Selling a junk or dead car in Montrose

The two street clocks in Montrose's code

The long clock is in Section 10-1-11: no vehicle "may be parked for more than 30 consecutive days on a street or highway right-of-way within the City limits." Breaking it is a Class B traffic infraction, with the fine set by the Municipal Court.

The short clock is in Section 10-1-7. The city may impound a car "left unattended on public property, including any portion of a street or highway right-of-way for a period of longer than 24 hours, if in violation of any parking regulations." A separate clause covers a car that interferes with "the free movement of vehicular traffic or street maintenance"; that clause names no waiting period.

Alleys are tighter still. Section 10-1-11 bars parking in an alley except for "the necessary and expeditious loading and unloading of merchandise or freight", and never across a neighbor's driveway entrance. A stalled car behind the house is not loading anything.

A car that will not move off your own lot

The two Montrose sections we gathered cover streets, alleys and city lots. We found no city rule on a junk car in a yard, so this part leans on Colorado law. Montrose may add local rules beyond it.

HB 22-1388 lets a Montrose owner keep a car that is being fixed up or restored on private property. Its owner pays the specific ownership tax each year and displays a decal (form DR 2910). It cannot be driven on the road until it passes a P.O.S.T.-certified inspection and the registration goes through. Skip the decal and you owe the back registration fees when you register it again.

A stranger's car left on your Montrose land counts as abandoned in Colorado after 24 hours, unless a local ordinance sets another period. The DMV says to call a licensed tow company, not the DMV or the police.

When the city has already towed it

Section 10-1-7 hands towed cars to the state's abandoned-vehicle law for disposal and fees. 10 days. A Montrose tower gets that long, counting from the tow, to send the owner and any lienholder a certified letter. A sale can follow 30 to 60 days after that notice. When a car is appraised at "$350 or less," it can only be junked, scrapped or dismantled. The buyer can't get a Colorado title for it. Our towed or impounded guide walks through getting ahead of that.

Title, plates and the five-day report

Titles in Colorado run through county motor vehicle offices under each county clerk and recorder. A Montrose seller deals with the Montrose County office; another county's office cannot help. We have not listed an address here, so check the county's own page before you go.

The DMV's seller steps:

• All owners shown on the title's face sign the Seller block on the reverse and print their names, spelled just as the face has them.
• Add the sale price and date. Mileage must be disclosed on model year 2011 and newer, through each vehicle's first two decades.
• Hand over a bill of sale (DR 2173 works). Colorado demands one only if the title leaves the price blank.

The steps list no notary. Lost the title? Form DR 2539A replaces it for $8.20. One more Colorado quirk: a car once classified junk is never titled in the state again.

The plates are yours, not the car's. Take them off, then file "Report Release of Liability" on myDMV within 5 days. Have the plate number handy, along with either the VIN or the verification code printed on the registration card. After you sell covers the rest.

Montrose and the towns we cover

The nearest town with its own page is Grand Junction, 57.4 miles away as the crow flies. The Front Range pages are all far off: Golden at 167.0 miles and Colorado Springs at 169.4. For the statewide rules, see Colorado.

Getting an offer

Montrose sellers can ring (877) 421-6008 or fill in our form. We can pick it up at a downtown curb, from a Montrose driveway, or in a repair shop's lot.