Selling a junk or dead car in Sarasota

If a repair is not coming in that window, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Who is exempt from 16-50

Only two other situations escape the rule:

• the car sits in "a completely enclosed building" so that it "is not visible from other property or from a public right-of-way"
• it is on the lot of a licensed dealer, repair shop, junkyard or other licensed business, outside a residential zone

The exemption asks for a "completely enclosed building" that keeps the car out of view; an open driveway is plainly not one. Section 16-48, a separate rule, outlaws dumping or keeping junk, inoperable or unlicensed vehicles anywhere in the city except at a lawfully zoned business.

The driveway does not help

People often assume the driveway is safe. The zoning code says otherwise. Section VII-216 limits front-yard parking at single-family homes and duplexes to a delineated driveway, then adds: "Nothing herein shall be construed to allow the parking of an inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicle within a designated driveway area if the parking of such vehicle is prohibited by section 16-50." Police can enforce front-yard violations by leaving a citation on the windshield, and you have 20 days to pay it or file to contest it.

Ten days, then the city acts

When code enforcement finds a violation, Section 16-53 has the city manager's office send written notice to correct it "in not more than ten (10) days from the receipt of such notice." That letter names the car, the street address and the owner. When ten days go by and nothing has moved, the city "may proceed to do the work" and charge the cost, including administrative costs and postage, as a lien against property the violator owns. The notice also warns that the lot can then be cleared again on a schedule "without further notice."

On the street the limit is shorter. Section 33-84 lets police remove any car "left unattended upon a street or in a public place continuously for more than twenty-four (24) hours," and nothing is released until towing and storage are paid.

The title office is downtown

For Sarasota residents the trip is short: the tax collector's Washington Boulevard office, number 101, is under a mile east of downtown as the crow flies. Phone (941) 861-8300.

Most private sales never need the counter. A Florida seller signs without any notary, after writing in who bought the car and where that buyer lives, then the odometer, price and sale date. If the car is not titled to you, read car not in your name first.

Plate and notice

Before the car goes, unscrew the plate; Florida lets you keep it for your next vehicle. Owners moving out of state, or canceling that plate's insurance, return it to a service center instead. File HSMV 82050, Florida's Notice of Sale, inside that first month (30 days is the limit); once it is in, the car's future is no longer your liability.

Nearby

Bradenton is 10.7 miles away, Venice 17.2 and North Port 28.7. See Florida for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Ask online or call (877) 421-6008. Describe the car and its miles, tell us if the engine turns, and whose name the title is in. Our driver picks it up from a driveway, a shut garage, or the shop that has it.