Got a dead or junk car in Shawnee to sell?

Shawnee's two tests for an inoperable car

Section 8.32.060 opens with "any one (1) of the following conditions shall be deemed prima facie evidence that a vehicle is inoperable." There are two:

• no valid license or registration plate on the car
• the "absence of one (1) or more parts of the vehicle necessary for the lawful operation of the vehicle upon the streets and highways"

A missing headlight assembly or a pulled engine fits the second test. Expired tags fit the first, even if the car still starts.

Section 8.32.030 is the rule that does the work. It is unlawful to keep an inoperable vehicle anywhere on a lot or parcel within Shawnee "unless it is enclosed in a garage or other building." It names owners, lessees, tenants and occupants, so renters are covered as well as landlords. Section 8.32.050 sets out exceptions. Read it before you count on one.

The lawn is not a parking space

Section 10.20.040 adds a second limit that catches people moving a dead car out of the way. Outside a building, a vehicle goes on "a driveway or a paved parking area." A passenger car may sit on the unpaved front or side yard for no more than 24 hours, and only once in any thirty-day period. Very old gravel driveways built for parking get a grandfather clause, and the section gives the cutoff date.

When the city tows it

Under Section 10.04.030.5, a car impounded by the city is "deemed abandoned" if the owner refuses to pay the towing, impound or storage fees, or does not take it back within thirty days after the impoundment period ends. When a public agency holds it, the state's notice and public auction steps apply. Kansas law also says that to get an impounded car back, you must show proof of valid registration and ownership. A car with lapsed tags can be hard to recover for exactly that reason.

Signing it over in Kansas

For a car garaged at a Shawnee address, the title desk is Johnson County's. Kansas has owners apply in person with the treasurer's motor vehicle staff of their home county. When you sell:

1. Turn the title over. Note what the buyer paid, when the sale happened and how many miles it shows. Then print and sign. No notary is involved.
2. Make sure the buyer's name is written in. Handing over a title with that space blank breaks Kansas law.
3. Copy both faces of the finished title before it leaves your hands. Kansas treats that copy as your proof of the transfer.
4. Unbolt the plates. State law leaves them with you, and shifting one onto a later car costs $1.50.

Lost the title? A new one costs $10 on Form TR-720B. Bring it to a county treasurer, any one, or post it to the Titles and Registrations Bureau. See selling with no title and after you sell.

Near Shawnee

In a straight line, Lenexa is 3.6 miles off, Kansas City 8.0 and Prairie Village 9.3. The Kansas page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

For a dead car in Shawnee, call (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form online. If it's shut in a garage to comply with 8.32.030, our truck loads it there. A paved driveway works too.