Selling a junk car in Pinellas Park

Section 16-108: the 72-hour rule and its notices

The city's main junk-car rule defines its target broadly: any vehicle "without a currently valid license plate or is wrecked, or discarded, or dismantled, or partially dismantled, or inoperative". Whoever controls a property may not allow a wrecked, junked or discarded vehicle to "remain on such property longer than seventy-two (72) hours".

What follows depends on where the car sits.

• On private property: 10 days. The City Manager posts a notice on the car or the property, and "ten (10) days shall be allowed from the posting of such notice" to remove it.
• On a street or highway: 12 hours. The notice "may require the vehicle to be removed within twelve (12) hours". If the car is judged a hazard, it can be removed right away.
• Never fixed: sold as junk. An impounded car that is "not reasonably repairable" may be disposed of as junk, with the money going into the city's general fund.

The trailer-and-cover exception

In Pinellas Park, a cover can help, but only together with a trailer. Section 18-1530.15 allows "one (1) inoperable automobile" in the front yard "when it is in a fully enclosed operable trailer or on an operable trailer and completely covered with a commercial, custom-type cover". Other similar material made specifically for cars also counts. The same applies on the side or rear of a lot. A tarp over a car on its own tires does not qualify. Inoperable cars may always go in an enclosed garage.

If the city already has it

When the owner can be reached, Section 9-104 has the city send a written notice by hand or certified mail before towing. Tows go to companies on the police department's Class A and Class B wrecker rotation. Under Section 16-109, police may dispose of abandoned property held more than 90 days. They notify owners by registered or certified mail 15 days before any sale, and the owner can reclaim the car before then with proof of ownership and payment of storage charges.

Flood and total-loss titles

For Pinellas Park drivers, Florida calls a car a total loss once repairs reach 80 percent of a comparable replacement's cost. When water was the cause, the title gets a flood stamp from the department ahead of any sale. A brand on the title does not keep the car from being sold; see flood damage and wrecked or totaled.

Title office and plates

One Pinellas County office we checked is in Clearwater at Suite 100, 29399 US Highway 19 North, phone (727) 464-7777. Counting as the crow flies, that is about 12 miles north of the city center, and it may not be the only one.

To sign it over, use the seller's lines on the front: the buyer's name, their address, current mileage, the price and the sale date. No notary step applies. In Pinellas Park, the Notice of Sale must be filed inside 30 days. The plate stays with you.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Pinellas Park? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our offer form. We pick up from driveways, garages, or straight off a trailer. Largo is 5.3 miles away and St. Petersburg 7.7. For statewide rules, see Florida.