Sell your dead or junk car in Corpus Christi

The city also widens who can see it. Section 13-38 reaches a junked vehicle "that is visible at any time of the year from a public place, public right-of-way, or adjacent private property." A tall front fence does not help if the neighbor's back window looks onto it.

We buy whole non-running and junk cars across the Coastal Bend and everywhere else, with free pickup anywhere in the US. You sell the whole car as it sits, without stripping or fixing anything first.

What counts as junked, and what "inoperable" means here

Section 13-38 borrows the state's junked-vehicle definition from Transportation Code chapter 683. Under it, a car can be junked because it was wrecked, taken apart or thrown away, or because it stayed inoperable too long. Section 13-39 then gives Corpus Christi its own meaning of inoperable. A car qualifies if, under its own power, it can't start, move, steer or stop without being damaged.

Ten days from the notice

Corpus Christi code enforcement officials run the process, and Section 13-40 lets them "enter upon private property to examine a junked vehicle." After an investigation:

1. Notice goes out by hand delivery, certified mail or signature-confirmation mail. Corpus Christi addresses it to three parties: the person last registered as owner, each lender with a lien, and the landowner or tenant. When nobody knows the owner's mailing address, officials may post it on the car.
2. The deadline is the tenth day. The nuisance "must be abated and removed not later than the tenth day after the date on which the notice was personally delivered or mailed."
3. Hearing requests go to the municipal court clerk. Per Section 13-41, "Any request for a hearing must be made, in person or in writing, to the municipal court clerk not later than the tenth day." At the hearing, the car "is presumed, unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner, to be inoperable."

Moving the car elsewhere in the city once the case is open "shall have no effect on the proceeding" "if the junked vehicle constitutes a public nuisance at the new location." Convicted in Corpus Christi, an owner faces a $200 maximum fine, and the court orders the car hauled off. A car the city takes can only go to scrap, demolition or salvage, and Section 13-42 bars rebuilding it.

Report one through 311, the city's non-emergency line. Its request form lists Junked Vehicles as a type. The call center runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, every day of the year.

The 48-hour limits on streets and public lots

Section 17-75 sets two separate 48-hour tests:

• Unattended anywhere public. Nobody may walk away from a car for over 48 straight hours on a Corpus Christi street, alley, sidewalk, park or similar public spot.
• Abandoned. Corpus Christi also counts a car as abandoned, and open to impound, when it is inoperable, more than 8 years old and sitting on public property past 48 hours. A car parked on someone else's land without permission for over 48 hours falls in the same bucket.

Impound: what triggers it and how to get the car back

Police can impound a car on a public street or city property that has three or more outstanding parking or stopping violations in a calendar year. If nobody contacts police within 72 hours, the city mails the registered owner a certified notice.

To get it out, Section 53-60 asks for ID, proof of insurance and proof you may possess the car: the title, the registration, a power of attorney or a notarized letter. Then you pay the towing and storage fees or post a cash bond.

Do not let it sit. Section 53-61 says that "Unless arrangements are made to reclaim the vehicle within ten (10) days of impoundment, notice of the impoundment shall be given to the registered owner and any lienholder of record within fifteen (15) days." That notice warns the car will then be treated as abandoned under the Texas Abandoned Vehicle Act. More in our towed or impounded guide.

Title and plates: three county offices

Corpus Christi touches four counties, and TxDMV lists three offices nearby. Distances run from the center of Corpus Christi, as the crow flies:

The buyer does the filing. Your part as seller: on the Corpus Christi title, record the sale date and the mileage and sign it, then sign Form 130-U, "Application for Texas Title and/or Registration," with the price shown. Texas requires no notary for either.

Within 30 days, file TxDMV's transfer notice on the agency's website or on paper Form VTR-346. That stops a Corpus Christi seller from being charged for the buyer's tolls and parking tickets. The car stays titled to you until the buyer files at the county.

A title lost to a storm or a move can be replaced with a certified copy, Form VTR-34. Under state law, a used parts recycler may take a car with no title when it is at least 13 years old, has gone seven years without registration, and the recycler buys it solely to part out, dismantle or scrap. Flood damage has more on cars that took on water.

Keep your plates if you want them. The county tax office moves them onto your next car of that class without charge and prints a fresh sticker; the old sticker stays behind.

Nearby towns

Portland is 13.4 miles away across the bay, Kingsville 45.4 and Victoria 75.1. Statewide rules are on Texas.

Getting an offer

Online, or by phone at (877) 421-6008, describe the car: year, make, model, odometer reading, whether it runs, and the state of the title. Pickup can happen wherever it stopped, from a Corpus Christi driveway to a repair shop's back lot. Our junk car guide explains the rest.