Selling a junk or dead car in Winston-Salem

Junked starts with abandoned

In Winston-Salem the labels stack. Section 42-341 defines a junked motor vehicle as "an abandoned motor vehicle that also" meets further conditions. Abandoned includes a car left on a street "in violation of a law or ordinance that regulates or prohibits parking, or that requires the display of a valid license plate or registration sticker," or left on a public street "for longer than seven days."

A third label needs neither. A "safety hazard vehicle" is one "left upon a street or highway or private property longer than 72 hours" and declared a hazard by a code enforcement official, "without regard to whether the vehicle is abandoned or junked."

Section 42-344 also makes it unlawful "to abandon a junked motor vehicle" on streets, public grounds or private property.

Seven days' notice

Without your written request, a code enforcement officer must first find in writing that "the aesthetic benefits of removing the vehicle outweigh the burdens imposed upon the owner." Notice then says the car will be removed "no sooner than seven days after receipt of notice." If no owner can be found, the notice goes on the windshield with the same seven-day floor.

After a tow, Section 42-342 requires notice to the last registered owner. For a car with a North Carolina plate or registration, that notice comes "within 24 hours." For a car with neither, the city checks the VIN to find the owner.

Unpaid tickets and the wheel lock

Section 42-176 lets the city put a wheel lock on an illegally parked car with "three or more outstanding, unpaid and overdue parking tickets for a period of 90 days." Leave the penalties and the $50.00 immobilization fee unpaid for a day after the lock goes on, and the city may tow and impound the car. It is released only after the penalties and all towing and storage charges are paid, or a payment plan is approved.

Repair hours at home

A dead car in the driveway often tempts a weekend rebuild. Section 62-4 makes it unlawful to do "major repair work on a motor vehicle at any time on Sundays" in residential zones, and the same ban covers weekday nights. Engine tuning, body work and transmission swaps all count. See repairs cost more than it is worth.

Title, plates and Forsyth's emissions test

One office we checked is at 145 Bethania St. in Rural Hall. In a straight line, it is about 10 miles north of downtown Winston-Salem. Titles can also go to NCDMV by mail.

Your signature on the title's reverse needs a notary present. Then pull the plate, which is yours to keep. Return it before dropping insurance unless another of your cars will wear it. If the car later still shows on your registration, Form MVR-46F, notarized, asks NCDMV to remove it.

Forsyth is one of the 19 counties that require an emissions inspection along with the annual safety check. Once the sticker runs out, you can keep driving until midnight on the 15th day of the next month. More in failed inspection.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or write online. Send the form for a Winston-Salem offer. Our truck collects from Forsyth County driveways, curbs and repair lots. Clemmons, Kernersville and High Point have their own pages, and North Carolina covers the state rules.