Selling a junk car in Dodge City

If the car out front has stopped for good, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and the free pickup anywhere in the US reaches Ford County too.

What the city's posted traffic code says

Dodge City posts a Standard Traffic Ordinance on its website. The text around section 40.3 refers to "tow trucks or car carriers" and the "recovery or towing of vehicles." It mentions "towing, impoundment, storage, or other fees," and covers "parking, vehicle weight or vehicle defect violations." It also gives the power to "remove and impound the motor vehicle."

We did not find a Dodge City rule about dead cars kept on private land. Kansas lets each city set its own nuisance rules, so Dodge City may have one we have not read. Ask the city before a car sits in the yard for a season.

Once a car is on the impound lot

After a tow, Kansas law sets the deadlines. At the 30-day mark, the agency gets the last owner's name, and any lienholder's, from the Division of Vehicles. A certified letter follows. Its message: you have 15 days from the mailing date to come forward and pay, or the car heads to a public auction.

Silence brings a newspaper notice, printed in two straight weeks. Ten days after the second printing, the owner's chance ends. The agency may then auction the car for cash, and whoever buys it receives a Kansas title. To reclaim it before that, bring proof that the registration is valid and the car is yours. More in towed or impounded.

A car left on someone else's land

K.S.A. 8-1102(b) makes it criminal trespass to abandon a car on private land unless you, or the car's owner, own or lease that land. If the landowner asks, the local agency may remove the car and get rid of it. The tow operator then holds a lien covering towing and storage.

Ford County paperwork

Kansas title paperwork is handled face to face by the county treasurer, and a car garaged in Dodge City belongs to Ford County's motor vehicle office. Selling? The back of the title takes the sale price, the sale date and the miles on the odometer, plus your printed name and signature. Kansas asks for no notary here.

The plate is yours, not the buyer's. Unscrew it before the car leaves; putting it on your next vehicle costs $1.50. Hand the plate in, or transfer it at the treasurer's counter, and the state stops listing you as owner. That makes the TR-216 seller's notice unnecessary. Lost title? See selling with no title. The state rules are on our Kansas page.

Towns nearby

Garden City lies 47.8 miles off as the crow flies. Hays is 86.2 miles and Hutchinson 116.9.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or ring (877) 421-6008. Send a few Dodge City car details. We go where it's parked, like a driveway near Front Street, a farm lot outside town, or a mechanic's bay.