Getting rid of a broken-down car in Newark

At a house: the state rule

A Newark car on private property counts as abandoned under Delaware law if it looks left behind and is wrecked, dismantled or inoperable, or carries no plates or plates expired 30 days or more. The owner first gets a certified letter allowing 7 days to remove it. After that, a sticker gives 24 more hours before the car is towed to storage. Municipal police are among those who enforce it.

The state rule does not reach a car that cannot be seen from the street and is not otherwise a nuisance or hazard. A dead car behind a privacy fence is a different case from one at the curb in front of a student rental. If a notice is already on yours, read notice to remove a car.

At a shop or industrial lot

In general business (BC) districts, Section 32-19 keeps wrecked, junked, stripped or inoperative vehicles from staying on the premises "for a period of more than two weeks." In general industrial (MI) districts, Section 32-21 adds that such vehicles "must be stored on a paved surface." Section 32-21 also names "junk storage, automobile wrecking" among the uses listed for MI land.

When Newark tows

Only police or parking enforcement officers can order a city tow, and Section 20-123 has them present at the removal and fix a towing notice to the car. A Newark owner who wants the car back pays, under Section 20-126, for the tow plus storage for the first 24 hours and every 24 hours after that. On top of that, the owner of record of a wrecked or abandoned vehicle is to "be fined the sum of $25.00." If you pay under protest, you can put in a written request and get a hearing in the alderman's court within three days of it.

Private lot tows follow Section 20-127.1. The property owner or an agent must authorize them. After hours, a car must have been parked one full hour before it is towed, unless it blocks an entrance, exit or another car. Parking areas owned by the University of Delaware are outside most of those rules.

Title office and Delaware paperwork

The Greater Wilmington DMV facility sits at 2230 Hessler Boulevard in New Castle. Measured on a map, that office sits about 11 miles east of downtown Newark. Phone (302) 434-3200.

Sellers sign Section 1 on the title back, with no notary. Mail the Seller's Report of Sale to P.O. Box 698, Dover, DE 19903, right away. Plates stay with you, and keeping the number means retaining them at the DMV. The buyer, not you, has to get the car inspected before driving it on a new registration.

Nearby towns

Measured straight across the map, Wilmington sits 12.6 miles off, Middletown 16.3 and Dover 37.9. For the statewide rules, all gathered together, see the Delaware page.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online. Say what the car is and how old, read us the odometer, mention if it cranks at all, and check who the title names. Pickup works at a driveway near campus, a shop lot or a parking pad off Main Street.