Selling a dead or junk car in Carmel

Three clocks in Carmel's code

• 5 days on public property. Sections 6-108 and 6-116 make it unlawful to leave a disassembled, inoperable and unlicensed, junked or wrecked car in the open on a street or other public property "for a period of five days or more."
• 15 days on private property. The same sections make it unlawful at 15 days or more on private land. The one exception is a car kept "in connection with an automobile sale or repair business."
• 30 days for an older car in sight. Section 6-115 says a vehicle "six or more model years old and mechanically inoperable," left on private property "in a location visible from public property for more than 30 days," is abandoned.

Section 6-115 also reaches a car with "the engine, transmission, or differential" removed and left on public property, and a towed car that is not claimed "within 15 days of its removal."

Lawns, towing and storage

Section 8-46 keeps cars off the grass. No one may park a motor vehicle "on any portion of any lawn or greenspace" in the city, except while it is being loaded, unloaded or washed. A car that died on the lawn already breaks that rule.

If Carmel police impound a car and declare it abandoned, Section 6-122 charges the owner or lienholder a towing fee and a daily storage fee. "The storage fee shall be allowed to accumulate for a maximum period of 60 days." Indiana law also holds the owner of an abandoned car liable for removal and disposal, and caps the storage bill at $2,000.

Title and plates in Carmel

We checked a BMV branch inside Carmel at 271 Merchants Square Drive, Suite A-100, about 2 miles straight east of the city center. The phone there is 888-692-6841. Indiana issues titles at the state level, so this is BMV business.

The BMV's seller steps for a Carmel title list no notary. Every listed owner signs and prints, and the seller supplies the odometer miles, the date sold, the sale price and the buyer's details. Unscrew the plates before the tow; the state lets you reuse them on another car you own rather than sending them in. Titling it afterward is the buyer's job, with a 45-day window.

No title in hand? In Carmel, State Form 55018, the BMV's $4.00 Certificate of Authority, lets you scrap a car without getting a new title. A duplicate title costs $15.00. Hamilton County has no emissions test; Indiana runs one only in Lake and Porter counties.

Nearby towns

Westfield is 4.9 miles from Carmel, Noblesville 9.0, Zionsville 9.4 and Fishers 9.5. The Indiana page has the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008 and run through the basics: model year, make, model, odometer, does it start, is the title with you. Wherever your Carmel car sits, a subdivision garage or the shop lot where it died, our driver comes to it. For a Carmel car that has sat unused for ages, read car sitting for years.