Selling a junk or dead car in LaGrange

The city's test for inoperable

The definitions in Section 10-21-2 list five ways a car qualifies: "resting on blocks, without tires, with major parts missing, in a state of repair which precludes use, or lacking required current registration certificate." Any one is enough.

Who may store one, and for how long

The storage ban has two narrow exceptions, and neither is for a homeowner:

• A person "lawfully engaged in the repair of damaged or inoperable vehicles" may store them for up to 180 days, screened from view on all sides by a building, fence, landscaping or other buffer.
• Past 180 days, only a licensed junkyard or salvage yard may keep them, behind a fence or shrubbery on all sides.

Nothing in the quoted text gives a resident a notice period, though LaGrange may spell out enforcement steps in other sections. If you are cited, ask the city what it wants. Georgia separately treats a car ignored on private land for a month (30 days) as abandoned.

Downtown and overnight limits

Inside the downtown retail parking district, around Lafayette Square, Broad Street, Bull Street and Morgan Street, Section 10-20-100 limits parking to two hours at a stretch from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Police mark tires, and rubbing off a mark is its own violation. The deck at Broome and Morgan, the public lot between it and Lafayette Parkway, and private lots are exempt.

Section 10-20-101 bans overnight parking on two city lots: Main Street at East Depot Street, and Broome Street at Barnard Alley. No one may park there between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

When a city tow is called

Block towing operators must reach a scene within 30 minutes on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and within 35 minutes at other times, under Section 10-20-153. When police place a hold on a car, the operator "shall not release or grant access to the 'held' vehicle" until the police lift it. State rules then start two clocks: 15 calendar days for the tow company to mail or hand you a notice, and ten more calendar days before it may petition a court over its lien.

Troup County title and tag

An office we looked at is at 100 Ridley Ave, phone (706) 883-1620, roughly 1 mile northeast of downtown in a straight line.

Flip the title over. Each LaGrange owner prints and signs where it says Seller. Give the odometer in whole miles and do not cross anything out. After that, cancel the registration online in Georgia's DRIVES portal or on paper with an MV-18J. Hold onto the insurance until it is cancelled. Unscrew the plates, since Georgia tags never go with the car. The buyer has 7 days from the sale to title and register the car.

No emissions test stands in the way here. Georgia tests in 13 metro Atlanta counties, and Troup is not one of them, although Coweta is. Newnan is 28.4 miles away. Replacing a missing title takes an MV-1 and $8.00. For an older car, salvage dealers, scrap processors and secondary metals recyclers in Georgia may accept a "vehicle owner's affidavit" when the vehicle is "at least 12 model years old".

Getting an offer

Selling a car in LaGrange? Dial (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form. LaGrange pickups work near Lafayette Square, at a garage, or wherever it sits. Nearby pages cover Columbus and Carrollton, and Georgia has the state rules in one place.