Junk and dead cars in Albany, Georgia

We buy whole non-running and junk cars in Albany and the rest of Dougherty County. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

What Section 1.08 says

The section sits in the zoning rules of Albany's Title III, Miscellaneous Regulations. Besides the ban on wrecked and junked vehicles, it talks about "the storage or parking on such open land of wrecked or junked cars," and it describes off-street parking spaces as meant "for the storage and parking of motor vehicles for the use" of the property.

None of the Section 1.08 clauses quoted here sets a grace period, a notice letter or a day count. Albany's code is long, and other chapters may add to it. Until you know, plan around the Georgia clocks below.

Georgia's clocks, as Dougherty County owners meet them

The state's motor vehicle manual decides when a car is abandoned. Three of its clocks matter in Albany:

• Private land: 30 days. Park a dead car on a friend's Albany lot and leave it there unattended for 30 days or more, and Georgia's manual calls it abandoned.
• Public land: 5 days. On a public street or lot, five days is enough, if it looks as though nobody means to return for it.
• A shop: 30 days. If an Albany mechanic has had your car since the engine let go and nobody has called for it in 30 days, the manual treats it as abandoned too.

Once a car is towed in Albany, the yard must reach every owner within 15 calendar days, by certified mail or by hand. That letter must say the yard may go to court after ten calendar days to foreclose its lien, and that a judge could order the car sold. Owners who can't be traced are notified by newspaper: an ad within 60 days, printed weekly for two straight weeks.

The Dougherty County tag office

Georgia's Department of Revenue runs titles and plates through a tag office in every county. In Dougherty, we checked the office at 240 Pine Avenue, Suite 100, phone (229) 431-2130. From central Albany it is about 1 mile east, as the crow flies. Dougherty may operate more than this one location.

Lost the title? The Pine Avenue office can make a new title with Form MV-1 for an $8.00 state fee. Any lien on the old one must be released before that. Our guide to selling a junk car with no title walks through it. Albany owners of a 1985 or older model can skip the title entirely, because Georgia doesn't title those; the buyer takes a bill of sale.

The two jobs in a Georgia sale

Georgia treats a sale as two separate tasks.

The title. Turn the original Georgia title over. Under Seller, an Albany owner prints their name and signs it, and so does any co-owner. The odometer goes in as whole miles. Don't erase on it. A title with changes can be voided, and changing the purchase date can cost a $10 penalty.

The registration. Cancel it yourself, online through DRIVES e-Services or at the Pine Avenue counter with Form MV-18J. Do it before calling your insurer to drop coverage, or penalties can follow. In Georgia the plate goes home with the seller. Give the buyer the title, and file away copies of it and any bill of sale.

A Notice of Pending Suspension sometimes reaches Albany sellers weeks after the sale. The Department of Revenue says you may disregard that letter when the car really was sold. Our page on what to do after you sell covers the rest.

Old, wrecked and flooded cars

Twelve model years is a line worth knowing. For an Albany car of that age, a Dougherty County owner can sign an affidavit instead of a title. An Albany buyer has to be a secondary metals recycler, scrap processor or salvage dealer, and that buyer reports online. A salvage buyer must report every purchase within 48 hours of close of business, and it cancels the title using Auto Data Direct. Water damage leads to a title branded "Flood Damaged."

Albany sellers can skip the emissions station. Georgia's testing program stops at 13 metro Atlanta counties, and Dougherty isn't among them.

Towns around Albany

The other Georgia towns we cover are a long drive off. As the crow flies, Perry is 67.2 miles away, Valdosta 73.1, Columbus 76.3 and Warner Robins 76.8. Statewide rules are on the Georgia page.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Fill in the offer form for your Albany car. We'll haul it from a driveway, a store lot or the garage where it quit.