Selling a dead or junk car in Aurora

Three county offices we checked

All distances are straight-line miles from central Aurora:

• Adams County (Brighton): 4430 S. Adams County Pkwy., Suite E2001, CO 80601; 720.523.6010; about 16 miles north of Aurora
• Arapahoe County, in Littleton: 5334 S. Prince St., CO 80120; (303) 795-4500; about 17 miles west
• Douglas County, in Castle Rock: 301 Wilcox Street, CO 80104; 303-660-7440; about 24 miles south

Any of the three counties may have more offices. Hours, local taxes and fees differ from one county to the next, so the same errand can cost a different amount depending on which side of a county line you live.

Aurora's unlawful-vehicle rule

Section 114-28 reaches your land and other people's. It is unlawful "to cause or maintain such location or presence of any unlawful vehicle by wrecking, dismantling, rendering inoperable, abandoning or discarding his or her vehicle on the property of another," or "to suffer, permit, or allow the vehicle to be placed, located, maintained or exist upon his or her own real property."

One exception covers a vehicle kept lawfully "in connection with the business of a licensed vehicle dealer, auto salvage yard, motor vehicle repair garage, or police impound lot." The same broken car is treated differently at a garage than on your driveway.

Aurora defines public property broadly: streets, medians, sidewalks, alleys, public parking lots, school grounds, parks and more. When something blocks access to a car, city crews and private removers are "empowered to take reasonable steps to remove such obstruction."

A broken car at an Aurora curb

Colorado treats an unattended car on public property as abandoned once two days pass, or a local limit runs out. Following a tow, the operator mails certified notice to the owner and lienholders within 10 days, and a sale can follow somewhere between day 30 and day 60 after it. Appraised at $350 or under, the car may be sold only for junking, scrapping or dismantling. See towed or impounded.

Signing it over

Your Seller-section signature has to mirror the owner name printed on the title's face, and every listed owner signs. Add the price and date, and the odometer reading for 2011 and newer. The DMV's steps for sellers do not call for a notary. Title under another person's name? See car not in your name.

Keep the plates; in Colorado they stay with the owner. A regular pair can go to your county office or a metal recycler. Inside five days, submit Report Release of Liability on myDMV or at the county. After that, what the buyer does with the car is not on you. After you sell has more.

Nearby

Straight-line distances: Denver 9.3 miles, Centennial 11.2, Commerce City 12.6, Parker 14.4. Statewide rules are on the Colorado page.

Getting an offer

Have a car to sell in Aurora? Call (877) 421-6008 or start with the form. We can pick it up at your home on either side of a county line, at a garage, or in a parking lot.