Selling a junk or dead car in Doral

When Doral calls a car abandoned or derelict

The code gives several tests. A car is derelict when it has "been left unprotected from the elements," shown by:

• "growth of vegetation about the vehicle"
• "direct exposure to the elements"
• sitting "in other than an upright or operable manner"
• vandalism

Time parked counts too. "A vehicle may be considered abandoned if parked or stored on the public right-of-way or private road for a period exceeding 48 hours." Note the words "private road": a car out front on a private road is on that clock too, not only one on a city street.

Shops, lots and the 28-day cap

Doral's land development code caps how long a dead car can wait at a garage. Tagged but inoperable cars "awaiting repair may be stored within screened areas" at repair facilities and service centers, "provided that no such vehicle shall be stored for more than 28 consecutive days." If your shop has had the car since the engine went, that limit is the shop's problem and yours.

Boots and tows

Five or more unpaid city parking tickets is the line in Section 44-271. A car with that many may not stop, stand or park on city property, streets, rights-of-way or swales, and the city can boot or impound it once the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court flags it.

Private lots can boot too. Under Section 44-72, signs must be posted at every driveway, and 30 minutes before booting, a notice goes on the windshield saying the car will be booted if it is not moved.

The Miami title office

One title counter for Doral is downtown, at 200 NW 2nd Ave. Doral sits west of it; as the crow flies the gap is close to 10 miles. Phone (305) 375-5448.

Junk, derelict and total loss in Florida law

Three labels in Florida law decide how a finished car is handled:

• Total loss. Fixing it would cost at least 80 percent of buying a comparable replacement, figured when the damage happened.
• Junk. An inoperable former motor vehicle "whose highest value is as scrap metal or parts."
• Derelict. Ten or more model years old, worth less than $1,000, its main value is scrap or parts.

That last one opens a door if the title is lost. With form HSMV 82137, the owner of a derelict car with no title can sell it to two kinds of buyers only: salvage dealers the state licenses for motor vehicles, or registered secondary metals recyclers. Once sold that way, the car must be broken up; Florida will not issue it a title again. The form also has room to name whoever hauls it.

If water did the damage, a flood brand may be on the title. When water totals a car, the state stamps the word flood on its title, and that has to happen before any sale. See flood damage and wrecked or totaled.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online. Say which car it is, the miles showing, whether the starter turns it, and if the Doral title is in your drawer. We can collect it from a townhome off a private road, a warehouse lot, or the shop near its 28-day limit. Neighbors: Sweetwater, Hialeah, and Florida for state rules.