 10 days to send in the free Sold Notice, by form 46-8502 or through AZMVDNow.gov. Skip it, and MVD's records can keep naming you, while a car later found abandoned carries a fee starting at $500. After you sell lists what else to close out.

Getting an offer

Phone (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Selling in Prescott? Use the offer form. We pick up in Prescott or in Prescott Valley, 7.3 miles off. Statewide details live on the Arizona page.