Selling a dead or junk car in Lakewood

The fence-or-cover rule, and its limits

The cover has to be real. The code requires "an opaque fitted cover made for the express purpose of covering a motor vehicle," so a blue tarp tied over the hood does not qualify. The rest of the property is stricter:

• Front yard: "It shall be unlawful to park inoperable/unlicensed motor vehicles or trailers in the front yard of any property."
• Apartments: no inoperable or unlicensed vehicles may be parked or stored "outside of multi-family dwelling units."
• Office and commercial zones: outdoor storage is not allowed unless it goes with a use the Zoning Ordinance permits.

Junk, rubbish or a nuisance stored outdoors on the lot, sidewalk or alley "for seven days or more" is a separate violation of the same section. One odd detail helps truck owners: a pickup with a topper or tonneau cover counts as completely enclosed.

Under Section 9.80.010 a car falls in this class if it is inoperable, does not display a current license plate, or is missing standard factory equipment.

On the street, there is no grace period

Section 10.33.030 is blunt: "No person shall park or leave unattended an inoperable vehicle upon a street or right-of-way." Here an inoperable car is one "not capable of being promptly started and driven under its own power," one with no current plate, or one missing a windshield, a side or rear window, a door, a fender, a headlamp, a muffler, a wheel or a properly inflated tire. Such a car "may be required by a police agent to be immediately towed to an impound lot." The one exception is a car that breaks down on the main traveled part of a highway and truly cannot be moved.

Leave a dead car on someone else's land without the owner's consent and Section 10.42.020 gives police the power to have it hauled off once it has sat there 24 hours.

When the city tows it

Junk vehicles the city tows go through the state's public-tow provisions for abandoned cars, and Section 9.80.140 has the city inventory each one at tow time. To get the car out, Section 10.66.200 asks for ID, proof of ownership and payment of "the appropriate towing, storage and impoundment fees." Paying does not cancel a parking citation. If the fees outrun what the car is worth, see towed or impounded.

Title work from Lakewood

Lakewood sits in Jefferson County. Lakewood owners handle most title work at their own county's motor vehicle office, since a counter in another county can't do it. Lakewood also hosts the one title desk the state runs itself, the Westgate office. It takes appointments only, for duplicate titles and other title work the counties do not handle. Replacing a lost Lakewood title runs $8.20 through form DR 2539A, or you can apply on myDMV.

On the back of the title, find the Seller section. Sign there and print your name, spelled exactly the way the front spells it. If two owners appear on the front, both sign. Next, write in the date, the price and the odometer number. Lakewood sellers won't find a notary in the DMV's seller steps. Adding a DR 2173 bill of sale, or one you write yourself, is smart. No title in hand? See junk car with no title.

Plates and the five-day report

Colorado treats license plates as the owner's property, so unscrew yours before the truck pulls away. Within 5 days, log the sale through "Report Release of Liability" on myDMV, or do it in person with Jefferson County. A Lakewood seller files with the plate number and one more item: the VIN or the registration card code. After you sell covers the rest.

Getting an offer

Call or fill in the form for your Lakewood car and we take it from there. Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. In Lakewood, our truck can pull up to a side-yard gate, a driveway or a shop lot. Wheat Ridge lies about 5 miles off and Golden about 6; statewide rules live on the Colorado page.