Selling a dead or junk car in Warner Robins

What Section 16-3 covers

The section is about storage on residential lots, and its title lists old cars, scrap parts and old household appliances together. Two kinds of car are named in the parts we read:

• A car missing a part it needs to run. The code gives the motor, tires and wheels as examples, then adds "any other part necessary to make the car operable." A project car with the transmission out fits.
• A car with no current inspection sticker. The code names "any car which does not have displayed a current Georgia state or other state motor vehicle inspection sticker, if required." The words "if required" matter; the rule reaches this car only where a sticker applies to it.

The notice goes to the occupant of the lot. Fifteen days is the window before a summons. The section also refers readers to state law on abandoned vehicles, O.C.G.A. § 40-11-1 and the sections after it. Selling a car someone already stripped for parts? See our missing parts guide.

Two street clocks

Moving a dead car to the curb does not buy much time here.

• 12 hours. Section 14-31 says "no vehicle shall remain parked on any street within the city for a longer period than twelve (12) hours."
• 2 hours. Where the city has painted on-street public spaces, Section 14-34 caps parking "to a maximum of two (2) hours."

A car that breaks down at the edge of Commercial Circle in the morning is past the 12-hour line by evening.

If the car gets towed

State law runs the clock once a car is hauled away. The Warner Robins storage company gets 15 calendar days to notify each owner, by hand delivery or certified letter. That letter must tell owners a court foreclosure on the lien can be sought ten calendar days later, and that a sale can be ordered. Apart from that, Georgia calls a car "abandoned" if no one picks it up from a dealer, a shop or a wrecker yard within 30 days. See towed or impounded car.

Houston and Peach County title work

Warner Robins sits in two counties, Houston and Peach, and Georgia does title and plate work at each county's tag office. We checked two:

• 202 Carl Vinson Pkwy, Warner Robins, phone (478) 923-2112: less than a mile west of central Warner Robins, as the crow flies.
• 902 Campus Drive, Fort Valley, phone 478-825-3161: roughly 15 miles west.

Either county may have more offices than these. The DRIVES e-Services site also lets you cancel a registration from home.

As the Department of Revenue describes it, a Warner Robins seller does two things: signs the title over and closes out the registration.

1. The reverse side of the original title holds the assignment. Print and sign where it says Seller, and so does any joint owner.
2. Enter whole miles for the odometer. Leave everything else untouched too; a rewritten purchase date can mean a $10 penalty.
3. Give the buyer the title. Keep copies of it, the transfer and any bill of sale for yourself.
4. Your plate leaves with you, as Georgia requires.
5. Registration gets cancelled on Form MV-18J or online; insurance gets cancelled after.

Within 7 days of buying, the Warner Robins buyer must title and register it. With liens released, a missing title is replaced through Form MV-1 at $8.00. Georgia has no title for a car from 1985 or earlier, so a bill of sale handles it. At 12 model years, a Warner Robins car can be sold on an owner's affidavit to a scrap processor, salvage dealer or secondary metals recycler. See junk car with no title and after you sell.

Near Warner Robins

Perry is 9.5 miles away and Macon 14.8, in a straight line. Griffin is 57.2 miles north. The Georgia page covers statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Warner Robins owners can reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. We bring the truck to the car: a backyard with a fifteen-day notice on the door, a Peach County driveway, or a lot near Commercial Circle.