Selling a junk or dead car in Owensboro

What Section 5-137 says about junk cars

The rule reaches any junked car "on public property or on any private lot, tract or parcel of land or portion thereof, occupied or unoccupied, improved or unimproved." Beyond the hobby-car exception, there is no carve-out for an empty lot or a vacant house.

The code also says a junked car or its parts "shall be considered rubbish or refuse." It is unlawful to create the nuisance "by wrecking, dismantling, partially dismantling, rendering inoperable, abandoning or discarding any motor vehicle on any real property within ordinary view."

Parts piles have a size cap, even behind a fence

Loose tires, auto parts and junk machinery are covered too. Storing them is a violation when they are "in ordinary view," or when they take up more than "five (5) percent of the privacy fenced-in area (clear space)." So a privacy fence buys some room for parts, but not unlimited room.

Keep it off the grass

The same section bans parking or storing a vehicle "upon any surface not intended for use as vehicular parking," which includes "a yard or any space in which access to such necessarily requires the crossing of an uncut curb." Rolling a dead car onto the grass so the driveway is free breaks this rule all by itself.

If the city has a junked car hauled off, the code says no city official, employee or department "shall be liable for any loss or damage" from the removal, a later sale, or other disposal.

When police move a legally parked car

Section 27-16 covers a different case: an emergency where police need a legally parked, unoccupied car off a city street. The dispatcher calls the next wrecker on the rotation list, but only after the owner cannot be reached or "cannot remove said vehicle in a timely manner." In that situation the city pays the "reasonable and customary tow charge."

What Kentucky adds

For a car that sits on the street, state law fills in. Leave a vehicle on a county road or city street looking abandoned and the penalty can be a $25-$100 fine or 10-30 days; once it sits three days straight, abandonment is presumed.

City and county impounds run in set steps. If no one claims or disputes the car in 10 business days, a certified letter is sent. The owner then gets 10 days to pick it up or ask for a hearing. 45 days after that letter, the local government owns the car. Private tow lots have their own route. Ten days in advance, certified letters have to reach the owner and any lienholder. Then they can sell the car to cover their charges, and money left over goes to the owner.

Signing the title over in Daviess County

Owensboro's title work goes to the Daviess County Clerk. You complete the assignment on the title for your buyer. It goes along with an odometer disclosure and the TC 96-182 transaction record, and every seller signature gets a notary's stamp.

Errors cause trouble. No white-out, no crossing out; a notarized affidavit fixes a mistake. A replacement for a lost title is $6.00 with the notary on top, or $25 for speed.

Your buyer should retitle within 15 days. If they let 15 calendar days pass, file TC 96-3, a notarized affidavit of incomplete transfer, in the county you live in. KRS 186A.215(4) then has the clerk mark the car in AVIS, the state system, which blocks anyone from registering it until the transfer is complete.

Your plate goes with you

The plate goes home with you in Kentucky, and so does any registration time left on it. An $11 fee, one time, puts it on your next vehicle. Buyers bring their own temporary tag or plate, or get one from the county.

Totaled, rebuilt or water-damaged

Kentucky draws the salvage line at 75%: if parts and labor to rebuild top three-quarters of retail value, airbag reinstallation not counted, it is a salvage vehicle. That title reads SALVAGE, and once the car is repaired and inspected, "rebuilt vehicle." A car that took on water needs a salvage certificate of title, and its title will say water damaged. Insurer totaled it explains your choices.

Property tax after a sale

Kentucky's yearly car tax is due when the registration renewal month ends. A sale with the tax still unpaid leaves the bill with whoever owned the car on January 1, statutory exceptions aside. Late payment adds 3% within 30 days, after that 10% and 15% annual interest. Car property tax goes further.

Owensboro's neighbors

In a straight line, Henderson sits 25.9 miles off. Radcliff is 64.6, Bowling Green 65.7 and Hopkinsville 66.4. Statewide rules are on the Kentucky page.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or fill in our form for your Owensboro car. We load from behind privacy fences, downtown driveways or repair shops.