West Memphis: selling a car that no longer runs

How the city defines it

Section 26-1 reads like a checklist. An "inoperable motor vehicle" is one that:

• sits on blocks
• "does not have current, valid license plates"
• has one or more wheels removed
• is not fit to drive legally "because of lack of proper mufflers, tires, headlights, or other mechanical defects"
• "is not capable of self-locomotion"

The same section makes it unlawful "to maintain, store or keep upon any public property a junked, wrecked, inoperable or unlicensed vehicle."

The midnight rule on city streets

Section 40-116 bars leaving any vehicle unattended on the main traveled part of a city street overnight, from one minute past midnight until six in the morning. A truck rated at a ton or more gets four hours a day, at most, parked in a residential zone. When a car breaks that rule, Section 40-115 lets an officer move it off the pavement, or order the person in charge of it to do so. A car that died on the street at dusk is in trouble by morning.

A car in your own yard

The city sections we found deal with public property, not driveways. No statewide Arkansas rule on yard junk cars was found; cities treat it as a nuisance matter. North Little Rock, for one, bans junk cars outside approved storage and gives 30 days' notice before towing. West Memphis may have a version of its own; a call to city code enforcement settles it.

State law also says an unattended vehicle is abandoned after 30 days with no sign that the owner means to come back for it.

If it gets towed

Arkansas sets the timeline once a tow lot has the car. Certified letters go to the owner and any lienholder, sent somewhere between the second and eighth business day of the car's stay. Each letter has to explain the owner's 30-day right to challenge the original tow. Forty-five days after that notice, ownership rights lapse and the lot may hold a nonjudicial cash sale. See towed or impounded.

Title and plates in Crittenden County

Titles are a state job here. The Arkansas DFA does the work at State Revenue Offices and through MyDMV online. As the seller, you endorse the title, deliver it, and fill out Form 10-313 alongside the buyer with the VIN, mileage, full price and signatures. DFA's seller steps list no notary. Your plates stay with you, and $1.00 moves them to your next car. On the buyer's side, registration is due within 60 days of the sale. Filing the optional Notice of Transfer of Ownership is free, by mail or in person in Little Rock.

Nearby

West Memphis is part of the Memphis metro, and our nearest Arkansas pages are a long way off: Jonesboro is 53.6 miles as the crow flies and Paragould 64.8. Statewide rules are on the Arkansas page.

Getting an offer

Driveway or curb? Say which, since a street car is up against the midnight rule. Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or through the offer box with the car's details. Pickup in Crittenden County works like anywhere else: the truck comes to the car.