Selling a junk car in Florence

Forty-eight hours, then removal

Under Section 9-1, a vehicle "abandoned longer than forty-eight (48) hours may be removed to a storage area for safekeeping" by or under the direction of the codes enforcement director. To get it back, the owner pays "all reasonable costs incidental to the removal, storage and locating of the owner."

The city can also reach onto private land. Section 9-33 lets city council declare a vehicle a health or safety hazard or a public nuisance by resolution, then direct the codes enforcement director to remove it "without the express permission of the owner or property owner."

The $100 test and the 15-day hold

Florence sorts removed cars by age and worth. This dollar amount is a test the law spells out. It is not a price:

• Five years old or older, inoperable, dismantled or damaged, and worth less than $100. Section 9-36 has the city hold it at least 15 days. The owner may reclaim it with proof of ownership plus removal, storage and administrative costs. After that an unclaimed car "may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of," and the state is told within 15 days of final disposal.
• Any other removed car. If the owner will not pay, or cannot be found after a diligent search and notice, the car may be sold. That takes 20 days' notice to the state highway department before the sale, and the city must have held the car for at least 30 days.

There is a shortcut in the code: "With the owner's consent, the city may remove and dispose of any vehicle as a junk motorized vehicle regardless of value or condition," without waiting out the 15 days.

Calling it an antique

An owner may declare a junk vehicle an antique that they intend to restore to working order. On residentially zoned property, an antique that is being stored rather than actively restored must be screened "from the view of the public street and adjacent properties by means of covering or fencing techniques." A project that stalled years ago under a tree may not meet that.

South Carolina law alongside

South Carolina's own definitions back the city up. Its derelict category reaches cars stripped of an engine or major parts, cars whose identification numbers are gone, and unregistered cars older than eight years. When a tow happens, both the towing outfit and the storage yard must send word, with return receipt, to the owner on file and each lender holding a lien.

Two SCDMV branches we checked

Florence spreads across two counties, Florence and Darlington. Straight-line distances from the city center:

• 3102 East Palmetto Street, Florence, SC 29506, 843-317-4007: about 5 miles east
• 2200 East Bobo Newsome Highway, Hartsville, SC 29550, 843-332-4237: about 14 miles northwest

Other offices may serve the area.

Paperwork for the sale

The first assignment on a South Carolina title records who bought it and their address, a lien holder if any, odometer miles, sale price and sale date, then gets signed by seller and buyer. A title without a price box needs a bill of sale attached. Filing Form 416 puts the sale on record with SCDMV. The plate is taken off. You can move it to another car you own or turn it in to the state with Form 452, and then the liability insurance is canceled.

Dismantling or scrapping a titled car yourself? State law (56-19-480) sends the title and tags back to SCDMV, except when a demolisher or secondary metals recycler takes the car. Older cars with lost titles have a separate path: twelve model years or more, no valid plate, no engine or totally inoperable, lawfully in your possession, plus a signed affirming form that the buyer keeps.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Got a car in Florence that won't run? Begin with our quick offer form. Pickup is free anywhere in the US, so we can load near where I-20 meets I-95, at a home in the city, or at a shop in Hartsville. Sumter is about 38 miles away and Conway about 49; statewide rules are on the South Carolina page.