Selling a dead car in Cartersville

Seven days on property, none on the street

Section 14-24 reaches owners, tenants, occupants and lessees. A second part adds that no one "shall leave any such vehicle on any property within the city for a longer time than seven (7) days," so leaving a dead car at a friend's place does not reset anything.

Three cases are exempt: a car inside an enclosed building, a car a lawful business needs to operate, and a car in a storage place the city keeps.

The street rule in Section 14-23 is shorter still: "No person shall leave any partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked or junked vehicle on any street within the city." A car that dies at the curb is out of line the moment it stops.

Church Street and downtown lots

Section 12-1013 bans parking on both sides of Church Street, from Tennessee Street to North Dixie Avenue, between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Some downtown lots can also be closed for scheduled events, with signs posted at least twenty-four hours ahead. A car left in one during the closed hours is subject to towing, with all costs charged to the owner, and a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00).

If a car does get towed, Georgia law gives the towing and storage firm 15 calendar days to send the owners a letter. The notice has to say the firm may go to court to foreclose its lien after ten calendar days, and that a judge may order a sale.

Bartow County title office

The Bartow County Tax Commissioner office we checked is at 135 West Cherokee Avenue, phone (770) 387-5112. Measured as the crow flies, that is under a mile east of the city's center. No emissions test applies in Bartow, which is outside the 13-county metro Atlanta program.

Signing a Bartow title over

Flip the original title over, print and sign in the Seller spot, and put down the mileage in whole miles. If two owners are named, both print and sign. Take your time on a Cartersville title. An erasure or edit can void it, and a changed purchase date can bring a $10 penalty.

The plate stays with you. Close the registration with Form MV-18J or through DRIVES e-Services, and only after that call the insurer.

No title? Form MV-1 gets you a new one for $8.00. For a vehicle at least 12 model years old, Georgia also lets a salvage dealer, secondary metals recycler or scrap processor accept a vehicle owner's affidavit and report it electronically. More on that is in selling with no title.

Getting an offer

For an offer, use the form or call (877) 421-6008, and have the year, make, model, odometer reading, title status and whether it starts handy. The truck can come to a house, a shop lot or wherever it stopped. Acworth is 9.9 miles away, and the Georgia page has the statewide rules.