Selling a dead or junk car in Portage

The rest of Section 24-113

Two more lines in the same list affect a car that won't move. Parking an inoperable car, RV or trailer "for a period exceeding eight hours" is a listed nuisance. So is parking any of them for longer than 48 hours, subject to the seasonal limits the city adopts from the Michigan Vehicle Code. A car registered to a relative who doesn't live with you never gets the 48-hour driveway allowance at all.

What a notice gives you

When the director finds a nuisance, the city clerk can have written notice delivered to the owner or occupant. Every such notice must require removal "within a maximum of ten days after service of the notice," and it warns that failure to act may result in the city abating the nuisance with the cost "billed to the property owner." Ten days is the ceiling, not a promise of ten.

Winter nights on the street

From December 1 to March 15, Section 78-2 makes it unlawful to park "on or within five feet from the main traveled portion of the street between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m." A car that dies at the curb in late November has very little time before that ban starts. Heavier vehicles rated over one and one-half tons can't park on a residential street for an hour or more at any time of year.

If it is stuck at a shop

Portage's business and light industrial districts carry their own limit. In both, "vehicles awaiting repair and/or inoperable vehicles" may not be "located outdoors for more than 14 days." If your car is waiting on a repair you have not approved, the shop is working against that clock too. See stuck at a repair shop.

Michigan title and plates

Portage owners get titles at Michigan Department of State branch offices. A Portage seller hands over the original title once every named owner has signed and the odometer statement and seller's section are filled in. The seller steps list no notary. Michigan says a scrap buyer taking an older car must get an assigned title. A scrap metal processor then turns that title in to the state within 30 days of destroying the car.

Take your plate off when you sell in Portage. Otherwise you could end up with the new owner's tickets. A Portage seller should then photocopy the signed title on front and back and keep it on file 18 months. After you sell lists the rest.

Selling it whole

Got a Portage car to sell? Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Our truck picks up Portage cars at home driveways, garages or the shop. In a straight line, Kalamazoo sits 5.4 miles off and Battle Creek 19.8. See the Michigan page for rules that apply across the state.