Selling a dead or junk car in Cottage Grove

Why the city is strict about it

The code gives its reasons. Section 4-1-4 calls unsheltered storage and inoperable vehicles "a danger to the public health and safety." Section 6-2-4 adds that badly parked and stored vehicles "promote blight and deterioration in the community."

Business and industrial zones in Cottage Grove get a little more room. A dead car can stay past the seventh day there if it is "adequately screened." Licensed parts dealers, junkyards, salvage dealers, repair garages and body shops are exempt where the code authorizes them.

The written demand and the 48-hour clock

When a car breaks the rule, 4-1-4 puts the job on "the owner or possessor of the vehicle." That person must move it "to a duly licensed junkyard or other authorized place of deposit or storage following receipt of a written demand by the City." The general nuisance rules in 4-1-1 set the deadline at "forty-eight (48) hours after the notice is received or posted," unless the notice names a different date. Past that point, the city or its contractor can remove the car itself, with no further notice beyond what the code already requires.

If a letter like this is on your counter, see notice to remove a car.

Cars left at a tow lot or a shop

A tow lot has its own clock. Under 4-1-4, a car becomes an abandoned motor vehicle once it has sat in a city-licensed towing company's impound lot "for more than thirty (30) days after a written notice to remove the motor vehicle has been sent by registered mail to the registered owner."

Repair shops in town face a fence rule. Under Section 11-4-8, an inoperable vehicle waiting on repairs within 100 feet of a residential use or district "must be enclosed from public view with a solid fence that is six feet (6') in height." When the shop's quote tops the car's value and they want the bay back, stuck at a repair shop covers your choices.

Plates, tax and the Notice of Sale

Minnesota attaches plates to the vehicle, not the owner. Under Statute 168.15, a Cottage Grove seller's right to use the registration certificate and plates ends at the sale. A Cottage Grove seller who keeps the stickers past the start of the next registration period leaves the registration tax already paid to the buyer. You do not need a screwdriver.

Washington County sellers sign over ownership at a deputy registrar, one of close to 200 around Minnesota. They are listed on drive.mn.gov, and 651-297-2005 is the phone line. The DVS seller list has you handprint and sign the assignment, fill in the sale price and date, and complete the disclosures, and it lists no notary. Both deadlines are ten days: the title transfer must be completed within ten days of the sale, and the Notice of Sale is due to DVS by mail or online within the same ten days.

Nearby

Woodbury and Hastings are each 6.4 miles away, and Inver Grove Heights is 7.2. See Minnesota for the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Ask online or by phone at (877) 421-6008. Reach us about your Cottage Grove car and the offer form covers the rest. Our Cottage Grove pickups happen at driveways, side yards, and shops holding a car.