Selling a broken-down car in North Las Vegas

Where a dead car may sit in North Las Vegas

In residential zones, Section 10.48.100 allows cars, trucks, boats and trailers to be stored or repaired on private property, as long as they don't become a nuisance, a fire or health hazard, or a drag on the neighborhood. Then it gets specific:

• Unregistered, abandoned, junked or dismantled vehicles that don't meet the code's exception may be stored "only in the rear yard in a fully enclosed accessory building to a residential use or garage of primary structure."
• That storage "shall not be permitted in the front or side yard."
• Vehicles in a class listed under NRS 487.290 get a side- or rear-yard allowance, provided nothing of them shows from the street.

The zoning chapter adds one more limit. Section 17.24.040 says required off-street parking spaces may not be used for "storage of inoperable vehicles" unless the Municipal Code permits it elsewhere. A dead car can't sit in one of those required spaces.

The 72-hour notice

If an officer has reasonable grounds to believe a car is abandoned, the officer attaches an order to comply. If the car has not been "removed or brought into compliance within seventy-two (72) hours," the code authorizes removal. The city's solid-waste chapter, Section 8.20.040, lists "abandoned vehicles, inoperable vehicles, parts of vehicles" as refuse.

Breakdowns on the street

Fixing a car at the curb is allowed only for emergency repairs. Even then, Section 10.48.090 says "no disabled vehicle shall remain parked for longer than twenty-four (24) hours." If police tow a vehicle under Section 10.08.210, the officer must tell the owner in writing that it was moved, why, and to which garage. When no owner can be found and the car sits unreturned for three days, a written report goes out instead.

Signing the title over

Nevada's DMV issues titles statewide. Copy the owner name exactly as printed when you sign. Pay off any lien before the sale. Model year 2011 or later? The buyer needs the actual paper title. A Bill of Sale (VP-104) releases your interest, but the DMV says a title has to go with it. Title still in a relative's or ex-partner's name? Read car not in your name before you agree to anything.

Your plates and the 60-day deadline

The plates come off with you. A sale ends the registration, and the clock to reuse it on a different vehicle, or to return the plates, is 60 days. Record the sale in MyDMV using the Registration Cancellation and Vehicle Resale Notification, then call the insurer, in that order.

Nearby towns

From North Las Vegas, straight-line distances run 10.5 miles to Las Vegas, 19.7 to Henderson and 64.5 to Mesquite. Statewide rules are on Nevada, and junk car removal covers the haul itself.

Getting an offer

Use the online form or call (877) 421-6008. Let us know what car it is, what the odometer shows, if it starts, and how things stand with the title. A car shut in a rear-yard garage is no harder for the driver to load than one at the curb.