Selling a dead or junk car in Carrboro

What state law calls a junked car

G.S. Under 160A-303, Carrboro can adopt an ordinance that forbids leaving abandoned cars on streets or on public or private property, and can tow away junked or abandoned ones. Under that statute, a "junked motor vehicle" is an abandoned vehicle that also:

• is partially dismantled or wrecked, or
• cannot move under its own power, or
• has passed five years of age and is valued under $100 (or $500 where Carrboro's ordinance sets it), or
• has no current plate.

Treat that $100 or $500 as the statute's yardstick for junk, nothing more.

The same statute calls a car abandoned on private property once it has been left there for more than two hours without the property owner's consent. That clock is about someone else's car on your land, not your own car in your own driveway. Carrboro leaves a car on private property alone unless the property owner puts a request in writing or the car is declared a health or safety hazard. Towns and counties acting under these laws must offer the owner a hearing.

The state's own clocks

State law has a second set of definitions in G.S. 20-137.7. An "abandoned vehicle" has stayed illegally on private or public property more than 10 days without consent. A "derelict vehicle" includes one with expired registration and the owner gone, major parts removed, its IDs removed, an owner who disclaims it, or one more than 12 years old with no current license.

When the state tags one, G.S. 20-137.10 allows five days from the tag date before it is removed to be sold. The state mails notice to whoever last registered the car and to any lender holding a lien.

Registration and inspection in Orange County

A lapsed registration gets more expensive the longer it sits: the late fee starts at $15, rises to $20 once it is a month late, and tops out at $25 past two months. Orange County is not one of the 19 emissions counties, so the annual safety inspection is the only test before renewal.

Title offices we checked

Titles here are issued by the state and handled at license plate agencies, not at an Orange County office. We checked three, measured from the middle of Carrboro as the crow flies:

• 4215 University Drive, Suite 8, Durham: about 8 miles east
• 4121 New Bern Ave., Raleigh: about 30 miles east
• 5533 W. Market St., Greensboro: about 46 miles west

Whoever buys it, the reverse of the title needs the buyer's details, the sale date and a damage statement, and your signature goes on only with a notary watching. Lost it? For Carrboro owners, Form MVR-4 costs $25.50, needs a notary, and sits 15 days at NCDMV once received. A car headed for scrap can have its title marked JUNKED with a notarized assignment, and no new title is issued.

Plates in North Carolina belong to the owner, not the car, so pull them before the truck leaves. Carrboro plates with nowhere to go get turned in at a plate agency or mailed to Raleigh, and the policy stays active until then. After you sell walks through it.

Getting an offer

For a Carrboro car, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. One that has sat for years is fine. Chapel Hill is 2.6 miles away; for statewide rules, see North Carolina.