Selling a non-running car in Richardson

Richardson's definition of junked

Section 14-61 starts with a self-propelled car with a lapsed plate or none. Richardson adds one more test before a car counts as junked. Richardson counts a discarded, wrecked, or partly or fully stripped car. In Richardson a car that doesn't run counts too, after 72 hours without moving on public land (30 days without moving on private land).

Section 14-91 then makes it a public nuisance once a person in any public place, right-of-way included, could see it, and keeping it is an offense. Richardson's fine is capped at $200, each day is charged on its own, and the municipal court orders the car gone. The procedure skips a car shut fully inside a lawful building where nobody outside can see it.

The ten-day letter

Section 14-92 spells out the letter. Richardson writes to the car's last registered owner, each lienholder on file, and whoever owns or occupies the premises, by certified mail marked "five-day return requested". It gives ten days to remove the car, adding "that a request for a hearing must be made before the expiration of such ten-day period."

Ask in time and the case goes before the municipal judge, whose order names the car by its identification and license numbers. Do neither, and the city may file a complaint in municipal court. City agents may also "enter private property to examine a vehicle or vehicle part."

After removal under this section, a car may never be rebuilt or made operable. Scrapyards, demolishers and city scrap or salvage sites are the only places it can go.

Overnight on a Richardson street

Section 22-145 forbids parking a motor vehicle "for storage" on any street between sundown and sunup. Everyday cars and pickups escape it, meaning vehicles rated three-quarter-ton or less on four wheels or fewer, and so do temporarily disabled cars guarded by flares. A long-dead car still faces the abandoned-vehicle test: inoperable, over five years old and left alone on public property past 48 hours.

When police take an abandoned car, the owner and lienholders get certified mail inside ten days. Until the 20th day after that letter, the owner may get it back once towing, preservation and storage are paid. Unclaimed, it goes to public auction.

For a junk car on a street, the city FAQ lists the Police Department, 972-744-4800. For one on a private lot, it lists Community Services, 972-744-4166, which an August 2026 archived copy of the FAQ places at the Temporary City Hall Annex, 2360 Campbell Creek Blvd. Suite 550.

Dallas or Collin County for the title

Richardson sits in both counties, and in Texas it is the buyer who carries the title application to a county tax assessor-collector. Dallas County's Elm Street office, (214) 653-7811, lies about 14 miles southwest as the crow flies. Collin County's, on Bloomdale Rd in McKinney, (972) 547-5014, lies around 19 miles north.

Texas rules a seller should know

Your buyer has 30 days to retitle the car. Miss that, and tickets, tolls or even a crime tied to the car can land on the seller. Your protection is a Vehicle Transfer Notification, sent no later than 30 days after you hand over the keys. Jot down the buyer's contact details, when you sold it, and the VIN. Any plates you keep leave the registration sticker behind.

No title on an old car? Without a title, a used parts recycler can still buy it if three things hold: the car is 13 years old or more, it has had no registration for seven years or longer, and the purchase is only to dismantle or scrap it. Our no-title guide covers the other routes.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or start online. Send us a few facts about your Richardson car to get started. Pickup happens at the car's current spot, be it a garage, a complex lot or a mechanic's yard. Nearby pages: Plano, Garland, Murphy, Allen, with state rules on Texas.