Selling a dead or junk car in Waxahachie

When a dead car turns into a junked vehicle

Section 17-47 has three parts. The car is self-propelled. It has no unexpired plate, or no valid inspection certificate. And it is wrecked, in pieces or abandoned, or has sat inoperable past a set stretch: over 72 hours on public ground, over 30 days on private ground.

Section 17-48 labels that car a public nuisance if a public road, sidewalk or other public place gives a view of it "at any time of the year."

On your own lot, only a building fully protects you. Section 17-51 exempts a car inside one, hidden from the street and from adjoining property. Dealers, junkyards and collectors get a narrower pass. Their cars must be orderly, operable and registered, behind a solid fence at least six feet high or fast-growing trees or shrubs. Even then, "square or rectangular tarps" are not allowed as covers.

Ten days of notice, $200 a day

Section 17-50 opens the process with "a ten-day notice." It is handed over in person or sent certified, "with a five-day return requested." Copies go to the last registered owner, every lienholder, plus the landowner (or the renter living there). With no known address, the city may leave it on the car. Want a hearing? Ask within those ten days. The municipal court hears it. The law assumes the car is dead, and the burden of proof sits with the owner.

Under Section 17-52 the fine reaches $200, and every day counts as a fresh offense. A conviction comes with a removal order.

A car the city or its contractor tows is hauled off for scrap under Section 17-49; a scrap yard, a demolisher, or a site the city runs takes it. After that it "shall not be reconstructed or made operable." Within five days the state gets word so the title can be cancelled. Dragging the car to another Waxahachie address once the case has begun changes nothing.

Streets and impounds

Streets, alleys and public ways have a 48-hour cap under Section 32-273. A car that cannot run under its own power cannot stay on any public street, alley or parkway at all, says Section 32-276. Police can store a car they believe was abandoned. If nobody claims it within 30 days of storage, Section 32-263 lets the city or the garage sell it for the storage charges.

Title and plates from Waxahachie

Each Texas county's tax assessor-collector processes titles. Ellis County's office is right in town at 302 N Monroe St, about 1 mile south of the center as the crow flies. Call (972) 825-5150.

Write the sale date and current odometer miles on the title as you sign. No notary is needed. You may keep the plates and take off the sticker; the plates can later go on another vehicle of the same type, or be defaced. Within 30 days, file the transfer notice (online at TxDMV.gov/VTN, or on paper with Form VTR-346), and later tickets and tolls stop being yours. No title at all? Read junk car with no title, then after you sell.

Ellis County is on the state's list of 17 counties with emissions testing. The yearly safety inspection ended January 1, 2025.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, describe the car by model year, make and model, give the miles on it, if it runs, and how the title paperwork looks. The tow truck comes to the car, whether it rests on a gravel drive at the edge of town or in a repair bay off the highway. For towns close by, see Red Oak, Midlothian and Ennis. Texas covers state rules.