Selling a junk car in Lexington-Fayette

The nuisance list in Section 12-2

Section 12-2 names "junked, wrecked, non-licensed, improperly licensed or inoperative automobiles, vehicles, or machines" as nuisances, and it leaves inoperative farm equipment out. Two exceptions matter to most households:

• Collectors. Junked or inoperative vehicles, "including parts cars," kept on private premises by collectors are allowed if they are "stored out of ordinary public view by means of suitable fencing, trees, shrubbery, or other means."
• Businesses. A vehicle on business premises outside a residential district is allowed when keeping it is necessary to run the business.

A dead car parked in the open on a residential driveway fits neither exception.

Sixty days in the zoning code

The zoning definitions in Section 1-11 draw a line at 60 days. A vehicle storage yard holds cars that "have a current vehicle registration and bear a current license plate," and the term does not include "storage of inoperable vehicles for longer than sixty (60) days." Outdoor areas where inoperable vehicles are stored or taken apart fall under the junk yard definition instead.

Street and impound rules come from state law

In the sections we read, we found no Lexington clock for a car stored on the street, so Kentucky law fills the gap; the urban county may have its own rules. Abandonment on public roads is a state matter. Kentucky law puts a fine from $25 up to $100, or jail for 10 to 30 days, on anyone who leaves an abandoned-looking car on a Lexington street. A car that sits unmoved for three days in a row is presumed abandoned.

Local impounds follow KRS 82.625 through 82.635. Ten business days without a claim or a challenge triggers a certified letter. The owner gets 10 days from that letter to come forward or request a hearing, and 45 days after it the car escheats to the local government.

The Fayette County Clerk

One clerk's office we checked sits at 162 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507, phone (859) 253-3344. It sits roughly 2 miles west of downtown Lexington, measured on the map. Fayette County may run more locations than that one.

Signing over means filling in the assignment on the title, completing a TC 96-182 transaction record and giving an odometer reading, all with a notary watching you sign. Kentucky wants the buyer's transfer done within 15 days. When 15 calendar days go by and the buyer has filed nothing, the seller's protection is a notarized TC 96-3 affidavit, lodged in the seller's home county; registration of the car is then frozen in AVIS until the buyer finishes the transfer.

Property tax and the January 1 owner

Kentucky bills property tax on cars every year, due when the registration renewal month ends. The person who owned the car on January 1 carries that year's bill if the car is sold with the tax unpaid; the statute lists exceptions. Paying late costs 3% inside 30 days, then 10% plus 15% annual interest. Car property tax has more.

Plates

Your plate and any time left on its registration stay yours, and an $11 fee, charged once, moves it to the next vehicle. The buyer drives off on a temporary tag, a plate of their own with live registration, or a fresh one from the county clerk.

Neighboring towns

Nicholasville is 11.9 miles away as the crow flies, Georgetown 15.7, Richmond 23.2 and Frankfort 24.6. Statewide rules are on the Kentucky page.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008 about your Lexington car. We load it wherever it's parked in Fayette County.