Selling a junk or dead car in Duluth

Duluth's own rules: what we could and could not find

We could not find Duluth's city code online. Everything below on junk and abandoned cars is Minnesota law, which applies in every city. Duluth can set its own rules, such as a shorter time limit for a car on a street or lot. Check with Duluth city staff before you count on any grace period.

When state law calls a car junk

Minnesota Statutes 168B.011 sets out the test. State law makes a Duluth car a "junk vehicle" when all of this fits. A Duluth car qualifies at three years old or more with major damage. In other words, the motor, transmission, drive train or wheels are missing or badly damaged. On top of that, the Duluth car seems unable to run. Its registration plate isn't valid and current. Its only value is as scrap. All of those together, not just one.

"Abandoned" is a separate label. Duluth treats a car that can't run or lacks vital parts as abandoned after 48 illegal hours on public ground (4 hours where posted), or when it sits on private land the person in control never okayed. This law never treats a Duluth classic or pioneer car as abandoned. A car parked in a shut garage or storage building is exempt too.

If police or the city take it

Under 168B.04, a unit of government or a peace officer may take any abandoned or junk vehicle into custody and impound it. The law then sets the clocks:

• 5 days to send written notice of the taking to the registered owner and any lienholder, not counting weekends and holidays. If the owner cannot be found, notice can run in a newspaper.
• 15 days past that notice, a junk or abandoned Duluth car can be sold or scrapped. A valid plate does not keep a junk car from being sold.
• 15 or 45 days from the notice, based on the kind of vehicle, the owner can get it back by paying for towing and storage.

An unclaimed car can then go to auction under 168B.08. If yours is already on a lot, our towed or impounded guide covers selling it from there.

Signing the title over

When a Duluth car changes hands, Minnesota Statutes 168A.10 requires the seller to complete the title's assignment and warranty and give the real sale price. The DVS fact sheet adds the details. A Duluth seller writes the price in the sales tax declaration section on the back, then the sale date and the disclosures. Every car needs a damage disclosure. Models from 2011 on also need an odometer disclosure for 20 years. The DVS seller steps mention no notary for your signature. Duluth titles showing a lien need the lien card or a notarized release to go with them.

Duluth sellers have ten days from the sale to finish the title transfer. The Duluth buyer then has 20 calendar days to file for a new title. Miss it and the registration is suspended, plus a $2 late penalty kicks in past those 20 days.

Plates, the Notice of Sale and staying off the hook

Duluth sellers leave the plates on. Minnesota plates stay on the car. The buyer gets the registration tax you paid, unless you hand in the stickers before the new period begins. Section 168.15 says you lose the use of those plates once the car is transferred.

Your protection comes from filing the Notice of Sale. Detach it from the title and mail it, or report the sale online, within ten days. On a Duluth sale, write down the date plus who bought it, where they live and their driver's license number. Duluth sellers who meet the rule, beforehand or within 48 hours of the handoff, are covered. Such a seller "is not liable" as owner for harm from later use. Duluth sales where a licensed dealer buys or sells follow other rules.

Salvage, inspections and the rest

A Duluth car gets a "salvage" title if an insurer totaled it or its damage topped 80 percent of what it was worth. A late-model car from 2021 to 2026 gets "salvage", while older ones get "prior salvage". See our salvage title guide. No emissions test stands in the way. Minnesota stopped testing when its Twin Cities program ended in 2000.

Title offices we checked

• Suite A-025 in the Minneapolis building at 300 South 6th Street. Call 612-348-8240. In a straight line it is about 136 miles southwest of central Duluth.
• 151 4th Street South East, Rochester, phone 507-923-2020: about 191 miles south.

To find a deputy registrar near Duluth, phone 651-297-2005 or look on drive.mn.gov.

Nearby pages

Our nearest other Minnesota pages are a long way south: Forest Lake (112.6 miles), Andover (120.0), Elk River (121.0), Lino Lakes (121.2) and Blaine (122.2). Minnesota covers the state as a whole.

Getting an offer

In Duluth, call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form to get going. Have a Duluth car to sell? Fill out the offer form and we will follow up. Pickup can happen on a steep driveway, a side street, a garage stall or a shop lot.