Selling a junk or dead car in Pasadena, Texas

You do not have to get it running or renew the tags to sell it. We buy whole non-running and junk cars and take the whole car as it sits. Pickup is free anywhere in the US.

What makes it a nuisance

Section 20-73 targets a junked vehicle that "is visible at any time of the year from a public place or public right-of-way." Keeping one is an offense. A conviction can cost as much as $200, and "On conviction, the court shall order removal and abatement of the nuisance."

The one easy way out is a garage: a car shut inside a fully closed building, hidden from the road and the neighbors, is exempt. A cover that blocks the view is not, because an opaque cover alone does not count as screening. Dealer lots, junkyards and collectors' antiques get a pass only if "maintained in an orderly manner, not a health hazard and screened from ordinary public view".

Ten days, then a judge

Before anything is towed, the code compliance officer mails or serves written notice at least 10 days ahead. Copies reach the registered owner, each lienholder on file, and the people who own or live on the land where it sits. Inside those 10 days you either get the car out or ask for a hearing.

A hearing only happens on a written request made inside that window. It goes before the municipal court judge, and the code says it is held "not earlier than the 11 th day after the date of the service of notice." A finding of nuisance means a removal order. Ignore it, and the officer arranges "removal to a scrapyard, demolisher, or any suitable site operated by the city for processing as scrap". The city's removals can never go back on the road. And under Section 20-75, "Relocation of a junked vehicle that is a public nuisance to another location in the City of Pasadena, Texas after a proceeding for the abatement and removal of the public nuisance has commenced has no effect on the proceeding".

Inspectors here open cases from what they see themselves, not only from complaints, and they try working with owners before going legal. Complaints go through the Mayor's Action Line, 713-475-5555. The office is at 1202 Southmore Avenue, 2nd floor, phone 713-920-7906.

Apartment lots and city streets

At an apartment complex a separate section bites. Section 16 1/2-9 says "No junk, junked or wrecked vehicle or parts thereof, shall be stored or parked on the premises," and puts the duty to remove a nuisance vehicle on the owner or manager.

On a street, Section 36-182 lets police haul off a car they reasonably believe was abandoned, or one "so disabled that its normal operation is impossible or impractical" when nobody in charge of it can move it. The code adds: "No vehicle impounded in an authorized garage as herein provided shall be released therefrom until the charges for towing such vehicle into the garage and storage charges have been paid." The police main line is 713-477-1221; 911 is for emergencies. See towed or impounded.

Harris County paperwork

Harris County's tax office, 1001 Preston in Houston, takes the buyer's title application. As the crow flies it sits roughly 15 miles northwest of Pasadena's center; phone (713) 274-8000.

Lost the title on an old car? Texas carves out a recycler route. Under Chapter 501, a used automotive parts recycler may take a titleless car when the car has 13 or more years behind it, its registration lapsed seven or more years ago, and the purchase is purely to dismantle, part out or crush it. That recycler must report the purchase to TxDMV, and hold the car 3 business days when no lien shows up. More in junk car with no title.

Whichever buyer you choose, send TxDMV your transfer notice within 30 days of the sale date, and keep your plates if you like. The Texas page has the full list.

Getting an offer

Start online or call (877) 421-6008. Describe the car: model year, brand, model, miles. Then tell us if it runs at all and if you hold the title. Our driver can load it at a house, an apartment lot or a repair shop. Deer Park is 3.3 miles away, La Porte 6.2 and League City 11.7.