Getting rid of a non-running car in Las Vegas

The city code on dead and abandoned cars

Section 9.04.010 is the definitions section for the city's nuisance chapter. It opens its list with "any vehicle that has been abandoned, or any vehicle in an obviously mechanically inoperable condition," and then names the places where such a car becomes a problem. The multifamily lot is one of them.

The same section defines a chronic nuisance as three or more nuisance activities "during any thirty-day period on a property." To "abate" a nuisance can mean removal, repair, replacement or demolition, whichever the city's notice calls for.

The detailed rules on abandoned and inoperable vehicles sit in Chapter 11.24 of the code. A separate ordinance changed the limits on parking and storing vehicles in residential areas. If you have a city notice in hand, read it alongside those chapters. The notice sets your deadline.

Selling it from the roadside

Parking a broken car on the dirt shoulder with a price in the window runs into Section 13.04.070. That section lets Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and certain city officers remove a vehicle displayed for sale on an unimproved public right-of-way if it "has not been removed within seventy-two hours after a written notice." The section also says "the costs of removal and storage shall be borne by the owner or operator of the vehicle."

When the car has already been towed

Section 11.55.090 lays out who tells you. If Metro was notified that a car was towed, it checks the impound after twenty-four hours. If nobody has claimed the car, Metro gives the parking lot licensee the registered owner's name and address. The licensee then mails a certified letter, return receipt requested, giving "the circumstances, place of impound, and fees due to release the vehicle."

Don't sit on that letter. Under NRS Chapter 487, the towing company gets a lien covering up to 90 days of towing and storage charges. In Las Vegas, a car appraised below $1,500 may be kept on a salvage title. If a Las Vegas car appraised above $1,500 sits unclaimed for 45 days, the lien statutes allow its sale. Towed or impounded explains what you can still do.

State limits that apply inside the city

Inside city limits, state law still applies: a resident may hold no more than a pair of unregistered cars unfit for the highway, with a civil penalty of up to $100 a day. Wreckers, salvage pools, dealers, repair shops and restorers fall under exceptions. The statute also lets a city adopt its own ordinance against the same thing.

Emissions and a car that won't pass

Cars garaged in urban Clark County face a smog test every year. In Las Vegas this includes 1968 and newer gas vehicles at any weight, plus diesels up to 14,000 lb GVWR. In a private sale, the DMV makes the test the buyer's responsibility. So a car that failed, or one that can't be driven to a test station, can still change hands. For owners who want to repair instead, the DMV says Clark County pays up to $975 toward emissions repairs on 1968-1999 vehicles, with income limits. Failed emissions compares the two choices.

The title in a Las Vegas sale

Titles come from the Nevada DMV, not the county, and the DMV notes appointments at its metropolitan offices. A complete change of ownership costs $28.50 at the DMV. Before you sign:

• Pay off any loan. The DMV says liens must be satisfied before a vehicle can be sold.
• Match your signature to the printed owner name. With "AND" between two names, both owners sign. With "OR," either can sign alone.
• For 2011 and newer cars, hand over the paper title. A bill of sale plus a duplicate application is not accepted.
• Sell more than three personal vehicles in a year and you need a dealer's license.

Lien still on the title covers paying off the lender first.

Plates and the resale notice

Las Vegas sellers keep the plates, and the registration ends at the sale. If you don't move it to another vehicle within 60 days, the plates must be surrendered by day 60. A specialty plate passed along with a License Plate Release (SP-67) must be used within 30 days. MyDMV is where the Registration Cancellation and Vehicle Resale Notification goes; do that before the insurance policy ends.

Nearby towns

Measured point to point, North Las Vegas sits 10.5 miles off, Henderson 20.4 and Mesquite 74.8. See Nevada for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Las Vegas owners can call (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form online. We pick it up from an assigned complex space, a garage off a cul-de-sac, or a shop bay it has sat in since the diagnosis.