Selling a junk or dead car in Ames

The 48-hour rule and its three ways out

Section 30.5(21) carries three exceptions. Everything else outside for more than 48 hours is in violation.

1. A garage. "Junked vehicles stored within a garage or other enclosed structure" are exempt. The code defines a garage as a building on the same lot as a home, used for parking and storing vehicles.
2. One covered car. "One (1) junked vehicle per property may be stored outdoors for no more than 30 days cumulative per vehicle per calendar year." It must be hidden behind "an opaque wall at least six feet in height" or wrapped in "a tight-fitting opaque cloth vehicle cover or tight-fitting cloth tarpaulin."
3. A duly authorized salvage or junk yard that meets the city's requirements.

The covered-car allowance is easy to misread. The days add up across the whole calendar year for that car. Two weeks under a tarp in March leaves sixteen days for the rest of the year. A second junked car on the same lot gets no allowance at all.

Loose parts have their own clock. Under 30.5(2), refuse or junk "that is not contained in a trash disposal container" becomes a nuisance after 72 hours outdoors.

Parking spaces and driveways are not storage

The zoning code backs this up. Section 29.304 allows one junked vehicle "for up to 30 days outdoors cumulative per vehicle per calendar year accessory to a residential use," and says its storage "is subject to all parking area and driveway standards of 29.406." Section 29.406 then says junked vehicles may not be parked in required parking spaces, with a few listed exceptions.

If you run a business from your home, the rule is tighter. Section 29.1304(b) says "Trailers, junked vehicles, and other Home Occupation-related equipment shall not be stored or parked on the driveway." Only "one operable company vehicle" may park there.

Heavy snow and the 12-hour tow

Ames does not rely only on standing snow routes. Under Section 22.10, after especially heavy snow the City Manager may post other streets with tow-away signs. A car left there "for more than twelve hours" against the posted notice can be cited and towed to the City impoundment lot or a private lot. "The costs of such towing shall be assessed to and paid by the operator or registered owner of the vehicle."

Those signs do nothing for an Ames owner whose battery died in November. A dead car stays put while the plow crew waits, and the bill goes to the owner.

When the car has already been towed

Nothing in the Ames sections we read sets an impound clock, so state law fills the gap, and the city may add its own steps. Under Iowa Code 321.89, police treat an impounded car as abandoned once ten days pass unclaimed. A notice follows. From that notice an owner gets ten days, and getting the car back means covering the tow, the preservation and the storage bill. Silence is read as consent: the car can go to public auction or to a demolisher. Call the police if your car was taken.

Title and plates through Story County

Story County's treasurer is where Ames paperwork lands, because Iowa county treasurers issue titles, plates and junking certificates under the Iowa DOT's system.

To sign over an Ames car, fill in four things on the back of the title. You sign as seller, then print the buyer's name, the buyer's address, and the date of sale. Then tell the buyer which county last registered the car and when that registration runs out. Newer cars carry extra forms. In Ames, a car from the last nine model years needs an odometer statement. Seven or newer need a damage disclosure.

In Iowa, the seller keeps the plates. Take them off before the car goes out of Ames.

Lost the title? Story County will issue a $35.00 replacement, but there's a required 5-day wait that begins when the office gets your application. Iowa Code 321.90 gives another way through the police. If the title is missing or defective, the owner can ask the police authority for approval to give the car to a demolisher. Junk car with no title covers that case, and after you sell covers what follows.

Around Ames

Ankeny lies 20.4 miles off in a straight line. Johnston is 23.7, Altoona 27.0, and Des Moines 31.4. Statewide rules are on the Iowa page.

Getting an offer

Send the form or ring (877) 421-6008. Fill in the offer form with a few facts about your Ames car. Our truck comes to the car, be it a Lincoln Way driveway, a student rental lot or a garage bay where repairs stopped.