Selling a junk or dead car in Germantown

The ten-day rule in Sections 20-246 to 20-248

Under Section 20-248, no property in the city may hold a car that is "rusted, wrecked, junked, partially dismantled, inoperable or abandoned" "for a period in excess of ten days." It's allowed only if the car is "completely enclosed within a building," or sits on the property of a duly licensed business.

A car with a current tag can still count as inoperable when it cannot be driven because of:

• deflated tires
• inoperative brakes
• a faulty or missing battery
• a frozen engine
• a defective transmission

Section 20-246 adds a presumption that surprises people. Once a car "has remained inoperable or partially dismantled" for ten days, the last registered owner is presumed to have abandoned it, "regardless of whether the physical possession of such vehicle remains in the technical custody of such owner." So a car parked in your own driveway can be treated as abandoned. Section 20-247 calls these cars a public nuisance the city may abate, citing fire hazards, plundering and the danger to children.

If the police take it: the 30-day auction

Section 20-255 sets the path for an abandoned car the city tows. Police run a title search, and the police chief gives the owner notice "by registered mail" that the car will go to public auction. The sale happens within 30 days. Each car carries its tow-in and storage charges, the storage agent may bid, and money left after the storage agent's expenses is paid to the former owner.

Two cases skip the registered letter. If the title search finds no owner within 30 days of the tow, or the car has no serial number, it is sold within 30 days without notice.

The same section lets an owner whose "title certificate is faulty, lost or destroyed" hand the car to a demolisher without that title, but only when conditions written into the section are met. Read the full text before you count on it. Our junk car with no title page covers getting the paperwork back.

Street limits for big and towed vehicles

• Eight hours. Section 20-230 allows campers, trailers, boats and other nonmotorized equipment on a public street for no more than eight hours in a row.
• Two hours. Section 20-229 limits trucks, buses and RVs over 8,000 pounds, over eight feet tall or over 20 feet long to two hours unattended on a public street.

A broken-down work truck or a dead car on a trailer cannot wait long at the curb.

Signing it over in Shelby County

Germantown titles come from the Shelby County clerk, who follows the Department of Revenue's rules. You do not need a notary. Sign and print in the "ASSIGNMENT OF TITLE BY REGISTERED OWNER" section so your name matches the front. If two owners are linked by "and", each signs. If they're linked by "or," one of you is enough. A lost title can be replaced with a duplicate for $14, plus any county fees.

Keep your plates. You keep your Germantown plate, and moving it to a different car costs $1. The Revenue Department's titling pages offer no notice-of-sale or release form, and no part of Tennessee tests emissions anymore. If you received a city letter, see notice to remove a car.

Close by

Collierville is 5.3 miles away; Memphis and Bartlett are both 10.7 miles. Statewide rules are on the Tennessee page.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008. Give us the details on your Germantown car and who holds the title now. You sell the whole car as it sits. The truck can meet it in the driveway, inside the garage, or at the shop where it quit.