Selling a junk or dead car in Lafayette

The private-property rule, piece by piece

Section 7.06.150 sets out three kinds of vehicle the city treats as a nuisance on private land: abandoned, inoperable, and those "without current license plates." Its definitions:

• Abandoned: "a vehicle that is at least three model years old, is mechanically inoperable, and is left in a location visible from public property." That definition has no day count. Age, a dead engine and a spot in view of public property are the three tests. The fifteen-day tow clock comes separately.
• Inoperable: "any vehicle typically powered by an engine that is partially dismantled, mechanically inoperable, or unsafe to drive."

A car parked on "a vehicle sale lot or at a commercial vehicle servicing facility" is exempt. So the shop holding your car is not breaking this rule.

The clock is fifteen days. If the car "remains in violation of this section upon the expiration of the fifteen (15) days," police may have it towed to storage "at the expense of the vehicle owner."

On the street: five days, running or not

Section 7.06.140 is stricter in one way. It covers "any vehicle, whether in running order or not." Nothing may stay on "any street, alley or city controlled parking lot or garage for a period of longer than five days continuously." A broken car left at the curb is removed by police order at the owner's expense.

When police find a car parked in violation, Section 7.03.040 tells the officer to write down its registration number, then "conspicuously affix" a written notice to the car.

Snow emergency routes

Under Section 7.06.300 the mayor, or a designee, declares a snow emergency. Cars on a signed snow emergency route at that moment "shall have twelve (12) hours to vacate." After that, police may remove them at the owner's expense and store them until claimed. The ban lasts until the emergency is lifted, and it can be lifted route by route as plowing finishes. Dead batteries and seized engines are exactly what strand a car on a route after the 12 hours run out.

If it ends up at a storage lot

Under state law the abandoned car's owner covers removal, lot time and disposal. The lot-time portion maxes out at $2,000, and if the company holding the car sells it, the former owner owes none of it. Our impounded car page has more.

The Elmwood Avenue branch

Titles in Indiana come from the state BMV, not Tippecanoe County. The branch we checked is at 2200 Elmwood Ave., Suite C1, roughly 2 miles north of Lafayette's center as the crow flies; dial 888-692-6841. Self-serve kiosks and Partial Service Providers can process a title as well.

As the seller, your work happens on the title itself. Every owner signs and prints, then adds the mileage, date, price and purchaser. The BMV steps include no notary, and a bill of sale needs none. The buyer applies for a title within 45 days. Check both the seller and purchaser sections before the car goes, since the buyer will need them complete at the branch.

Lost titles and branded cars

A replacement title costs $15.00 on State Form 205, plus $25 for a speed title. For a car headed to scrap, a Certificate of Authority, State Form 55018 at $4.00, gets it to the scrap yard legally with no new title. Junk car with no title covers both.

Wrecks and flood cars may need a salvage title. The rule covers cars no more than seven model years old that an insurer settled as not worth repairing, plus flood cars. A passenger car is flood damaged in Indiana when water got above the sill and into the cabin or trunk, or when an insurer took it in a water-damage settlement. See wrecked car and flood-damaged car.

Plates and emissions

Take the plates off before the truck arrives. The BMV has no return requirement, so your next car can use them. Tippecanoe County sits outside the emissions program, which covers just Lake and Porter counties.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or write online. Describe your Lafayette car on the form. Our truck can meet it in a driveway, behind a rental, or in a garage near downtown. West Lafayette has its own page, as do Kokomo and Zionsville. Statewide rules are on the Indiana page.