Selling a junk car in Urbandale

A complete car with a missing title

Section 76.08 helps only with a gutted shell. A car that still carries its engine and four wheels needs one of two state routes:

• Order a replacement. The county treasurer charges $35.00, then makes you wait a mandatory 5 days from the day it receives your application.
• Go through the police. Iowa Code 321.90 says an owner whose title is faulty, lost or destroyed may request the police authority's permission to dispose of the car to a demolisher.

Whichever you pick, every owner listed must sign when applying to replace the title, or when applying for a junking certificate. Junk car with no title has more.

The yard, the driveway and the garage

Section 95.02 makes it "unlawful for any person to store, accumulate or allow to remain on any private property within the corporate limits of the city any junk or junk vehicle." Section 95.03 brands it a nuisance as state law defines one and holds "the owner of or person occupying the property" "prima facie liable."

Section 154.23 then decides placement: "Inoperable vehicles shall be stored within a fully enclosed building or other location not exposed to public view, or shall be removed from the premises." A closed garage passes. A covered car at the end of a driveway, visible from the sidewalk, does not.

Street time and impound costs

Section 74.04 caps parking "upon public property for more than 24 hours." Section 70.45 lets a peace officer tow from streets, alleys, highways and both private and public lots. The listed cases include breaking a snow-removal parking ban, blocking traffic or street maintenance, and any car the city has classed as abandoned.

The owner pays three things to recover it: the city's impound and preservation fee, fines for unpaid parking tickets, and the towing charge. If a contract garage has it, "The garage is hereby authorized to retain the vehicles until the fees for towing and storage, on the basis of the bid, are paid."

Signing over an Urbandale title

Urbandale straddles Dallas and Polk counties, and the treasurer for yours issues titles and plates. Following Iowa DOT guidance, sign the title's reverse as seller, write the purchaser's name and street address, and date the transfer. Also tell the purchaser the last county of registration and the date that registration expires. Unbolt the plates before the truck arrives; Iowa sellers keep them.

Getting an offer

Message us through the form or dial (877) 421-6008. Give us the make and model, an estimate of the miles, if the engine cranks, and which title papers you have. We can collect it at a house near Living History Farms, an office lot, or a body shop. Johnston is 4.8 miles away and West Des Moines 6.0, as the crow flies. Iowa has the statewide rules.