Your junk or dead car in San Marcos

The San Marcos definition

Under section 34.191, a junked vehicle is one that is self-propelled and inoperable, that "Does not have lawfully affixed to it both an unexpired license plate and a valid motor vehicle safety inspection certificate," and that either "Is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled or discarded" or has been inoperable for upward of 45 consecutive days.

Since January 1, 2025, Texas no longer requires the yearly safety inspection for noncommercial vehicles, but the city's definition still names the certificate.

Section 34.194 explains why a junked car seen from a public place is a nuisance: it "invites vandalism, creates fire hazards and constitutes an attractive nuisance" for children. Whoever owns or controls the property may not let one stay there, and no one may dump one on land they do not own without the owner's okay. Keeping the car fully inside a building is a defense, alongside the lone-car cover.

From the letter to removal

Notice comes from the director of environmental health, by certified mail, and three people get it: whoever was last registered as owner, the lienholder if there is one, and whoever owns or rents the lot. You then get ten days, counted from receipt, to haul the car away. A hearing has to be requested in those same ten days, or it is waived.

In municipal court, the starting assumption is a car that does not run, and the owner must rebut it. If the judge finds a nuisance vehicle, the judge orders it removed, and the city may haul it away at any time after that order or after the hearing is waived. Section 34.201 lets the city send it to a demolisher, a scrapyard or a fitting city site as scrap or salvage. Making it operable again is not allowed.

The penalty under section 34.193: a misdemeanor, at most $200 per day of violation, and possibly a court order to remove the car.

On city streets

Section 34.195 makes it unlawful to let "a junked vehicle or a part of a junked vehicle" be "placed or to remain on any public property or public right-of-way." After more than 48 hours there, it is an abandoned motor vehicle under the state removal rules. In practice, Parking Enforcement posts a notice on a car abandoned on city property, waits 48 hours, then has it towed. It does not tow from private property, and the Marshal Department also wants an expired registration before it treats a car as abandoned.

Report a junk car on private property to Code Compliance at 512-393-8479, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., through SMTX Connect, or by email. Abandoned cars on city property go to parkinginfo@sanmarcostx.gov or 512-753-2140. Police non-emergency: 512-753-2108, any time.

Three counties, three tax offices

San Marcos reaches into Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe counties. Each county's tax assessor-collector, rather than the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, takes title applications.

Selling it under Texas rules

No notary stamp is needed on a Texas title. Write the date and the odometer number on it and add your signature. Your buyer also takes Form 130-U, which you sign after entering the price. Then send the state its transfer notice before a month is out (30 days). The buyer still has to retitle at the county, but your notice keeps their toll and parking violations off your name. Unscrew the plates before the car goes; they can move to your next vehicle or be defaced. After you sell has the final steps.

Nearby towns

Kyle is 8.9 miles away, New Braunfels 16.1, Seguin 19.7 and Austin 31.3, measured straight. The Texas page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Request an offer online or phone (877) 421-6008. Share the basics, from model year to mileage, plus whether it turns over and who has the title. Pickup can happen at a rental house, an apartment lot or a driveway, wherever it has been sitting.