Selling a dead or junk car in Hilliard

Hilliard's definition, and the 48-hour limit

The zoning code calls a vehicle inoperable in three situations:

• dismantling, disrepair or some other cause leaves it unable to move under its own power
• it isn't safe to drive on Ohio roads
• it lacks a current plate and registration

Open storage or parking of a car like that, outside an enclosed garage or building, is allowed for 48 hours. Every vehicle must also park on an improved surface. The city's code-violation FAQ adds that cars on private property must run and carry proper plates and registration, and may never be in major disassembly, disrepair, or the process of being stripped or dismantled.

Repairs follow a separate rule. In Hilliard's residential districts, fixing, restoring or servicing a car happens entirely indoors in an enclosed building. The only exception is a job that can be, and is, finished in under a day. Nothing may be repaired in the public right-of-way.

When police can tow

Section 303.08 lets police remove:

• a car wrecked or disabled so it can't be driven
• one left over 72 hours on private property without the possessor's permission
• an abandoned junk car left 48 hours or more

That last term has its own definition in Section 301.011, and a car must fit all of it:

• left 48 hours or more, either on private land without the owner's say or on a Hilliard street or right-of-way
• at least three years old
• extensively damaged, as with missing wheels, tires, motor or transmission
• apparently inoperable
• valued at $1,500 or less

The towed car goes into storage and the Police Division sends written notice by certified mail. To redeem it, go to the Hilliard Police Division with ID and ownership papers, and pay the fines or the bond a court set. Then carry the release form to the impound operator and settle towing and storage there. Violating the impound section starts as a minor misdemeanor; a repeat within a year is fourth degree, and later ones are third degree.

Streets and snow

Any street spot in Hilliard is limited to 72 continuous hours (Section 351.14). In winter, the Mayor or a designee can declare a snow emergency when the forecast calls for 3 inches or more in a short time with more to come, or when snow and ice are already impairing traffic. Two hours after the official announcement, every Hilliard driver is presumed to know.

Title and plates from Hilliard

Ohio's county Clerk of Courts offices issue titles, and you may use any county's. Measured from Hilliard's center point, the nearest is over the line in Dublin, where Union County keeps an office on St. Rt. 161, about 5.4 miles north as the crow flies. Franklin County's closest is in the Hollywood Shopping Center at 4153 W. Broad St., about 6.2 miles southeast; the county's offices share one number, (614) 525-3090. Its Campus View office is about 9.8 miles northeast.

Signing the title over takes a notary in Ohio, so bring the title to one before the Hilliard pickup. Plates don't go with the car: the registration expires at the sale, and Ohio has the seller take them off then.

Getting an offer

Start online or call (877) 421-6008. Have the basics handy: model year, make, model, miles, if it starts, and the name on the title. You sell the whole car as it sits. Nearby: Dublin and Columbus, or see Ohio.