Junk and dead cars in University City

We buy whole non-running and junk cars here. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, whether the car is on a side street off Delmar or in a garage in the Loop.

Out of sight, or out of town

University City packs 34,657 people into 5.881 square miles, and Section 385.010 keeps broken cars off view. No one may "cause any abandoned vehicle or motor vehicle in a state of substantial disrepair to be stored in the open."

Two places are exempt. University City exempts a car "completely enclosed within a locked building or locked fenced area and not visible from adjacent public or private property." Licensed salvage, swap, junk, towing or storage businesses are exempt too in University City, so long as they hold the car inside what their license allows. A tarp in the driveway is neither.

If police ask for a dead car to be moved and it stays, Section 385.060 says the person in charge of the property, owner or tenant alike, may not deny access to an authorized city agent who comes to remove it.

What abandonment can cost

A conviction under Section 385.090 brings civil liability for "all reasonable towing, storage and administrative costs." When the car is transferred under state law, any costs above its value stay with the person convicted. A stolen car is the exception, but the owner has to show a police report was filed in time. So does a car that was in someone else's care, custody or control at the time.

Towed from a private lot

Article III sets rules for private-property tows in the city:

• The lot needs a sign at every entrance, at least 17 by 22 inches, warning that unauthorized vehicles will be removed at the owner's expense.
• University City police search Department of Revenue records and give the tower the latest owner and lienholder.
• If you come back before the car leaves the lot, the tower may charge no more than half the regular towing charge.
• Within ten days of the tower's notice, the owner or a lienholder may petition the Associate Circuit Court in the county where the car is stored.

More in towed or impounded.

Closing out the title in Missouri

In Missouri, title signatures do not need a notary. Add the odometer reading and sale date with nothing erased and no correction fluid. The plates are yours to remove before the buyer takes the car, expired or not.

Then file the sale within 30 days. In University City, the sale can be reported with a DOR-1957 (Bill of Sale); a DOR-5049 (Notice of Sale) works too. Newer titles include a DOR-5049A stub you tear off. Given Section 385.090, this is the step a University City seller should not skip. After you sell walks through the rest.

Because you live in St. Louis County, the Department of Revenue also expects an emissions inspection under 60 days old next to the safety inspection certificate. A missing title can be replaced at any Missouri license office for $8.50 plus a $9 processing fee.

Nearby

St. Louis is 5.1 miles off measured directly, Webster Groves 5.6, Kirkwood 7.7 and Maryland Heights 8.3. The Missouri page covers the state as a whole.

Getting an offer

Got a dead car in University City? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our form. We tow it from where it sits. You keep the plates and your sale notice copy.