Selling a junk or dead car in Savage

Savage paperwork snags, one at a time

Registration ran out. It expires on the final day of the month printed on the plate. Online renewal works only within 10 months of expiry, so a car parked longer than that misses the window.

The title disappeared. Form PS2067A gets a duplicate, but only for the owner named on the old one or a power-of-attorney holder. By mail to DVS it costs $21.50. A deputy registrar charges $1 more.

You never had proof you own it. Minnesota has a bonded title for cars over five years old. A Savage owner's surety bond has to match one and a half times the car's market worth. See selling with no title.

The bank is still listed on the title. You will likely need a lien release card or a release a notary witnessed. Still owe on the loan covers the payoff side.

Minnesota's junk and abandoned tests

Under statute 168B.011, a car is junk only when it is "three years old or older," "extensively damaged," "apparently inoperable," lacking a "valid current registration plate," and its worth is "only the scrap value." Abandoned means something else: an inoperable car, or one lacking vital parts, left unlawfully on public property for 48 hours (4 where posted), or on private land without permission. An enclosed garage or storage building takes a car out of the abandoned group.

Local officers may impound either kind. In Savage, once fifteen days pass from the owner's notice, it may be sold or gotten rid of. That holds even for a junk car still wearing a valid plate. An unclaimed one may go to auction.

Title offices we checked

Savage is in Scott County. Our check covered two offices outside it:

• Hennepin County Service Center: 300 South 6th Street in Minneapolis, Suite A-025. 612-348-8240. About 16 miles north, as the crow flies.
• Olmsted County: 151 4th Street SE, Rochester. 507-923-2020. About 68 miles southeast.

Deputy registrar offices around the state handle transfers too.

Handing over the title

The back of the title wants the price paid, the date, and the disclosures: damage for every car, odometer for 2011 models and newer. DVS asks for the seller's signature and handprinted name, and lists no notary. The transfer has to be made on the title within ten days of the sale.

Keep your hands off the plates. They stay with the car, and the paid registration tax transfers too. Last, a Savage seller reports the sale within ten days, by mailing the "Notice of Sale" or doing it online. Once a Savage seller does that, crashes by the next driver are off them: the law says "not liable as owner for damages from operation of the vehicle after delivery."

Getting an offer

Go online or call (877) 421-6008. Savage sellers can start an offer with the short form. We can load it at a Savage driveway, a storage lot or a shop in Burnsville. See Minnesota for statewide rules.