Selling a junk or dead car in Medina

What Medina calls a discarded car

The zoning code has its own term. Section 1105.41 defines a discarded motor vehicle as any inoperable motor vehicle, or accessory to one, that is in the process of being wrecked, dismantled or stored, and/or one that "does not have a current license thereon which is valid or was not valid for the past six (6) months." In other words, a car being taken apart in the yard is the very thing the definition describes.

If you were weighing that route, our guide to parting out versus selling whole lays out the trade-offs.

The 72-hour mark and the ten-day letter

Section 303.10 takes its tests from ORC 4513.63, the state junk-car law: three or more years of age, a value of $1,500 or under, extensive damage, and no apparent ability to run. When a car like that has stood out in the open with no cover past 72 hours, a certified letter may follow, even if the landowner never objected. The Municipal Zoning Authority can send it, and so can Council, a state trooper, or the chief of a law enforcement agency.

The letter starts a ten-day count from the date you receive it, and within that window the car "either shall be covered by being housed in a garage or other suitable structure or shall be removed from the property." A car still outside after that is presumed a willful violation, a minor misdemeanor, and every additional 30 days adds a count.

Abandonment has its own section, 303.09. Over 72 hours on another person's property without consent, or 48 hours or more on a street or road right-of-way with no explanation to the police, earns a minor misdemeanor and a bill for whatever the city spends disposing of the car.

Tows, tickets and the impound lot

Police may remove a car parked where parking is prohibited, or parked more than an hour past the time allowed. They may also remove a wreck on a public street that is hazardous to drive, and a car parked on someone else's land, uninvited, beyond 72 consecutive hours (303.08).

Unpaid tickets are a tow risk by themselves. Under 353.02, once a car's unpaid parking tickets have reached judgment three or more times with the Medina Municipal Court clerk, officers can impound or immobilize it, even if it is parked legally. The release bond can't be more than $1,000.

Redeeming an impounded car takes three stops: the police offices to establish identity and ownership, the fines or a court-set bond, then the pound operator's towage and storage. Medina police take non-emergency calls at (330) 725-7777.

Title office on North Court Street

The county title office at 976 N. Court St. is about 1.3 miles north of the middle of Medina, as the crow flies, and answers at (330) 722-9253. The county's Brunswick office, 2875 Center Rd., is about 8.3 miles northeast, and its Wadsworth office on Hinkle Drive about 9.4 miles southeast.

Bring the title to a notary to sign it. If it is lost, order a duplicate first: state law sets that fee at $18, with $23 charged where commissioners chose the higher figure. Unscrew the plates on pickup day, since in Ohio a sale ends the car's registration.

Medina County is one of seven E-Check counties. A repair waiver now takes $450 or more in qualifying repair and diagnostic costs, up from $300 before 2026. If the car failed and the repair costs more than it is worth, failed inspection covers your choices.

Getting an offer

Give us the basics, year through mileage, plus whether it runs and what's missing. Online, or (877) 421-6008. Pickup is the same in Strongsville and Elyria.