Selling a junk or dead car in Winona

How Minnesota defines a junk car

Section 168B.011 sets the state test. Minnesota law treats a Winona car as a "junk vehicle" only when all of this is true. Three years is the minimum age for the Winona car, and it carries no valid current registration plate. It looks like it can't run and is worth scrap alone. The Winona car has lost its wheels, motor, drive train or transmission, or they are wrecked. All of these have to fit, so a ten-year-old car that simply will not start but still has current plates is outside the definition.

An "abandoned" car is a different label. Put simply, a Winona car that doesn't run or is missing key parts qualifies when it was illegally left on public land for 48 hours or more (4 hours where posted), or on private land without the manager's okay.

When the authorities take it

Under Section 168B.04, units of government and peace officers may take any abandoned or junk car into custody and impound it. Then the state clocks run:

1. Five days (weekends and holidays skipped) to mail written notice to the registered owner and any lienholder, or to print it in a newspaper if the owner can't be found (168B.06).
2. Fifteen days past that notice, a Winona junk or abandoned car may be sold or disposed of. A junk car that still has a valid plate can be sold too (168B.051).
3. Fifteen or 45 days after notice, depending on the type of vehicle, to reclaim it by paying the tow and storage charges (168B.07). Unclaimed cars can go to auction.

Whether Winona adds its own notice or parking rules is something only the city can tell you.

No title in the drawer

Minnesota gives a Winona seller more routes than most people expect:

• Duplicate title. Use Form PS2067A. For a Winona owner, DVS charges $21.50 by mail, and a deputy registrar adds a $1 surcharge. Only the owner listed on the original Winona title, or a legal representative, can apply. DVS says most deputy registrars print it the day you apply.
• Bonded title. Used when a car over five years old has no proof of ownership. In Winona, the title backed by a bond route needs a surety bond set at one and a half times this car's value.
• Scrap without a title. A Winona car at least 10 model years old can go to a licensed dealer when you show ID, a signed statement and printed DVS records proving no registration for more than seven years.
• Parts dealer, seven-day hold. If you sign off on a seven-day hold, a licensed used parts dealer can buy a car lacking proof of ownership to take apart. The hold does not count weekends and holidays. For a car without a title, payment goes by check or electronic transfer only, made out to the person whose ID was shown.

More on all of this is in selling with no title. If an insurer totaled the car, the title may carry the word "Salvage" in a black box near the bottom (salvage title).

Signing it over

A Winona transfer is handled by Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services at any of its nearly 200 deputy registrar offices. Winona sellers can find them through drive.mn.gov or by dialing 651-297-2005. We haven't clocked the drive from Winona to any office.

The selling price belongs in the sales tax declaration area. Next, write the sale date and fill out the odometer and damage disclosures. DVS's seller steps don't call for a notary. You handprint your name and sign. In Winona, the buyer keeps the plates on the car. Winona sellers have ten days after the sale to file the "Notice of Sale". Mail works, and so does the online form. After that, you aren't liable as owner for how the car gets driven.

Winona on the map

Winona is the center of its own micro area, with 26,530 people on 18.991 square miles. The nearest town we cover is Rochester, 40.3 miles away as the crow flies. Austin is 70.3 and Hastings 75.1. For statewide rules, see Minnesota.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online. Say which title path above matches your Winona car; the offer form handles everything else. Being 40 miles from the next city we cover makes no difference to pickup. It can be from a garage near the old Saint Teresa campus, a gravel drive outside town, or a Winona repair bay.