Selling a junk or dead car in Bowling Green

What counts as junk in Bowling Green

The city defines it twice, and the two versions nearly match. The property code, Section 27-1.03, calls a junk motor vehicle "any inoperable motor vehicle, whether repairable or not, not displaying a current valid license plate, and/or which is wrecked, partially or totally dismantled, or cannot otherwise be safely or legally operated on a public roadway." The traffic chapter, Section 22-2, adds cars that are "rusted" or "abandoned."

Sellers should note that plate rule. In Kentucky your plate stays yours after a sale, so lots of people take it off as soon as they decide to sell. A dead car with no plate on it, parked outside, fits the city's definition from that moment.

The three-day rule and its exceptions

Section 27-4.03 sets the clock and then carves out a few cases:

• Business-zoned land may hold "two inoperable vehicles." Industrial land follows other city ordinances and state law.
• Historic vehicles registered as such under state law are exempt, but not if one is inoperable for "more than three (3) calendar days" and sits outside.
• Race cars stored outdoors must sit on "a trailer approved for highway transport."
• Dismantling is a separate violation. No car on business or residential land may be "in the process of being stripped or dismantled" unless it is indoors. There is no grace period for that one.

Parking matters too. Section 27-1.03 describes an improved parking surface as gravel, pavers, concrete or asphalt, kept "in good and safe condition."

On the street: also three days

Section 22-4.04 says "no person shall park an abandoned vehicle or junk motor vehicle on any City street in excess of three (3) days." The definition of an abandoned vehicle uses the same count for any car left in the public right-of-way. Under Section 22-6.05, a car left on a city street "for three (3) consecutive days" can be towed with no notice to the owner. The same goes for a state highway.

Section 27-5.04 goes further for sidewalks, gutters, alleys and other public ways. Its list of banned items includes "inoperative or unlicensed motor" vehicles. The city may remove them "immediately by the City without notice to the property owner."

If the city already towed it

Section 22-6.06 sets out the steps. Tows ordered by the city go to city-approved companies, and the car is stored at that company's lot. For a courtesy tow, you follow the tow company's release policy and pay its charges first. To fight a tow, send a written hearing request to the Code Enforcement and Nuisance Board. If the Board finds the tow justified, it releases the car only after "the payment of all fines and fees," and the city holds a lien until then. If the lot's bill outgrows the car, see towed or impounded.

Signing the title over in Warren County

Kentucky title paperwork goes to the county clerk, so for Bowling Green owners that means the Warren County Clerk. The steps:

1. Sign in front of a notary. State law requires a notarized seller signature when a title is signed over. A mistake gets a signed, notarized affidavit, never white-out or a scribble.
2. Assign the title to the buyer, write down the mileage for the odometer statement, and fill in the vehicle transaction record, TC 96-182.
3. Take your plate. Starting January 2024, the seller keeps it, plus any registration time left on it. Moving it to another vehicle costs $11, once. Should the registration run out the same month the transfer goes through, either renew it to keep the plate in use or hand the plate in to the clerk.
4. Watch the 15-day mark. The buyer must transfer the title within 15 days. When 15 calendar days pass and they still haven't filed with the clerk, you can file a notarized Affidavit of Incomplete Transfer (TC 96-3) in the county you live in. From then on, the clerk won't process registration for the car until the transfer is done.

Replacing a lost title costs $6.00 plus the notary fee. More on that at junk car with no title. Also note that the yearly vehicle property tax in Kentucky goes to the January 1 owner, aside from some exceptions in the statute. Selling in March does not erase that year's bill.

Nearby towns

Bowling Green is about 58 miles as the crow flies from both Hopkinsville and Elizabethtown. Radcliff is 64.3 miles away and Owensboro 65.7. For statewide rules, see Kentucky.

Getting an offer

Selling a dead car in Bowling Green? Ring (877) 421-6008 or fill in our offer form. We can load it in a downtown lot, a repair bay or a driveway anywhere in Warren County.