Selling a junk or dead car in Murphy

Murphy's junked-vehicle test

Section 14.08.001 counts a self-propelled vehicle as junked when it is:

• "Wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled, or discarded; or"
• "Inoperable and has remained inoperable for more than:" "72 consecutive hours, if the vehicle is on public property; or" "30 consecutive days, if the vehicle is on private property."

On the plate side, it reaches "a motor vehicle that displays an expired license plate or does not display a license plate." Boats and aircraft are swept in as well.

Keep the car inside a closed building, invisible from the road and the neighbors, and the article stops applying. Dealers, junkyards and collectors get room outdoors only behind real screening. Murphy says outright that tarps and car blankets don't count as screening, nor does any similar cover.

Ten days, then the judge

Section 14.08.004 starts the removal track with a letter. It's sent certified, five-day return requested, to whoever last registered the car, each lienholder, and the land's owner or occupant. "If the post office address of the last known registered owner of the junked vehicle is unknown, notice may be placed on the junked vehicle." From the mailing date you have ten days to get the car gone. Any hearing request must be in writing and in the city's hands before the ten days close.

A municipal court judge hears it on day 11 at the earliest, starting from the presumption that the car doesn't run; overturning that is up to you. A conviction brings an order to remove it, and that order must forbid rebuilding. Section 14.08.007 is blunt: "A junked vehicle removed under this article may not be reconstructed or made operable." It "may be removed to a scrap yard, a motor vehicle demolisher, or any other suitable site for processing as scrap or salvage."

Got the notice and want the city to take it? You can ask, after signing "an authorization and indemnification agreement."

On the street, and on the lawn

Section 20.05.093 says "no person shall allow a vehicle to remain unattended in any place maintained by any governmental entity for a period of time in excess of 48 hours." That covers streets, alleys, parks, public lots and school grounds. Past that point the car may be impounded if the owner can't be found. A notice stuck to the windshield counts as the city's effort to reach you, and rolling it a few feet doesn't restart anything. A car parked there must be registered with plates, carry a current safety inspection, and start without first needing air in the tires or a battery charge.

For dead cars on private lots, Murphy Code Compliance is the office to know: 206 N. Murphy Rd., Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 972-468-4055. Loose car parts left in a yard are logged as a trash and dumping violation.

Selling from Collin County

Titles go through the Collin County tax office, Suite 2302 of 2300 Bloomdale Rd, McKinney, phone (972) 547-5014. Measured as the crow flies, it's about 16 miles north of the middle of Murphy, but the trip is the buyer's to make. Your job is to deliver a title carrying your signature plus the date of sale and the mileage, and a Form 130-U you've signed with the price on it. Texas asks for no notary.

Then report the sale. You have 30 days from the sale to get TxDMV its transfer notice, either online or on VTR-346. It won't change who owns the car, yet it flags the record so the buyer's tolls and tickets don't come back to you. The plates and sticker can stay with you; the plates may move to a same-class replacement vehicle. Collin is an emissions county. If the title is gone, TxDMV issues a certified copy on Form VTR-34. For what comes after the truck leaves, see after you sell.

Getting an offer

Get started online or call (877) 421-6008. Mention year and model, current mileage, whether it fires up, and who holds the title. We can send the truck to a closed garage, your office, or a repair shop in Wylie or Richardson. The Texas page covers the statewide rules.