One hour's notice: dead cars in Glens Falls

If that describes yours, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, including every block of Glens Falls' 3.851 square miles.

The street rules in Section 208-30

The Superintendent of Public Works tells police which streets will close, and police then give owners their hour. After it passes, a car may be removed on the say-so of the Mayor, any Councilman or any police officer. Two situations skip the notice entirely:

• a car found unattended "where said vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic"
• a car "parked or abandoned on any highway within this City where stopping, standing or parking is prohibited"

After a tow, Public Works or the police must report it "without delay", and police must try to find the owner and say where the car went and "the amount which will be required to redeem" it. If that has already happened, towed or impounded covers the next steps.

Who decides a car is abandoned

Section 208-30.1 is a single sentence. The Common Council "does hereby designate the Chief of Police of the City of Glens Falls as agent of the City of Glens Falls for the purpose of removing and disposing of abandoned vehicles pursuant to § 1224 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law."

So in Glens Falls the police chief applies the state's test. A car qualifies after sitting unplated in public for 6-plus hours, staying anywhere public past a full day, or occupying another person's property without leave for 96-plus hours. When it carries no plates and would fetch $2,250 or less wholesale, Glens Falls owns it as soon as it is abandoned. Any other car prompts a letter to its last owner, and ten days later it may go to auction or bid. Getting it back means paying for the tow and the storage.

A dead car in a Glens Falls yard

The sections we read are about streets and removals. State law does not reach a junk or unregistered car parked on land its owner holds; local law covers that, and Glens Falls may have something on it that we did not find. Check before letting a car sit through another season. If it already has sat for years, see car sitting for years.

On registration: New York accepts online renewals for up to a year after the expiration date. Beyond that, Glens Falls owners re-register in person or through the mail, and we turned up no charge for the missed years.

New York paperwork for the sale

Only someone the title names may sell. Two names? Either signature works, and a business-owned car is signed over by one of its members. The seller completes the assignment printed on the title's reverse and adds MV-912, the bill of sale. Nobody needs a notary. A local DMV office is where the buyer gets it titled and registered.

You keep the plates and the windshield sticker. Give the plates back to the DMV while the policy is still active, leaving off the frames and screws, which the DMV refuses, and file the FS-6T receipt it issues.

A car that arrived from another state with a branded title brings that history along. In Glens Falls, 15 NYCRR 20.20 keeps title brands for life. If another state branded a Glens Falls car "junk", "salvage", "parts only", "rebuilt" or "water damage", New York gives it a "salvage rebuilt" brand. Our salvage title guide explains what that changes.

Around Glens Falls

Saratoga Springs is 18.1 miles away as the crow flies, Schenectady 37.9, Troy 39.8 and Albany 45.3. The New York page collects the state rules.

Getting an offer

Got a Glens Falls car to sell? Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Our offer form takes the details. Before the next snow closes your street, we can collect it from a curb near Centennial Circle, a driveway, or a shop that has given up on it.