Selling a junk car in Bonita Springs

A junk car on your own lot

Section 20-131 bars keeping "any abandoned, junked or discarded motor vehicle upon any public or private property within the city." The two exceptions are a car "completely enclosed within a building" or one tied to a lawful business. "Each day" in violation is "a separate offense."

The plate test is strict. Lacking a plate for this year, or a current registration, counts as "prima facie evidence" of junk. And "the presence of a current license plate or registration shall not in and of itself exempt" it.

The notice, the hearing and the tow

Sections 20-132 and 40-50 call even one such car a nuisance. Either the county sheriff or the city's code enforcement manager posts a notice on it. Its key line: if the car "is not removed and lawfully stored within ten (10) days," it "may be towed, removed and lawfully stored." It is not handed back until removal and storage costs are paid and the owner arranges to repair it or get rid of it.

Three more things the notice carries:

• A hearing on request. A public hearing is held before removal if the vehicle's owner, or the owner of the land, asks for it.
• A code case. Code enforcement can also issue a notice of violation and take it to the city's hearing examiner.
• Possible arrest. The sheriff may issue "a warrant of arrest or notice to appear" against whoever kept the car there.

The city's zoning code defines a junkyard as any use "on streets or private property involving the parking, storage or disassembly of junked vehicles." That is the line a yard full of dead cars crosses.

Title office and distance

Residents head north to Lee County's office on Thompson Street in Fort Myers, number 2480, phone (239) 533-6000. That is roughly 20 miles north as the crow flies.

How Florida handles the sale

FLHSMV says the seller's part of a Florida title needs no notary. Put the buyer's details, mileage, price and sale date in the seller's spot on the front. The plate comes off and goes home with you. Within 30 days, complete parts 1 and 3 of form HSMV 82050 and file it. The buyer does not have to sign it. Nothing has to pass a test first: Florida ended its vehicle inspection program in 2000.

Under state law, "junk" means an inoperable former car worth most as scrap metal or parts. A total loss, in the same statute, is a car whose repair bill hits 80 percent of what a like-for-like replacement would cost, or higher. See salvage title for branded titles.

Nearby

Estero is 5.0 miles away, Naples 14.1, Fort Myers 18.4 and Cape Coral 23.9. The Florida page covers the state rules.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form online or call (877) 421-6008. Let us know what it is, how old, how many miles, whether the engine catches, and what title you have. The truck can come to the car wherever it is: a condo garage near the beach, a gated community driveway or a shop lot. If it won't start at all, see car doesn't run.