Springfield's tow clock, and selling a dead car

Nuisance cars come off the street

Article 5 of Springfield's code, titled Removal, lets police move a car from any street or highway to a police garage, the city impound lot or another place of safety. A car counts as a nuisance vehicle "subject to immediate removal by a police officer or patrol community service officer" if it shows one or more of the code's listed traits, or "any other combination of factors that may constitute a nuisance or hazard to the public." No waiting period comes first.

The freeway has its own window. Police can remove a car parked on any freeway inside city limits between 7 and 9 in the morning and between 4 and 6 in the afternoon. The same applies within 1,000 feet of an entrance or exit, measured from where the ramp meets the freeway. A Springfield car that dies on a freeway shoulder at commute time can be towed.

After a Springfield tow

If registration records show who owns it, the department sends certified mail to the owner and any lienholder "within two business days." To get the car back, you pay "all outstanding citations, charges and costs of towing, seizing, and storage of the vehicle." The code also says covering the tow does not cover any penalty you may face too. After 15 days unclaimed, the car can be sold. Towed or impounded covers the rest.

Title and the DMV office

The DMV office we checked for Springfield is 499 Valley River Center in Eugene (541-686-7855), around 7 miles west of Springfield's center as the crow flies. Most sales skip the trip.

In Springfield, the seller dates and signs a bill of sale, or signs on the flip side of the title. Any lender named on the title signs a release. Springfield sellers of a 2011-or-later model below age 20 add the odometer reading, co-signed by the buyer. A notary is absent from the DMV's seller checklist. A lost title gets replaced before the sale.

Plates and the 10-day report

Springfield sellers may keep the plates or leave them. Plates can move only onto a car with the same owner. Anything else ends what remains on both registrations. Within 10 days, a Springfield seller reports the sale on DMV2U and gives the buyer's name and address. Springfield can sell a towed car after 15 days, so that report stops a car you sold from landing back on you.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the online form. Springfield owners can describe the car and any title trouble on our form. Pickup is at the car's spot in Springfield, whether a home driveway, a business lot or a shop near the freeway. Eugene is 6.9 miles west, and the Oregon page has state rules.