Selling a dead or junk car in Dearborn

What Dearborn calls a junk vehicle

Chapter 13 lists as a nuisance the "storage upon any property of junk vehicles or any vehicle parts except in a completely enclosed building." A junk vehicle is any car "inoperative for any reason such as being in a state of disassembly, disrepair, stripped, dismantled, unregistered and unlicensed." Loose parts count as junk "whether or not the same could be put to any reasonable use."

Parking lots offer no shelter. Under Section 4.01, it is unlawful to store "wrecked, inoperable, unlicensed, or junked vehicles in any parking area in any district for any period of time." Section 7.02 lets repair garages keep a wrecked or partly dismantled car outside no longer than "forty-eight (48) hours," so a shop with your dead car has its own reason to move it out.

If police take it as an abandoned scrap car

Section 18-368 lays out the rest:

• No more than seven days after custody, the Secretary of State writes to the last titled owner and any lender that the Dearborn car counts as abandoned.
• The registered owner can request a hearing to contest that, or the towing and daily storage fees. Paying $40.00 plus towing and storage to the court gets the car released while the hearing is pending.
• A secured lender can take the car by paying $40.00 plus the charges if the owner does not redeem it or request a hearing inside 20 days of the notice.

Tow companies doing business in the city must protect a stored car and hand back personal belongings on demand, and they hold no lien on loose items inside it. See towed or impounded.

Title and plates for a Wayne County seller

Michigan titles come from the Department of State through Secretary of State branch offices, not from Wayne County. Fill out the odometer statement and the seller's part, sign, then hand the buyer the original title. All named owners sign. The steps Michigan lists for sellers do not include a notary.

Until the buyer transfers the title, it remains in your name. Dearborn sellers have two paths under MCL 257.240. Sellers in Dearborn may also visit a branch alongside the buyer. Otherwise, hold proof for at least 18 months. Save a copy of the signed title. Another option is a dated, priced receipt the Dearborn buyer signs, with their name, address and license number. A Dearborn seller who skips this faces a $15 civil infraction. Should that Dearborn car get abandoned down the road, the seller is presumed to owe its towing and storage. Here police can hand an abandoned scrap car to a scrapper within a business day, so that record is your proof the car was no longer yours.

Take your plate with you. In Dearborn, you take the plate off and can use it on another car you own or buy. Left on, it can tie the buyer's tickets back to you. A scrap certificate of title, $15 to apply for, lets a car be hauled but not driven, and that car is never titled again. See salvage title.

Getting an offer

For a Dearborn car, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Trucks reach closed garages, driveways, or shops wanting the space back. Allen Park is 3.7 miles away, Dearborn Heights 4.2 and Lincoln Park 5.1, each with its own page. Statewide rules: Michigan.