Hanahan's screening rule and selling a dead car

Hanahan's rule, Section 9.7

The section treats damage as proof: "If the vehicle is wrecked, dismantled, or partially dismantled, it is presumed to be 'inoperable.'" A car missing its current registration and plate falls under the same storage rule even if it runs. Either kind has to be inside a structure or screened from the road.

The test is what someone on the public roadway can see. A dead car fully hidden behind a solid fence or dense planting at the side of a Hanahan house meets the rule; the same car parked by the street does not.

The vehicle restoration permit

Hanahan offers a permit for people fixing up an unlicensed or unregistered car. While it lasts, the car "must be stored in a garage or must be parked on a concrete or asphaltic surface, or an approved rock/gravel surface, and covered with an approved fitted cover designed for that vehicle type." Once the permit and any extension lapse, a car "not fully restored to working condition" must be moved inside a fully enclosed building or hauled off the lot. If the project has stalled, old project car talks through selling it.

No clock in the city rule

We did not find a waiting period in Section 9.7, and the city may have other rules. State definitions fill the gap. For Hanahan owners, state law labels a vehicle abandoned after two days alone on a highway, or a week on someone else's land or public property without permission. It calls a car derelict when, among other tests, it is older than eight years with lapsed registration, or has had its engine or major parts pulled. Both kinds are subject to removal, and municipal code enforcement may tag them.

Towed in Hanahan

Section 36-23 allows police to remove and impound an unoccupied, unattended vehicle that breaks the traffic article. It is returned to the identified owner "only upon payment of cost of impounding." Street parking has its own rules in Section 36-93: park parallel, with the curbside wheels "within one foot of the edge of the roadway," on the right side of the street. Once a car is towed in Hanahan, state law makes the tow company and the storage lot each write to whoever last registered it and any lienholder.

Title and plates from Hanahan

Hanahan is in Berkeley County, and the SCDMV issues the title. Its first assignment wants six things filled in plus two signatures: buyer name, buyer address, lienholder, odometer, price and sale date. No spot for the price on your Hanahan title? Add a bill of sale. Afterward, mail Form 416 or hand it in at a branch; it is the state's Notice of Vehicle Sold.

A plate cannot be handed to someone else when the first holder's name is absent from the title, so the buyer drives off without yours. Reuse it on a car you own or surrender it on Form 452, and cancel liability coverage. If the title went missing years ago, a duplicate is $15; junk car with no title has the details.

Nearby towns

From Hanahan, North Charleston is 3.8 straight-line miles, Goose Creek 4.4, and Charleston 7.3. Summerville is 11.5. See South Carolina for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use (877) 421-6008 or the online form. Our offer form is the quick way to sell a dead car in Hanahan. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US. The truck can meet it on the gravel pad, in the garage, or behind the fence.