Selling a dead or junk car in Kalamazoo

If the car is finished, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

When state law lets a car be towed

Two routes are written into state law. If a car is left on private property without consent, the owner can call a local towing agency. The agency must notify police before towing and use a storage lot within 15 miles of the local unit. Police can also move a car from public or private property to safekeeping under MCL 257.252d, including when it gets in the way of an owner using their own property. That removal is at the expense of the last titled owner.

If you sold a car and never saw the title transferred, the phrase to watch is "Last titled owner." More on that below.

The 20-day window after a tow

Within 7 days of custody, the Secretary of State provides details on the owner and any lender. The Kalamazoo notice warns that the car can be sold unless, within 20 days, you redeem it or request a hearing. A Kalamazoo owner contests the tow by petitioning the court inside those 20 days, posting a $40.00 bond and the towing and storage fees owed to that point. Twenty days after the hearing, Kalamazoo may sell the car at public sale. With no hearing, the 20 days run from the notice. Towed or impounded walks through the choices.

Why the sale record protects you

Kalamazoo sellers don't file any release-of-liability paper, because Michigan doesn't offer one. MCL 257.240 clears a Kalamazoo seller of later use once the car and a properly signed title change hands, if the seller went to a branch office with the buyer or kept a sale record 18 months or more. For a Kalamazoo sale, a photocopy of the reassigned title counts. For a Kalamazoo sale, a page the buyer signs also works if it shows their name, address and driver license number, along with the price and date. A Kalamazoo seller who has neither can get a $15 civil infraction. Should the Kalamazoo car get abandoned later, the law treats that seller as owing towing and storage. That is how a car you sold can come back as your bill.

Signing the title

Titles for Kalamazoo cars come from the Michigan Department of State, not from Kalamazoo County. Hand over the original title itself, not a photocopy, after completing the seller's portion and odometer statement and signing. Every owner named must sign. The Department of State's seller steps for Kalamazoo sales skip any notary. A private sale between two people who each hold a Michigan driver's license or ID can transfer online, with approval taking up to 3 days.

Lost title, or a car you bought without one

Kalamazoo owners pay $15 for a replacement title by mail, about 14 days, or $20 to get one the same day. For just a duplicate title in Kalamazoo, a single owner can come in and sign.

The reverse problem is common with cheap old cars: you paid someone, never got a title, and cannot reach them now. Form TR-205 lets a Kalamazoo buyer self-certify for a title on a car bought in Michigan, worth $2,500 or less, and 10 or more calendar years old. It does not cover cars titled in other states. If not, a Kalamazoo buyer has to get a court order, or post a surety bond set at double the car's fair market value. See selling with no title and car not in your name.

Scrap or salvage

In Kalamazoo, a late-model car (under 8,000 pounds, built in the last six model years) counts as salvage once repair costs reach 75% of its pre-damage value but stay below 91%. It is scrap at 91% or more. Any Kalamazoo owner may ask for a salvage or scrap title whenever they like, no matter how old or damaged the car is. In Kalamazoo, the scrap certificate of title application runs $15. It allows moving the car but not driving it, and it can never become a road title again. Salvage title has more.

Plates

Remove your plate when you sell in Kalamazoo. MCL 257.233 lets you move it to another car or pass it to a spouse, parent, sibling or child who is taking the car. If it has expired, Michigan charges no back years on renewal, just an added $10 fee, and expired fees are not prorated.

Kalamazoo and its neighbors

Portage, 5.4 miles from Kalamazoo in a direct line, gives a dead car only 48 hours on a driveway under its code; see Portage. Battle Creek is 18.4 miles off. Statewide rules are on the Michigan page.

Next step: an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008 with the car's mileage and year, make and model, if it starts for you, and how the title stands. Our truck drives to your Kalamazoo car, be it behind a rental near campus, on a shop lot or in a garage.