Selling a junk or inoperable car in Wichita

How Wichita decides a car is inoperable

Both sections list conditions that count as "prima facie evidence that a vehicle is inoperable." The first is the "absence or condition of disrepair of one or more parts" needed to drive it legally. Section 7.40.045 adds "including properly rated tires," and Section 8.01.140 says "including properly inflated tires." In other words, a flat can be enough. The second condition is stuff piled inside the car that "would preclude the lawful operation of the vehicle."

The definitions in Section 8.01.050 go further. A car is "inoperable" if it is junked, wrecked, dismantled or "unable to perform the functions or purposes for which it was originally constructed." It is also inoperable without "a current valid registration plate," unless it holds a non-highway title because it was never built for the street. A "junk vehicle" is one that is wrecked, scrapped, inoperative, abandoned "and/or without a valid automobile license tag."

Two more definitions carry clocks. "Storage" means keeping a car outside an enclosed building "for more than seventy-two consecutive hours." And an "abandoned vehicle" is one left on someone's property without consent "for more than forty-eight hours."

Where the rule stops

Neither section applies "to any vehicle enclosed within a building on private property." Nor does it reach a car "held in connection with a business enterprise" that the city has licensed and that runs in the right zone.

What a nuisance notice leads to

Both sections call the car "a public nuisance which may be abated" under the chapter, and Wichita may set its own steps there. Under state law, K.S.A. 12-1617e, a city's order to abate gives the owner no more than 10 days, extended for due diligence. You'll get it in person or by certified mail, and you can request a hearing. Wichita tows the car if nothing is fixed. The cost then comes as a bill due in 30 days or gets added to the property.

The airport has its own clock

At the airport, Section 9.35.180 presumes a car "left unattended for a period of forty-eight (48) hours or more" outside an authorized lot is abandoned. Even in an airport parking facility, a car may not sit unattended for 30 days or more without notifying the Director of Airports. No one may leave a "wrecked, dismantled or inoperable" car on airport property without the Director's permission.

Snow routes

Section 11.39.130 names Wichita's snow emergency routes. They include First and Second Streets from McLean Boulevard to Grove Street, Gold Street from 31st Street South to MacArthur Road, Grove Street from Lincoln Street to Central Avenue, and McLean Boulevard from 31st Street South to the Arkansas River north of 15th Street North. We read only the route list, so check the rest of Chapter 11.39 for what applies to a parked car during an emergency. A dead car sitting on one of those streets when snow falls is asking for trouble.

If the city tows it

When a public agency asks for an abandoned, wrecked or disabled car to be impounded, Section 3.49.125 has the SPIDER dispatcher call the city's tow contractor. The contract sets the most the contractor may charge for towing and storage, and release and notice follow Chapter 11.97. The section ends with a flat rule: "All vehicles impounded shall be sold by public auction."

Sedgwick County title and plates

Kansas titles cars in the county where they're kept, so for Wichita that means the Sedgwick County treasurer's motor vehicle office. Selling takes no notary. On the back of the title, enter the price, date of sale and odometer reading, and print and sign both names. Leaving the buyer's line empty is against Kansas law. The Wichita buyer then has 60 days to title and register the car.

The plates stay with you: Kansas ends the registration at the sale, and the seller removes the plate. Putting it on your next car is $1.50. To get your name off the car's record, hand the plate in at the treasurer or file the optional TR-216.

When a car is only good for salvage parts or scrap metal, Kansas requires a nonrepairable certificate before the sale, applied for within 60 days of that finding. It costs the same as an original title, with $2 more if late. For a Wichita car ten or more model years old, it can stand in for a title that was lost. Kansas does not use a separate flood brand. A car "burned or submerged in water" past saving falls under nonrepairable. See flood damage and nonrepairable or junk title.

Getting an offer

For a Wichita offer, call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. We load it up wherever it's parked, be that next to a duplex, in a parking garage or at a mechanic's. Wichita is 10.3 miles from Derby and 40.1 miles from Hutchinson; for statewide rules, see Kansas.