Selling a dead or junk car in Northglenn

Two ways to be abandoned

Chapter 7, Article 3 of the city code sets out both:

• The 24-hour street rule. In Northglenn, a car left untended 24 hours or longer on public property, including any street or right-of-way, is abandoned. The owner avoids that by leaving a dated note on it saying they'll be back, or by letting the Northglenn Police know.
• The condition rule. Separately, any unattended car with no valid plate, or that is wrecked or inoperable, counts as abandoned on private or public land.

The second rule is the one that catches a project car with lapsed tags. No number of days is attached to it in the text we read.

Removal and the pound

If an officer comes across a car on a right-of-way, or on private property without the owner's okay, and has "reasonable grounds to believe the vehicle has been abandoned," the officer can send it to the police car pound.

The notice that follows tells you where it was towed from and where it is. It warns that "unless claimed within thirty (30) calendar days from the date the notice was sent," the car is subject to sale. For a public tow, the police department appraises and sells the car "not less than thirty (30) nor more than sixty (60) days" after the notice was mailed. If a private tow company takes a car from Northglenn, it must tell the police chief which lot it went to.

Title work in Adams County

Northglenn lies in Adams County and Weld County. In a Northglenn sale, buyer and seller each go to their own home county's motor vehicle office. For Northglenn that is Adams County's office in Brighton: 4430 South Adams County Parkway, Suite E2001. Call 720.523.6010. It is about 9 miles east of the middle of Northglenn, as the crow flies.

On the back of the Northglenn title, sign and print your name exactly as the front shows it. Every owner named there signs. Add the price and the date. For a 2011 or newer model that's younger than 20 years, add the miles as well. The state's seller steps list no notary.

If your Northglenn car was crushed in a wreck, note this: a vehicle Colorado classifies as junk can never get a state title again. The same goes for a Northglenn car sold with a "parts only" bill of sale. Selling it whole, with its title, keeps those choices with the buyer. See wrecked or totaled for more.

Plates and liability

The plates stay with you. Pull them before the tow truck leaves Community Center Drive or your street. In Northglenn, standard plates go back at the county office, or you can leave them with a metal recycler. You then get 5 days to send "Report Release of Liability" on myDMV. Then anything the next owner does with your old Northglenn car is not your problem.

Getting an offer

Want a quote? Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Our truck can tow from a Northglenn driveway, your work lot, or a service shop. Nearby: Thornton and Westminster. For statewide rules see Colorado.