Selling a derelict or junk car in Savannah

The sticker comes first

Before a removal, the ordinance has a notice posted on the vehicle. It begins: "This vehicle is subject to removal pursuant to the Abandoned and Derelict" vehicle ordinance. The text then turns to cars that are still there after the "posting of the aforesaid notice," and says that once a car is removed, "it shall be placed in" storage the ordinance goes on to describe.

The part we could read does not state how many days the notice gives. Read the full ordinance, linked below, or ask the city before you plan around it. What is clear is the order of events: the notice goes on the car first, so a sticker on your windshield is the notice to act on.

Georgia's clocks still apply

State law adds its own lines, and they hold in Savannah as they do anywhere in Georgia:

• Five days on public property, for a car left unattended when the owner does not appear to intend to return.
• 30 days on private property, unattended.
• 30 days at a dealer, repair shop or wrecker service, for a car nobody calls for.

Once a car has been towed, the company storing it gets 15 calendar days to notify every owner, through certified mail or in person. The notice must explain that ten calendar days on, the company can file in court to foreclose its lien, and a judge may order a sale. When no owner can be located, a newspaper ad follows within 60 days, printed weekly for two weeks in a row. See towed or impounded car.

Water, wrecks and the title brand

Georgia brands the titles of vehicles damaged by water or a flood "Flood Damaged." A car that took on water in a Savannah street is worth sorting out on paper before you sell; flood damage covers what to expect.

Wrecks follow a parts test, not a percentage. Georgia calls a car salvage when fixing it would take at least two major component parts, or when an insurer has paid it off as a total loss. When a car falls into that group, the owner or the insurer must hand in its plate. Wrecked or totaled explains selling one.

Chatham County title and tag work

For Chatham County, we looked at Suite 107, 222 W Oglethorpe Ave., phone (912) 652-7100. Savannah spreads over 109.494 square miles of land, and from the city's center point that office is roughly 7 miles northeast as the crow flies. Chatham may have more offices.

The Department of Revenue describes selling as two steps: transfer ownership on the back of the title, and cancel the registration. In practice:

1. Turn the original title over to its assignment area. Every listed owner signs in the Seller space and prints a name there.
2. Enter the mileage as a whole number. Changes or erasures risk voiding the title.
3. The new owner takes the title. Your file keeps copies: the title, the transfer, any bill of sale.
4. The plate goes home with you; Georgia plates are the seller's.
5. Insurance comes last. First cancel the registration, on the DRIVES e-Services site or by filing Form MV-18J at the tag office.

A lost title is replaced with a signed Form MV-1 and $8.00, after any liens are released. Georgia does not title 1985-and-older vehicles; for those, a bill of sale is the paper. See junk car with no title and after you sell.

Around Savannah

Pooler is 7.4 miles away and Richmond Hill 10.3, both straight-line. Hinesville is 27.6 miles and Statesboro 44.9. The Georgia page has statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or reach us online. Savannah sellers can describe their car on the offer form. Our driver goes to it: an alley behind a downtown row house, a south side driveway, or a curb where a removal notice already sits on the windshield.