Selling a junk or dead car in Minnetonka

Three ways to be inoperable

Minnetonka's code defines "inoperable condition" as a car with "no substantial potential use consistent with its usual function." It names three cases:

• a missing or defective part the car needs to run normally
• a car stored "on blocks, jacks or other supports"
• a car that "has not had a current vehicle license for at least six months"

The third case catches cars that still start. A Minnetonka car with tabs that lapsed last spring can meet the definition with nothing wrong under the hood.

A "junk vehicle" in Minnetonka is one that is inoperable, partly dismantled, used as a parts source, or kept for scrapping or salvage. The code adds that a junk vehicle "is also an abandoned vehicle." If you have been pulling parts off a second car to keep the first one running, that is the category. See missing parts for selling a car in that state.

Selling it yourself from the front yard

Section 845.020 limits where a car for sale can sit. No recreational vehicle or vehicle for sale may be parked within ten feet of the paved street, "except on a driveway that is shorter than 40 feet long measured from the street pavement." The same section lets a police officer order certain nuisance vehicles removed and impounded right away.

On Minnetonka's business and industrial land, the zoning standards keep unlicensed, inoperable vehicles out of sight. In some districts they must be in screened storage, and in others they are not allowed at all. A car that died at a shop or a commercial lot along one of those corridors puts the landowner under pressure to move it.

Towing and release

Police can move a parked car from a Minnetonka street when it hinders snow removal, street improvements or maintenance. A car blocking road or utility work becomes a public nuisance once the owner has had "at least 12 hours" of notice. The chief of police handles abandoned vehicles under Minnesota law. In every case, the tow operator hands the car back only after the impound, towing and storage bills are settled.

Title, duplicates and plates

For Minnetonka paperwork we looked at Hennepin County's downtown Minneapolis office. From Minnetonka, head to 300 South 6th Street and ask for Suite A-025, or phone 612-348-8240. Minnetonka's middle is about 10 miles west of it, straight-line, as the crow flies. The state has nearly 200 deputy registrar counters too, mapped on drive.mn.gov.

A Minnetonka owner who lost the title uses PS2067A, the Application for Duplicate Title. A Minnetonka owner pays $21.50 mailing it to DVS, and a deputy registrar counter adds a $1 surcharge. Only two people can file it in Minnetonka. First comes whoever the original title lists as its owner. Second, someone with power of attorney acting as their legal representative. Most deputy registrars give out the duplicate that same day.

At the sale, the DVS steps have a Minnetonka seller handprint and sign the assignment, with no notary step listed. The buyer keeps the plates. Your remaining job is the Notice of Sale, which goes to DVS within ten days, either on the form from the title or through the online report.

Nearby

St. Louis Park is 4.6 miles away, Edina 5.5, Eden Prairie 5.7 and Plymouth 6.2. Statewide rules are on the Minnesota page.

Getting an offer

Send the form or call (877) 421-6008. Tell us about your Minnetonka car on the offer form, even if the title needs replacing first. The truck can load it from a long wooded driveway, a garage or a commercial lot.