Selling a dead or junk car in Erie

Local rules in Erie

Our online look for Erie's municipal code found nothing, so below you'll find the state rules from Pennsylvania law. Erie could still have ordinances of its own on inoperable, unregistered or junk cars, at the curb or on private lots. If you get a notice from the city, it will name the section and the deadline. Follow that first. Our notice to remove a car guide can help you read it.

Pennsylvania's abandoned-car law

The Motor Vehicle Code presumes abandonment when a car that is "physically inoperable" sits unattended on a highway or public land beyond 48 hours, though an owner can contest it. On private land things move faster. Once a car has sat there a day without consent, the landowner can report it to police and approve its removal, and police then get five business days to act.

Notice then goes out by certified mail or publication. That starts a 30-day clock in Erie for owners and lienholders to pay the tow and storage bills and take the car back. Once it runs out, PennDOT may approve disposal.

After an insurer totals it

Total-loss claims follow their own Pennsylvania rules. If the insurer cannot get the endorsed title within 30 days after you accept its total-loss offer, it may request a salvage certificate on a sworn form after two written attempts. Whoever owns a car that qualifies as salvage must apply for a certificate of salvage.

Flood cars have their own brands. When fixing it would cost more than replacing it, the car gets a certificate of salvage marked flood. If not, its title is marked flood vehicle, and a rebuilt car is marked "reconstructed and flood vehicle." See Insurer totaled it and flood damage for more.

Title work without a title office

Pennsylvania counties don't issue titles, so there is no Erie County title counter. Those come from Pennsylvania, and Erie sellers sign in front of a notary, tag shop or dealer PennDOT has approved. There, each owner listed on the title signs, prints their name and writes the mileage. Next the buyer signs, and has 20 days to ask for a title in their name.

Two shortcuts apply to junk cars. Assigning the title to a scrap processor or salvage dealer removes the notary requirement. When a salvage car's title is faulty, lost or destroyed, a salvor may still store or scrap it if it keeps to the statute. Outside those cases, replacing a lost title takes Form MV-38O and $72.00.

The plate

Your plate is not part of the sale. Erie plates go by mail to PennDOT's Return Tag Unit, or $11.00 transfers one to a new car. PennDOT's selling instructions show no release-of-liability form. The Pennsylvania page has the full state summary.

Erie is a long way from the rest

No town we cover is close by. As the crow flies, New Castle is 78.7 miles off and Pittsburgh 116.0. Pickup is the same either way.

Getting an offer

Erie sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. We offer free pickup anywhere in the US, from a driveway, an apartment lot, or the shop that gave you the repair estimate.