Bowie junk cars: the city rules, and selling one whole

We buy whole non-running and junk cars. You can sell the whole car as it sits, with nothing pulled off it first, and there is free pickup anywhere in the US.

Clocks on Bowie streets

Most of Chapter 14 deals with public streets and City-owned property, and its timers are short.

• 24 hours. A car parked against the rules "shall immediately be subject to being towed from such street or City-owned property and impounded after it has been parked for a twenty-four-hour period."
• Tags. The code's list of problem vehicles includes one "that has remained illegally on public property, including, but not limited to, those vehicles not displaying currently valid registration plates." A dead car with lapsed tags at the curb fits that line.
• 60 days. A warning does not reset anything. The code names the case where the city has, "within the previous 60 days, issued a notice of intention to impound the vehicle for violation of § 14-13," that notice period has run out, and the car "has been parked again on public property and is inoperative or otherwise illegal." So a dead car parked on public property again after a recent notice falls under this clause.
• 30 days. A Bowie parking citation carries "a notice that the fine will double if not paid within 30 calendar days after the citation is issued."

When the plows come through

Section 14-19 lets the City Manager or a designee remove "any parked vehicle or abandoned vehicles that obstruct traffic or interfere with the clearance of snow and ice on any street within the City." The bill comes back to the owner: the city may collect "a sum equal to an amount charged the City for towing, removal and storage of such vehicle." With a dead battery, the car stays put while the plow waits.

Where Maryland law picks up

Bowie's code says that words it does not define carry the meanings in the state's Transportation Article, and it names § 25-201 among them. Maryland's section names two situations where a Bowie car is abandoned. One: it has been on private property in Bowie for over 48 hours without the say-so of the person in charge of that property. Second, a car that can't run and has been left on public property past 48 hours. After police take one in, they have 7 days at most to send the owner a certified-mail notice, or 15 days to post one if the mail cannot be delivered. If no one claims the car, police auction it, and the winning bidder gets it free and clear of liens.

Selling it with a Maryland title

Maryland titles come from the state's MDOT MVA, not from Prince George's County. For a Bowie sale, the title must be a current Maryland one carrying your name, cleared of liens and corrected of errors. Fill in the odometer reading on the back and sign. All listed owners sign, except where the title links the names with "OR". If the title is lost or damaged, form VR-018 gets a duplicate for $40.00, through myMVA, in person or by mail; junk car with no title covers that case. The MVA recommends a bill of sale signed by buyer and seller. Keep a copy of it, and of both sides of the title.

Unscrew the tags before the truck pulls away from your Bowie curb; they are yours, not the buyer's. The MVA's tag return boxes take them around the clock, with no appointment. Once they are back, the state's insurance and registration duties for that car stop, so hold the receipt and leave coverage in place until it shows up. After you sell lists the remaining steps.

Towns near Bowie

As the crow flies, Greenbelt is 8.3 miles from Bowie, College Park 11.0, Hyattsville 11.6 and Laurel 11.7. Statewide rules are on the Maryland page.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Bowie? Ring (877) 421-6008 or use our short form. Pickup works at a driveway near MD 564 in old Bowie, a condo parking space, or a garage that turned down the repair.