Selling a dead or junk car in Cleveland, Tennessee

From tow to auction, step by step

The Department of Revenue's procedure for abandoned vehicles sets these steps:

1. A Cleveland tower has 3 business days after the tow to file a "Request for Verification of Ownership" with the state.
2. After the state answers, it has 3 business days to tell owners and lienholders. For an out-of-state car, it has 15 days.
3. Notices go by registered mail. The deadline to answer or pay is at least 10 days from delivery.
4. If nobody answers or pays, the car can be advertised for auction. The auction comes no sooner than 15 days after the first ad.

A Cleveland lot can bill storage for 60 days at most, unless the owner or lienholder says yes to longer. A tow firm that fails to verify within 3 business days, or to notify within 6 days, can only charge for six days. Would you sooner sell it than pay to get it out? Read towed or impounded.

Broken down is not the same as abandoned

Tennessee separates the two. An immobile vehicle is one "incapable of moving under its own power due to accident, mechanical breakdown, weather or other emergency." An abandoned one meets a time test instead. On private property without the owner's consent, that test is 48 hours. On public property, it is 3 days if the car is in obvious disrepair, or 10 days if it is over four years old.

A car that quit on a road outside Cleveland is immobile the day it dies. If it stays there, it becomes abandoned once the clock runs out.

A lapsed registration on a parked car

Many dead cars sit long enough for the tags to expire. Tennessee's renewal rule is gentle about it. Renew within 90 days after expiration and you keep the same expiration date next year. Renew 91 or more days late and you get one year from the date you renew. We found no back fees in the rule. If you are selling the car anyway, you may not need to renew at all, since the plates stay with you.

If an insurer totaled it

In Tennessee, a car is salvage once fixing it tops 75% of its retail value. A car under 10 years old gets a Salvage Certificate and can be rebuilt. A non-repairable car gets a Non-repairable Certificate and "can never be titled or registered in Tennessee." Applications go by mail to the Vehicle Services Division, and there is no fee.

If collision, fire or water leads an insurer to total a Cleveland car, that insurer obtains its salvage title, flood title, or nonrepairable certificate. Ten-year-old or older cars valued at $1,500 or less skip this. So an older Cleveland car paid out by an insurer may still carry a clean title. See insurer totaled it.

Title and plates in Bradley County

County clerks issue Tennessee titles, so a Cleveland sale goes through the Bradley County clerk. For a Cleveland sale, write your name in the assignment spot both signed and printed, matching the front. You don't need a notary. Keep the plates, since they follow you. Replacing a lost Cleveland title runs $14 plus any county fees, and you need proof each lien was paid. Start with junk car with no title.

Nearby

Chattanooga is 22.7 miles from Cleveland as the crow flies, East Ridge 23.8 and Farragut 61.8. The Tennessee page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill in the form about your Cleveland car, and mention any salvage brand. Let us know if it's sitting at a tow lot or body shop. We can pick it up from there.