Selling a junk car in Cedar Park

The state rule behind it

That summary follows Texas law. State law (Transportation Code chapter 683) uses the same yardstick. Under it, a self-propelled vehicle becomes junked if it is a wreck, a stripped shell or a castoff, or if it stays broken past a deadline. The deadline is 72 hours straight where the car sits on public property, or a full 30 days straight on private property. Cedar Park may have rules of its own on top of the state's; the city's page is the place to check.

Under state law:

• A junked vehicle in view of a road, a park or any other public spot, in any season, counts as a public nuisance, and maintaining it breaks state law.
• Cities and counties may run their own abatement process, but the state insists on a notice period of 10 days or more, and a hearing, before any tow.
• Exempt: a car shut completely inside a building, one parked on a dealer's or junkyard's business premises, or an antique a collector keeps tidy and screened.

So a dead car in a closed garage is outside the rule. A dead car under a carport, in the driveway or at the curb is not.

Abandoned is a different clock

One of the state's tests for an abandoned car is simple: someone else's car left on your private land, without your say-so, past the 48-hour mark. Police who tow one must mail a certified notice inside 10 days. Day 20 after that notice is the deadline for the owner or a lender to claim it. Miss it and their rights are waived; the agency can then auction the car, and whoever wins it gets a title clear of any lien.

Who to call

Code Compliance is part of Development Services at 450 Cypress Creek Road, 512-401-5100. For a problem that needs quick attention, call 512-401-5000 on weekdays during business hours. After hours, on weekends and on holidays, call 512-260-4600 for a dispatcher, which is also the police non-emergency number.

The title and the tags

Cedar Park sits in both Williamson and Travis counties. Texas files titles at the county tax assessor-collector, under rules from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Two offices are within reach:

• Williamson County, 1848 Texas Trail, Georgetown. Some 12 miles northeast, as the crow flies. (512) 943-1601.
• Travis County, 2433 Ridgepoint Drive, Austin. Some 15 miles southeast. (512) 854-9473.

A few Texas points for a seller:

• Skip the notary. TxDMV requires no stamp on any of the sale papers.
• Your buyer should leave with your signed title (sale date and mileage filled in) and a 130-U you signed with the price on it.
• Within 30 days, send TxDMV the Vehicle Transfer Notification. Leave it undone and a buyer who never retitles can leave you answering for the car's later parking tickets, tolls, even a crime.
• Keep the plates. Bring them to the Williamson or Travis tax office and they can go onto your next car at no cost, with a fresh registration sticker.

Williamson and Travis both test emissions, which is why a buyer might want the most recent inspection report you have. And no title is not always a dead end: a car at least 13 years old that has not been registered for seven years can go to a used parts recycler without one, for parts or scrap only.

Close by

Leander is 5.1 miles away, Round Rock 9.3, Georgetown 13.0 and Austin 15.1, in straight lines. See Texas for the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, tell us what you drive (or used to), the mileage, if it starts, and the title's status. A truck then comes out to it, at home, at work or at the shop.