Selling a junk or dead car in Johnstown

No town code found, so state law applies

We did not find Johnstown's municipal code online. What follows is Colorado law. The town may layer its own rules over it, including a different abandonment period, which state law lets cities set. Town Hall is at 450 South Parish Avenue.

When Colorado calls a car abandoned

State law sets these clocks:

• Private property: a full day or more unattended without the landowner agreeing, unless local law picks another span.
• Public property: 48 hours or more unattended.
• Police impound lot: not claimed within 72 hours of notice.
• Private tow: towed at the property owner's request and not claimed within 48 hours.

If someone leaves a car on your land, the DMV tells property owners not to call the DMV or the police but a licensed tow company. See car abandoned on your property.

After a tow

The tow company has 10 days after towing a Johnstown car to mail certified letters to its owner and any lienholder. That notice can cost no more than $75. A sale can follow anywhere from day 30 to day 60, counted from the postmark. If the appraiser says $350 or under, the only lawful buyers are those who junk, scrap or dismantle, and Colorado gives them no title. Repair shops get their own rule: five working days after a shop's last good-faith attempt to reach you, it may treat the car as abandoned.

Keeping a project car legally

Colorado has a decal for this. If you're fixing up or restoring a broken car, it may stay on private land after you pay the yearly specific ownership tax and display the decal that comes with form DR 2910. In Johnstown, it stays off the road until a certified inspection clears it and it is registered. Owners who skip the decal can face back registration fees when the car is registered again. And a registration that lapsed more than 13 months ago cannot be renewed online; that renewal is a county counter job.

Title work, Larimer or Weld

The Fort Collins office above answers at (970) 498-7000. Johnstown residents on the Weld side file with Weld County, which keeps its own hours and fee schedule.

Here is the seller's share of a Johnstown title. On the reverse, sign and print where it says Seller, using the exact owner name from the front; co-owners named there must also sign. Note the price paid and the sale date. For a 2011 or newer car that's younger than 20 years, add the odometer number too. The DMV doesn't ask sellers to get a notary. Give the buyer a bill of sale too; Colorado requires one when the title has no price written in.

Colorado has no way around a missing title. The fix is Bonding for Title, handled by the county: a bond worth twice what the car appraises for, along with a VIN check and a records search. Past 25 years of age, a car needs no bond. See selling with no title.

Plates and the report

Take the plates off and keep them; in Colorado they never go with the car. Johnstown sellers file "Report Release of Liability" within five days of the sale, through myDMV or a county office. Bring your plate and either the VIN or the registration code.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008, then tell us what you drive, its miles, if it fires, and whose name sits on the Johnstown title. The truck will come to a Johnstown driveway near Parish Avenue, or to a shop in Evans, Greeley or Loveland. We offer free pickup anywhere in the US.