Sell a dead or junk car in Austin

The orange sticker: cars on the street

Section 9-1-2 says "An inoperable motor vehicle left on public property for more than 48 continuous hours is a public nuisance." Inoperable, in section 9-1-1, means a car that will not start, drive, steer or stop on its own power because it has broken down or fallen into disrepair.

Section 9-1-8 requires a visible, dated, brightly colored notice on an abandoned car at least 48 hours before it is impounded. In areas where the city regulates on-street parking, even a car parked legally can be towed after that notice once it has gone unattended past 48 hours, if the city employee has reasonable grounds to think it is abandoned.

Once an orange-stickered car is impounded, the owner has 20 days to redeem it before a public auction. At release, section 12-5-89 says the car goes to the person named on the signed release order who shows proof of identity. The lot may not ask you to sign away a damage claim until you have had "a meaningful opportunity to inspect the motor vehicle and its contents."

The green sticker: cars at home

For a junked car, section 9-1-9 has the police chief send a written order, certified or registered mail, to whoever owns or occupies the land. The order says to remove it "no later than the 10th day after receipt of the notice." A police officer "shall securely affix to the vehicle a visible, dated, brightly colored notice," in a color other than the one used for abandoned cars.

A hearing is yours if you request it from the municipal court clerk by day 10 after the order arrives. Walk in or write; no bond is required. Skip it and "it is conclusively presumed that the vehicle is a junked vehicle," and the police chief removes it. If you do go, a municipal court judge decides by a preponderance of the evidence in a civil hearing. A finding against you means removal by the 10th day, or the chief takes it.

Maintaining the nuisance is a Class C misdemeanor "punishable by a fine not to exceed $200." Each day counts as a separate offense, and the city does not have to prove you meant to break the rule. Council sets the impound and storage fees by ordinance, and the city can also recover its actual costs of impounding, storing, advertising and sending notices.

Zoning rules that reach the same driveway

Austin's zoning code, section 25-2-893, adds limits of its own for homes:

• Right-of-way. An inoperable car may not be stored on the public right-of-way next to a residential lot. It counts as inoperable after 72 hours with no plates or plates expired more than 90 days, an inspection sticker missing or expired more than 90 days, or if it cannot be started or legally driven. The state stopped requiring yearly safety inspections of noncommercial cars as of January 1, 2025, yet the code still lists the sticker.
• Repairs. That ban skips a vehicle under repair for less than 60 days, if no more than one other vehicle is also being repaired.
• How many cars. A home may store no more than one motor vehicle per licensed driver living there, although a private garage may hold up to four.
• Screening. Up to two antique or recreational vehicles may be kept at a home if they are in an enclosed building or behind a solid wood or masonry fence at least six feet high.

In neighborhoods on the city's restricted parking area map, section 12-5-29 also keeps every vehicle out of front and side yards unless it is on a driveway or a paved space approved on a site plan.

To report a junk car, call Vehicle Abatement at (512) 974-8119 or use 3-1-1. Police prefer other non-emergency reports online at iReportAustin.com; from outside Austin, call 512-974-2000.

Which tax office

Austin spreads over four counties. Title work in Texas is done by each county's tax assessor-collector rather than by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles itself. Three offices are listed for Austin:

• Travis County: 2433 Ridgepoint Drive, roughly 5 miles off toward the northeast, as the crow flies, (512) 854-9473.
• Williamson County: 1848 Texas Trail in Georgetown, about 23 miles north, (512) 943-1601.
• Bastrop County: 211 Jackson Street in Bastrop, about 30 miles southeast, (512) 581-7161.

Handing over a Texas title

The title assignment needs no notary in Texas, and neither does the bill of sale. Fill in the sale date and the mileage, sign the title, and add Form 130-U, signed, with the amount the car went for. Keep your own paper trail too: the buyer's phone or email, the day of the sale, the VIN.

After that, let TxDMV know. Its Vehicle Transfer Notification goes in online or on paper VTR-346, and you have 30 days. The notice is not a transfer of ownership; the county still waits on the buyer's own title application. Its job is to keep the buyer's parking and toll violations off your record.

Travis and Williamson both still require emissions tests, two of 17 such counties statewide. You unscrew the plates and keep them. Moving them onto the next car you register costs nothing; the county tax office does it and prints a new sticker. More in after you sell.

Close to Austin

The nearest towns we cover are Manor, 12.3 miles away in a straight line, Pflugerville at 13.7, Cedar Park at 15.1 and Round Rock at 16.6. Statewide rules are on Texas.

Getting an offer

Ask online or call (877) 421-6008. Say what you have, year to model, plus the rough mileage, if it starts at all, and who has the title in hand. Pickup works from a garage, an apartment lot, a shop, or the street where the sticker went on.