Selling a dead or junk car in Celina

Celina's 30-day line

Texas lets every city adopt its own junk-car steps, and Celina did. Its ordinance flags a self-propelled car in three situations. One: the car carries neither a current plate nor a valid inspection certificate. Two: it is a wreck, taken apart, or junked outright (the code's word is "discarded"). Three: it has sat broken down for 30 straight days on private ground, or 72 straight hours on public ground.

If Celina finds one in view of passers-by, the ordinance calls that a public nuisance. Each day it stays can cost up to $200, counted as its own offense.

From letter to hearing in Celina

The letter travels by certified mail, five-day return. Celina copies the last owner of record, each lienholder, and whoever owns or lives at the Celina address. Count ten days from mailing. That is the stretch Celina allows to move the car out, or to request a hearing.

Hearings go before Celina's municipal judge, on day 11 at the earliest. In that courtroom the car is treated as dead unless you prove it runs. Even if nobody asks, a hearing still happens before any removal order. After it, city staff can come onto the lot to examine the car and take it.

Two more rules close the escape routes. Towing it to a friend's place elsewhere in Celina or the county mid-case changes nothing. And once hauled off as a nuisance, the car can never be fixed up and driven again: within five days Celina sends the state enough detail to cancel its title.

Celina streets after dark

• Five days at roughly one spot on a residential street, and Celina deems the car stored, open to removal as abandoned.
• Sundown to sunup, residential streets are off-limits for storage parking. A temporarily disabled car guarded by flares or approved signals is the one allowance.
• Up to $500 is the ceiling for a parking violation here, and impound is possible.

A car taken into police custody as abandoned can be reclaimed by its owner or lienholders through day 20 after notice. The bill covers towing, preservation and storage. Past day 20, rights are forfeited and the car heads to public auction. Celina Police headquarters is at 3025 S. Coit Rd. Non-emergency calls go to Collin County Dispatch, (972) 547-5350.

Paperwork for a Celina sale

Celina spans Collin and Denton counties. Texas titles are a county job here, handled by the tax assessor-collector rather than any state DMV counter. The closer one is McKinney's: 2300 Bloomdale Rd, Ste 2302, roughly 11 miles southeast of Celina as the crow flies. Denton's office, 1505 E. McKinney, is roughly 20 miles west.

Texas skips the notary. Hand the Celina buyer the title, signed and dated, odometer figure included, and a 130-U on which you have signed and written the agreed price. Next, within 30 days, let TxDMV know about the sale at TxDMV.gov/VTN or on paper VTR-346. That keeps a stranger's tolls off your record. Plates and sticker come off with you if you want them. Title gone missing? Celina sellers can order a certified copy on VTR-34; more at junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Go online, or phone (877) 421-6008. We ask the make and model, the rough mileage, whether it cranks, and what title you hold. The truck meets the car wherever it stopped: a Celina driveway, a fenced side yard, a repair bay. More: Texas, plus nearby Prosper and McKinney.