Selling a dead or junk car in Lenexa

What this page can and cannot tell you about Lenexa

Most Kansas cities write their own junk-car ordinance. State law says each city sets the rules for dead cars on private property, within the limits of the statute. We searched for Lenexa's version and came up empty, so everything below is statewide law. Check deadlines with the city too, since a local code could be shorter.

The road-to-auction timeline in state law

K.S.A. 8-1102 sets out what happens once an agency tows a car left in public:

1. 48 hours on a public highway or property open to the public, and the car can be removed and impounded.
2. 30 days into the impound, the agency asks the Division of Vehicles for the last owner and any lienholders.
3. A certified notice goes out: claim the car and pay the charges within 15 days of mailing, or it will be sold at public auction.
4. After those 15 days, a notice runs in the paper once a week for two weeks. The owner then has 10 days after the second notice.
5. The agency may sell the car at public auction for cash, and the buyer gets a Kansas title.

To reclaim it at any point, you need proof of valid registration and of ownership.

On private land

K.S.A. 12-1617e lets any city remove a vehicle it finds to be a nuisance on private property. The order has to give the owner "a time not exceeding 10 days" to deal with it, with extensions for owners showing due diligence. It must be served by certified mail or in person, and you have a right to a hearing. Ignore it, and Lenexa tows the car and bills you, due in 30 days, or puts the charge on the land.

Leaving a car on land that you don't own or rent, without the owner's say, is criminal trespass under K.S.A. 8-1102(b).

A car worth only parts

Kansas treats a car that is "worth only parts or scrap" under its own process. This covers a car whose owner decides, for good, to handle it that way. Before transferring it, the owner must apply for a nonrepairable vehicle certificate within 60 days of that decision. The certificate costs the same as an original title, plus $2 if you file late. In Lenexa, that certificate can serve as the title for an untitled car at least 10 model years old. A certificate car can change hands only once and must be dismantled or recycled. More on nonrepairable titles.

Title and plates

Lenexa sits in Johnson County, so that county's treasurer handles title applications for cars kept here. The reverse of the title takes the sale price, sale date, odometer figure, and both parties' printed names and signatures, with no notary. The plates stay yours: under the statute, a sale ends the registration and the right to use that plate. Returning the plate to the treasurer's office closes your record too, so the optional TR-216 notice is not needed. The buyer has 60 days to title the car.

Around Lenexa

Measured in a straight line, Shawnee lies 3.6 miles off, Olathe 5.8 and Overland Park 8.1. If it has already been towed, see towed or impounded. The Kansas page has the rest.

Getting an offer

In Lenexa, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form to get an offer. If the car is boxed in at a Lenexa curb with the 48-hour clock running, say so, and the truck can come to that spot.