Selling a dead or junk car in Oregon City

Thirty days on private property

Section 8.08.040 lists the nuisances that affect peace and safety, and one entry is aimed at cars. It covers vehicles, "or parts thereof," that are inoperable for lack of "currently valid license or registration, safety equipment or the like," or that "are not capable of being safely operated or driven in the manner for which they were designed." Expired registration alone can put a car on that list.

Oregon City wrote the escape hatch into that section: it "shall not apply to vehicles enclosed within a building with walls and a roof." A carport or a tarp is not that. Cars on the premises of a business lawfully wrecking and junking vehicles are also excluded.

When the city acts, its notice gives you ten days. You either remove the nuisance or show the City Commission that it does not exist. If the ten days pass with nothing done, or a hearing finds a nuisance, the code has the city manager "cause the nuisance to be removed and abated."

Twenty-four hours at the curb

Oregon City's Section 10.08.080 is short: nobody may keep a vehicle stored on public property, streets included, "for a period in excess of twenty-four hours" without the City Manager's permission, and a car that has not moved for that long is taken as stored. Nudging it a few spaces does not help: the time keeps running "unless the movement removes the vehicle from the block." The city then looks up the owner through the state motor vehicle records and mails a notice before it tows.

Boots, impounds and the thirty-day line

Unpaid parking tickets add up fast here. Under Section 10.08.050, a car carrying "forty dollars or more in unpaid bail, fines, costs" for parking violations can't be left on Oregon City streets or city property, and an officer shall immobilize it.

If the car is towed, Section 10.36.040 releases it to the person entitled to it once the city's costs are paid, "including towing and storage charges and the administrative fee." Wait too long and the choice disappears: a car "not reclaimed within thirty days after it is impounded" can be disposed of under ORS 819. For the order of steps, see towed or impounded.

The DMV office we checked

Titles for Oregon City cars are a state DMV job; Clackamas County has no part in them. For this page we looked up one office. It is Lake Oswego's at 3 SW Monroe Pkwy, Suite D, about 8 miles northwest of central Oregon City in a straight line, and its listed number is 503-299-9999.

Oregon's side of the sale

Oregon City sellers write their signature and the sale date on the title's back side, or put the same on a bill of sale, and an old lender signs away its lien. For model years 2011 forward that are not yet 20, an odometer statement goes along with both parties' signatures. The Oregon DMV seller steps include no notary.

Inside 10 days, use DMV2U to tell the state you sold, and give it your buyer's name and address. Next, an Oregon City buyer has 30 days to seek a new title; a later filing costs them $25 for days 31-60 and $50 after day 60.

The plates can come off before the sale if you want them. Oregon City owners can move them only to another car they own. On a car titled to someone else, the leftover registration on both cars ends.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Oregon City? Call (877) 421-6008 or use our online form. Pickup can happen in an Oregon City backyard, on a side street before the twenty-four hours are up, or at a shop. Nearby pages: West Linn, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, and the state rules on Oregon.