Selling a dead or junk car in Louisville

Where Louisville lets an inoperable car stay

The default is strict. Nobody may "park, store or leave" an inoperable vehicle "on any lot or land within the city," nor on public right-of-way. A violation, including "partially dismantled vehicle parts thereof," is a public nuisance.

Two exceptions matter at home:

• The covered car. One per lot, "entirely covered with a one-piece opaque heavy tarp or commercial car cover, securely fastened at all times."
• Quick repairs. Jobs such as "the changing of oil, sparkplugs and tires" may run up to 72 hours on a gravel or paved driveway, a parking pad or a carport, never on public property.

A fully enclosed structure keeps a car out of the count as well.

The zoning code's two-car cap

Section 17.20.160 layers on a parking limit. Front-yard parking is allowed only on the paved driveway or an improved surface beside it. Lot-wide, "no more than two motor vehicles" may sit outside an enclosed structure or the paved driveway, and of those, "no more than one such motor vehicle may be an inoperable vehicle." Your tarped car in the side yard therefore fills one of two slots.

No For Sale displays at the curb

Section 10.28.040 forbids leaving a car on a street, alley, sidewalk, park or public lot "for the principal purpose of displaying such vehicle for sale or lease." A sale sign in the window is "prima facie evidence" of exactly that. Put a sign on a dead car parked out front and you break two Louisville rules at once.

Somebody else's car on your land? Section 10.28.020 lets you call a towing carrier. Single-family homes need no posted sign, and the tow company owes the police a report within 30 minutes.

The county office in Boulder

Louisville's title errands go to Boulder County, which we checked at 1750 33rd Street in Boulder (80301), telephone 303-413-7710. In a straight line it is roughly 6 miles northwest of downtown Louisville. The office answers to the county clerk and recorder and serves Boulder County residents.

Colorado title and plates

The name you sign on the back has to be spelled exactly like the owner name on the front, and all listed owners sign. Fill in the price and date, plus the odometer figure on 2011-and-later models. Louisville sellers will not find a notary anywhere in the DMV's instructions. Leave the title's price blank and a DR 2173 bill of sale becomes required.

Your plates come off with you, because Colorado assigns them to the owner. Next comes "Report Release of Liability," which a Louisville seller files within five days on myDMV or at a counter. A car that Colorado has classified junk can never be retitled in the state, which is why a buyer cares that your signature is right.

Nearby

Lafayette is 2.9 miles away in a straight line, Broomfield 5.0, Boulder 6.9 and Erie 7.4. State rules live on the Colorado page.

Getting an offer

Selling a Louisville car? Ring (877) 421-6008 or fill in our form. We load from carports, driveways, or lots behind Main Street shops.