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Town guide · North Dakota

West Fargo dead-car rules and a whole-car sale

West Fargo sits only 3.6 miles from Fargo as the crow flies, but Fargo's junk-car definitions stop at the city line. West Fargo keeps its traffic rules in Title 13, a PDF on the city's website. The parts we could read let the city tow a vehicle and "impound and retain the same until the expense of removal, storage and impounding" is paid. If you would rather not find out what that adds up to, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated · 7 sources

West Fargo City Hall and Police Department, a red brick building with a glass entrance and a flagpole under a clear blue sky
Photo: Carrie Scarr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

West Fargo, the short version

Population
41,175 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County
Cass
Land area
16.175 square miles
City rules
Title 13, Traffic (PDF)
State abandoned-vehicle law
NDCC chapter 23.1-15
Time to reclaim after a tow
30 days after the notice
Plates
Seller takes them off

What Title 13 shows

The copy we read was only partly legible, so this is a short list, not the whole rule:

  • The code carries its own definition that begins "'Abandoned motor vehicle' means a motor vehicle, as defined in" state law.
  • A towed car can be held until "removal and storage, together with any and all fines or penalties imposed" are paid.
  • It puts a duty on "any person removing a wrecked or damaged vehicle from a highway."

The city may have more rules than these, in Title 13 or elsewhere in its code. Read the PDF, or phone City Hall, before timing anything to these fragments.

The state test for an abandoned car

North Dakota's chapter 23.1-15 fills the gaps. A car left on public ground beyond 48 hours, either unlawfully or missing essential parts, qualifies as abandoned. So does one sitting on another person's property uninvited, or one too broken for substantial further use. Indoors in a closed garage or storage building, it escapes the label; antiques, parts cars and special interest vehicles escape it too.

When the stranded car is on your property, you can hire a commercial tow to haul it off, whether you own the place, rent it or simply occupy it. More in car abandoned on your property.

After the tow

In West Fargo, the registered owner and any lienholders hear by certified mail from the city or the tow company within ten days. Thirty days from its arrival is the owner's deadline to settle the tow and storage bill; after that, silence counts as consent to disposal. Fifty dollars a day is the most storage can run for a car, pickup or van under 20,000 lb.

Title and plates

On a titled car, the seller fills in the assignment with the buyer's name and price and delivers it within 30 days. No notary is involved. With no title, SFN 2888 goes before a notary with the reason the title is missing. NDDOT Motor Vehicle issues titles; its forms list 608 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck. Remove the plates when you sell. You can credit the unused months to one replacement vehicle for $5.

Getting an offer

Describe the vehicle at (877) 421-6008 or in the form: model year, maker, odometer, running or dead, and title on hand or lost. Our truck handles West Fargo pickups from homes, shops and parking lots alike. For the city next door see Fargo; for state rules, North Dakota.

Questions people ask

Does Fargo's junk-car rule apply in West Fargo?
No. West Fargo writes its own ordinances, with traffic rules in Title 13, and North Dakota's abandoned-vehicle law applies across the state.
What must be paid before West Fargo releases a towed car?
The city's traffic code lets it hold an impounded vehicle until removal, storage and impound costs are paid, along with any fines. State law caps storage on a passenger car, pickup or van at $50 a day.
Someone left a dead car on my West Fargo lot. What can I do?
State law treats an unwelcome car on private land as abandoned. Whoever owns, rents or occupies that land may call a commercial towing service to remove it.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

  1. U.S. Census Bureau: city and town population estimates, 2020-2025 www2.census.gov
  2. U.S. Census Bureau: 2025 Gazetteer, places (land area) www2.census.gov
  3. West Fargo Municipal Code Title 13, Traffic (PDF) westfargond.gov
  4. North Dakota Century Code chapter 23.1-15, abandoned motor vehicles ndlegis.gov
  5. North Dakota Century Code chapter 39-05, certificates of title ndlegis.gov
  6. NDDOT SFN 2888, Seller Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale dot.nd.gov
  7. NDDOT Motor Vehicle registration manual dot.nd.gov