Selling a dead car in Sandusky

If the car won't be running or plated again by then, it can go as it is. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, you sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Which cars the five days cover

Section 531.16 lists three ways a vehicle becomes "wrecked or junk," and any one is enough: "A. The vehicle is extremely damaged including but not limited to any of the following: missing wheels, tires, motors or transmissions. B. The vehicle is apparently inoperable. C. The vehicle is unlicenced."

Because the unlicensed test stands on its own, a car does not have to be broken down to fall under the rule.

The city's public nuisance section, 531.02, makes the same point a second way. A wrecked or inoperable car, or one without current registration on display, may be left on private property for a single stretch of no more than five days in total. Keeping it wholly inside a totally enclosed building is the way out of that rule.

Zoning says it a third time. On residentially zoned property, Section 1129.06 allows inoperable vehicles, and vehicles without current plates or validation stickers, only in a completely enclosed garage or other completely enclosed permanent structure. Loose motor vehicle parts are a nuisance too, unless they are kept in a wholly enclosed building or a permitted junkyard.

Notice, then removal

The written notice can come from the Code Compliance Officer, the Chief of Police, or both, either by certified mail or delivered personally. It is addressed to the car's registered owner, or to whoever owns or controls the land, and tells them to remove the car or house it. Ignore it, and the city "may remove and dispose of such motor vehicle."

Code Compliance's number is 419.627.5913. The city's online Report a Concern form has its own category, "Vehicle in disrepair being stored on property," and the city asks for at least two business days before a reply.

Selling from the driveway first

Section 1129.06 lets residents sell cars from home, within limits:

• no more than four vehicles for sale in any twelve-month period
• each one titled to the person living at the property
• one at a time, displayed for no more than 14 calendar days
• never on landscaping or in the right-of-way

Those limits are separate from the five-day rule for inoperable and unlicensed cars.

Streets and towing

Under Section 303.09, no one may "willfully leave any vehicle" on private property "for more than seventy-two hours without the permission of the person having the right to the possession of the property," or on a street 48 hours or longer without letting the police chief know. On a complaint, Section 303.081 lets the chief have an ordinary car stored once it "has been left on private residential or private agricultural property for at least four hours without the permission" of the person entitled to the property.

Getting an impounded car back under Section 303.08 takes proof of ownership, the impoundment fee set by the City Manager and approved by the City Commission, the towing and storage costs, and a receipt. A car not claimed or redeemed within 60 days is presumed abandoned.

Erie County title office

The Erie County title office is at 247 Columbus Ave., Room 131, about 0.2 miles east of the city's center, as the crow flies. Phone (419) 627-7625. The next nearest offices are in Lorain County, in Lorain (about 27.9 miles east) and Elyria (about 32.1 miles east).

• Signing. A notary witnesses the seller's signature on every Ohio title transfer, Erie County included.
• No title? File form BMV 3774 for a duplicate, stating whether the original went missing, was stolen or was destroyed; a notary witnesses that signature too.
• After the handoff. Your buyer files for a fresh title in their own name, and Ohio gives them 30 days to do it.
• Plates. Yours to keep. Take them off before the car leaves.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, describe the car's age, mileage and condition, and say who holds the title. If a notice has already arrived, tell us the date it came. We come to the car wherever it is parked.