Selling a junk or dead car in Bethel Park

Three ways a car is excused

The same section lets a car stay if one of these is true:

• it carries "an approved antique and/or historical plate" from a state agency;
• "it can be demonstrated that vehicle is in a current state of repair"; or
• the storage is part of a business run under the zoning laws.

Even an excused car "shall not be located in the front yard of any lot unless the vehicle is stored within an enclosed permitted structure." The code also bars any vehicle from being "in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or in the process of being stripped or dismantled." Pulling parts off in the driveway is its own problem; see part it out or sell it whole.

Front yards and lawns

A later clause keeps front-yard parking at a home to "a residential parking area" the zoning ordinance allows. "In no event shall vehicles be parked on grassy or open areas" not designated for parking. A car that died and got rolled onto the grass is a violation even before anyone asks if it runs.

Where junk cars may legally sit

Bethel Park also allows junk vehicles to be stored in manufacturing and light industrial (MLI) districts, but only when every condition is met. The cars must sit behind the front face of the building, "no more than 10 vehicles" at once. Each may stay no longer than "one month from the date of first storage." They may not fill required parking spaces, and the lot must not become a junkyard under Chapter 44. Residential driveways get no such allowance.

Title, plates and the notary

A PennDOT agent, which can be a notary, a dealer or a tag shop, stands in for the county title office Pennsylvania does not have. Sign as seller, print, enter the miles while the agent looks on, then the buyer signs. Scrap metal processors and vehicle salvage dealers are excused from the notary step under state law. From the assignment, your buyer gets three weeks less a day, 20 days, to retitle.

Plates belong to the seller in this state. Mail yours to PennDOT, or for $11.00 put it on a different car.

Inspection and emissions

Keeping that sticker valid takes two passes here, the yearly safety inspection and an emissions test, since Allegheny County belongs to PennDOT's Pittsburgh region. If the car cannot pass, failed inspection or rust covers your options.

Getting an offer

Send the details online or call (877) 421-6008: the model and its year, miles on the clock, starts or not, and the titleholder. A tow truck collects it from the garage, the backyard or the curb where it quit. Mount Lebanon is 3.7 miles away as the crow flies, Baldwin 6.2 and Pittsburgh 8.6; statewide rules are on the Pennsylvania page.