Selling a dead car in Kerrville

The 300-foot test

Section 46-102 spells out what broken means. A vehicle is inoperable if the engine cannot be started and the car "driven under its own power more than 300 feet." It turns into a junked vehicle when it is self-propelled, carries an out-of-date plate or registration sticker (or neither), and is either banged up, pulled apart, part-stripped or discarded, or has refused to run for more than 72 hours running on public property, or 30 days running on a private parcel.

The city's FAQ page still quotes the older test, which spoke of an unexpired plate or valid inspection certificate. The code adopted in Ordinance 2023-15 says registration sticker instead.

Visible "at any time of the year from a public place or public right-of-way", such a vehicle is a public nuisance under Section 46-101. Section 46-107 makes it unlawful for anyone who owns or controls land to keep one there, and equally unlawful to park one on another person's land without the owner's say-so.

What officers look for first

Section 46-105 tells officers to start with vehicles that look unusable, and it lists what that means: wheels blocked up, broken windows, severe body damage, missing parts, flat tires, weeds grown up around it, or junk visible through the windows. Each day a violation continues is its own misdemeanor, with $200 the most a court may impose.

The Code Enforcement Division says its goal is voluntary compliance rather than penalties. Reports go through Development Services or the city's online reporting service; the division is at 200 Sidney Baker Street North, 830-258-1514.

Besides the cover, two other defenses exist. A car parked entirely indoors, where nobody outside can see it, is one. Dealer, junkyard and collector vehicles kept orderly behind screening are the other.

Notice, hearing, removal

For a car on private land, the enforcement authority writes by certified mail, five-day return asked. Copies are mailed to whoever last registered the car, any recorded lienholder, and the property's owner or occupant, or the neighbor along the right-of-way. Where no address is known, officers may post it on the car or deliver it by hand. You get ten days after receipt, and "if the nuisance is not removed and a hearing is not requested within the ten-day period," the city removes it. A returned notice pushes action back at least ten days.

Ask in time and the city's municipal judge hears the case in open court. "The issue at the hearing is whether the vehicle is a nuisance vehicle", and it is presumed inoperable unless shown otherwise. A nuisance finding brings an order to abate and remove. The city can then haul it to a scrapyard, demolisher or city site as scrap or salvage, and rebuilding it is prohibited.

On public property, a junked car is unlawful outright, and one left more than 48 hours becomes an abandoned motor vehicle handled under state law. Trucks, vans, buses, RVs and trailers over 22 feet long or 7 feet wide cannot park on city streets, though a breakdown at that spot under 48 hours is a defense.

Kerr County title office

Kerr County's tax assessor-collector is downtown at 700 Main St, Ste 124, under a mile northwest as the crow flies; the number is (830) 792-2241. The buyer files the Texas title application there.

Endorse the title; the sale date and odometer miles go on it too. Sign Form 130-U and write the price on it. Texas involves no notary. Then, within 30 days, notify TxDMV of the transfer online or on paper; once that is on file, a buyer's unpaid tolls and parking tickets cannot follow you. Remove the plates if you want to reuse or deface them; the sticker stays with the car. Under state law, expired registration turns into a driving offense once five working days pass. Kerr County is not among TxDMV's 17 emissions counties.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or go online. Describe the car, its miles, whether the engine catches, and which title papers you have. We send the truck to the car, whether it sits under its cover at home or in a shop lot. Nearby pages: Boerne, 29.8 miles away, and San Antonio. The Texas page covers state rules.