A dead car in Bend, and how to sell it

Bend's city code didn't turn up online, so everything below comes from Oregon statutes. Bend could still have local rules on stored or broken-down cars layered on top.

What happens to a car left sitting

ORS Chapter 819 says that if no one picks up a towed car within 30 days, it goes to public auction or is dealt with under a local ordinance. Cheaper cars can go faster. When a certified appraiser values an abandoned car at $1,000 or less, it can be disposed of. In Bend, someone first takes photos of the car, then the registered owner and any secured parties are notified. That $1,000 is a legal test for how the car is handled. It is not a measure of what a buyer would pay.

Somebody else's car on your Bend lot

Rentals and shared driveways around Bend sometimes end up holding a car someone left behind. The DMV is blunt: "You cannot claim ownership of an abandoned vehicle on your property." You can have it towed. ORS 98.830 lets the landowner, or a lawful occupant, call a tow once a notice has been posted on the vehicle for 72 hours or more, along with a signed form describing it and its location. Bend owners get no form and no owner's name from the DMV. See car abandoned on your property.

Parting it out first

Pulling the engine or wheels before selling the shell starts with a heads-up to the DMV. Before you wreck, dismantle or take apart a titled or registered car, notice is due 7 or more days ahead (ORS 819.010). If neighbors can see it from a public right of way, the job has to be done within 30 days. A dismantled car's Oregon title goes back to the DMV.

Emissions are not the hurdle here

DEQ tests non-exempt cars registered in the Portland and Medford metropolitan areas every two years. Bend is the hub of its own metro area. For a particular address, DEQ's boundary lookup gives the answer.

The DMV office on Highway 97

The office we checked sits at 63085 N Hwy 97, Bldg L, Suite 110 (541-388-6322), some 2 miles north of central Bend as the crow flies. A sale rarely requires going in.

The seller's job on a Bend title is to date it and sign it on the back, unless a bill of sale is used. Any bank or lender listed signs away its interest too. Model years 2011 and up, if the car is not yet 20, carry a mileage disclosure that buyer and seller both sign. Look through DMV's seller instructions and you won't find a notary step.

A missing title must be replaced first, using DMV's Application for Replacement / Duplicate Title. Oregon has no separate duplicate fee, so you pay the standard title fee: $101, $106 or $116 for most cars by miles per gallon, or $192 for an all-electric car. Oregon also cannot title a car that another state has declared junk, scrap or non-repairable. Selling with no title covers the replacement.

Plates and the DMV2U report

Bend sellers can unscrew the plates first. Otherwise the plates go with the car. Moved onto a car with another owner, they end both cars' remaining registration.

Ten days is the window to tell DMV through DMV2U, giving the buyer's name and their address. After you file that and sign the title over, Oregon law does not hold you liable for how the buyer parks, abandons or drives the car. In a state that bills towing to the owner of record, this is the step to finish.

Around Bend

Redmond is 15.4 miles north. The next towns with pages are across the Cascades: Springfield at 83.1 miles, Lebanon at 85.6 and Eugene at 89.9. See Oregon for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Begin online or at (877) 421-6008 with the basics. Bend sellers can start on our offer form, which asks what we need. Pickup is wherever it's parked in Bend, from a driveway under the pines to a lot along Highway 97.