Selling a junk car in Sioux Falls

What 93.026 covers

The section starts wide. On private or public property, "an abandoned, discarded, wrecked, burned, dismantled, inoperable, junked or partially dismantled vehicle or parts thereof" counts as a public nuisance under it. The rule covers parts too. In Sioux Falls, a pile of doors or an engine on a stand is treated like a whole car.

The 14-day clock applies to anyone "owning, in charge of, or in control of" the property, and the code lists owner, tenant, occupant and lessee by name. A renter cannot point to the landlord.

Subsection (c) has no clock at all: "In no event shall an inoperable vehicle that constitutes an imminent health, safety or fire hazard be kept or located on any premises."

The one-car driveway exception

Section 93.027 lets you keep "one inoperable vehicle kept on private property without being shielded from public view if licensed and kept on a private driveway." Three conditions sit in that sentence: one car, licensed, on the driveway. A second dead car, or one parked on the lawn, does not match its words.

Even then the exception has a limit. If that car "is in a state of externally visible disrepair or disassembly," it cannot stay on the driveway longer than 14 days.

Businesses get their own carve-out. Filling stations, repair shops and other car businesses that follow city rules may keep inoperable vehicles on site while they are being repaired or offered for sale.

Two departments, two tracks

The health department has its own path. Section 92.071(t) lists inoperable vehicles that "constitute a health or safety hazard" as a nuisance, uses the notice steps in 92.072, and says its proceedings are "separate and cumulative" to the Chapter 93 vehicle rules. So one dead car can draw notices from more than one office. The city's property maintenance code, 150.096, sends abandoned and inoperative vehicles back to Chapter 93.

If the city takes custody

When Sioux Falls removes a car under this subchapter, 93.029 follows state law, SDCL chapter 32-36, for titling and disposal, and gives the city a possessory lien for its costs of custody and storage. That state chapter has the owner and lienholders notified by certified mail within 45 days of removal. If nobody reclaims the car 30 days after that notice, the removal agency gets the title.

Selling it: permit, report, plates

In South Dakota the county treasurer's office handles titles and registrations. Sioux Falls spans two counties, Minnehaha and Lincoln. A private seller has these jobs:

• Seller's permit. Free, valid 45 days, and Sioux Falls sellers can print it through my605drive or at the treasurer's kiosk. The buyer can drive on it while they apply for title, and you have 45 days to hand over the title. Not giving one is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
• Report of sale. SDCL 32-5-2.10 has you send it in when you sell, listing the buyer's name and address. Skipping it is a Class 2 misdemeanor too.
• Plates. They stay with you. Pull them off when you sell. Any months left become credit once they go on another vehicle, and the state manual shows a $5.00 reassignment fee. Sioux Falls sellers who leave them on the sold car commit a Class 2 misdemeanor and give up the credit.

The DOR's seller steps list no notary. Can't find the title? The treasurer's office will replace it for $10.

Salvage titles and parted-out cars

South Dakota brands a car salvage once an insurer writes it off after theft, fire, vandalism, collision, weather or flood, as long as it is no more than ten model years old. The insurer's decision is the test; there is no repair-cost percentage. See salvage title for what that brand means.

Taking a car apart to sell the pieces needs a junking certificate. Its application carries the title, plates and registration card to the DOR, and that certificate never turns back into a title. Selling it whole skips that step.

Getting an offer

The form above takes a minute, or call (877) 421-6008. Let us know the vehicle, its rough mileage, if it cranks, and which name the title is in. Pickup comes to the address where the car is today: a driveway, the slab behind a garage, or a repair shop lot. Brookings is 52.8 miles away and Watertown 96.9, measured in a straight line. The South Dakota page covers state rules.