Three days to move a dead car in Strongsville

Three days is a short window to find a buyer for a car that won't run. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, and you sell the whole car as it sits. Free pickup anywhere in the US reaches Strongsville too.

What the city calls inoperative

Section 632.06 defines an inoperative vehicle by what has failed. If the engine, the transmission or another mechanical part has broken down so the car can't be used to carry people, it qualifies. Unlicensed and dismantled cars fall under the same rule.

The code's "junk vehicle" is a narrower thing, defined in 632.01. It is a former motor vehicle so dismantled or destroyed that it physically isn't a motor vehicle anymore, or isn't the vehicle its title describes.

The three-day storage rule

No one may store a dismantled, inoperative or unlicensed car on a lot or premises for more than three days, unless it sits in a completely enclosed, authorized and permitted building or garage. A licensed collector's vehicle is excepted.

How the notice works:

• The Police Department, or anyone the Mayor authorizes, serves it in writing.
• It goes to the property owner or the person in possession of the lot.
• The three days begin the day after it is served.
• Leaving the car there afterward is a violation in itself.

The rule applies in every zoning district except those where the Zoning Code expressly allows storing, repairing or rehabilitating motor vehicles. Strongsville escalates: a minor misdemeanor for the first offense, fourth-degree for the second, third-degree from then on.

Junk vehicles on the street

Under 632.02, a junk vehicle can't be left on a street, alley or public grounds for more than a day, or on private property without the owner's consent. That's a minor misdemeanor. Any member of the Police Department can order one impounded and towed. Ten days is the minimum hold. After that, Strongsville may sell it at salvage value or dispose of it permanently.

Other cars have more room: under 48 hours on a public street, and longer only with the Chief of Police notified and approving. Police can tow a car past that limit, and any car wrecked or damaged so badly it can't run.

Getting a towed car back

Redemption runs through the department: prove identity and ownership, clear fines or bond out, and pay the pound operator for the tow and storage. Can't afford it? Section 404.05 lets an owner file a statement under oath with the Mayor, who may remit all or part of the storage or impounding charge.

Police and dispatch share one non-emergency number, 440-238-7373. The city is split into 9 patrol zones, and that number also reaches your zone officer.

Title offices, including one in Medina County

The closest title office to Strongsville isn't in Cuyahoga County. Straight-line distances from the town's Census center:

• Brunswick, Medina County, 2875 Center Road, Unit 2: about 5.6 miles southeast
• Parma, Cuyahoga County, 12100 Snow Rd.: about 7.1 miles northeast
• North Olmsted, Cuyahoga County, Brookpark Rd. Extension: about 8.6 miles northwest

Crossing into Medina County is fine; Ohio sellers aren't tied to their home county's clerk. Wherever you go, sign the assignment only in front of a notary. If a title goes to a salvage dealer, state law lets the dealer dismantle or destroy the car without first titling it in its own name. And the plates come off when the car is sold; in Ohio they stay with the seller.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or ask online. We'll ask what the car is, its odometer reading, and what failed: engine, transmission or something else. Got a notice? The date on it matters, because the three days start the following day.