Selling a dead or junk car in Kingsport

The only shelter that counts

Section 38-34 does not reach a Kingsport car kept out of sight of the street and nearby lots and "completely enclosed within a permanent or portable building consisting of four walls and a roof." The building must also follow the city's gas, plumbing, electrical, zoning, mechanical and building codes. By that wording, a tarp, a car cover or an open-sided carport does not qualify.

The city can also go beyond the penalty. The code says it "may pursue other remedies at law or equity, including, but not limited to abatement of nuisances or injunctive relief." The section was retitled from "Abandoned vehicles" by Ordinance 6742, adopted July 17, 2018.

Renters and landlords

Section 38-34 has a defense for tenants. A tenant who does not own the property is not penalized if they take the city's written notice and pass it to the owner. The owner then has to "cure such nuisance within five days after such notice." So if you rent in Kingsport and the dead car in the yard is your landlord's, forward the notice in writing and keep a copy.

Pulled plates, and the five-car line

Chapter 78 defines an inoperable motor vehicle in Section 78-19. A car counts if it is "wrecked, junked or partially disassembled," or if it "Does not have a current registration plate from the state displayed lawfully on the vehicle." Tennessee plates follow the owner. Once you take yours off to move it to another car, the old car meets that definition even if it still runs.

Section 78-21 draws a hard line at five. Keeping "five or more inoperable motor vehicles or parts of automobiles" on one lot is unlawful unless the lot is a licensed business in an industrial or manufacturing zone. Under Section 78-19, five or more inoperable vehicles exposed to the weather make the lot an "automobile graveyard." Licensed dealers and repair shops are excluded. If several dead cars are adding up on one property, see several junk cars.

City lots and streets

In Kingsport's city-owned parking facilities, Section 98-233 bars parking for more than 24 hours without a city overnight pass. The same section defines an abandoned vehicle as one without current state plates, or too damaged or broken down to run under its own power. On streets and highways, Section 98-217 requires a clear lane beside any stopped car and a clear view of it from 200 feet in each direction.

If police impound a car, Section 98-566 has the department keep a public record of every impounded vehicle. It also gives the towing contractor the registered owner's name on request. See towed or impounded.

Hawkins or Sullivan County paperwork

Kingsport spreads across Hawkins and Sullivan counties. The county clerk handles titles, so go to the clerk for whichever county holds your address. No notary is involved. Flip the Kingsport title over and sign and print in the assignment area, spelled the same as the owner line up front. Two owners joined by "and" both sign. Keep your plates, which can move to another car for $1. We did not see any state release form you have to send in after the sale.

Once an insurer settles a Kingsport wreck as a loss, the car has to be retitled. It gets a salvage title or a flood title, or else a nonrepairable certificate. A car worth $1,500 or less that is ten or more years old is left out of this. See insurer totaled it.

Nearby

Johnson City is 15.2 miles from Kingsport as the crow flies, Bristol 18.3 and Morristown 47.4. The Tennessee page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Got a stalled project car in Kingsport? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form and say how far the work got. In Kingsport we load it where it sits, from a side yard, a rented driveway or a crowded garage.