Selling a dead or junk car in Wichita Falls

What the city enforces

Code Compliance lists outdoor storage, Chapter 46-217, among the violations it handles in Wichita Falls. The pages we read state no day count, no notice steps and no fine for a dead car, so Wichita Falls may enforce more than what is listed here.

Two other rules on the same page matter for a car that has stopped running:

• No parking on the lawn. Appendix B Sec. 6210.27 bars parking on unpaved or grassy surfaces in the front or exterior side yard unless that surface is the primary driveway. A dead car pushed onto the grass to clear the driveway falls under it.
• No dumping. Sec. 94-9 bans dumping refuse in streets, alleys and rights-of-way, or on any other public or private property, anywhere but an approved solid waste receptacle.

Code Compliance is at 1800 7th St., phone 940.761.8841, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Street cars are a police matter

Complaints about vehicles on a public street go to Wichita Falls Police, not Code Compliance. The city's code pages give the police number for that as 940.720.5000. The page does not label it the non-emergency line.

The state junked-vehicle law still applies

On top of the city's own rules, Texas Transportation Code chapter 683 reaches every town. Under it, the state's "junked vehicle" covers anything self-propelled that is wrecked, dismantled or discarded, or one left inoperable past 72 consecutive hours on public property or past 30 consecutive days on private property. When such a car is visible from a public place or public right-of-way at any time of year, chapter 683 declares it a public nuisance and makes maintaining it an offense.

The same chapter lets cities write their own abatement process, as long as owners get 10 or more days' notice and a hearing ahead of any removal. Exempt are cars fully inside a building, cars on a dealer's or junkyard's business lot, and antiques a collector stores neatly and out of sight.

Abandonment is a separate track. One of the state's abandonment tests is a car left on private property more than 48 hours without the property owner's consent. After police take a car in Wichita Falls, a certified letter is mailed within 10 days. The owner and lienholder can claim it up to the 20th day after that notice. If nobody does, they waive their rights and the car can be sold at public auction, free of liens.

Two counties, two tax offices

The Wichita County tax assessor-collector is at 600 Scott Avenue, Suite 103, about 2 miles east of the middle of Wichita Falls, as the crow flies. The phone is (940) 766-8298. Part of the city lies in Clay County, whose office is at 214 N. Main St., Henrietta, about 20 miles east of the city, again as the crow flies, at (940) 538-4356.

What a seller does in Texas:

• Sign over the title. No notary is needed for the assignment, bill of sale or odometer disclosure.
• Send TxDMV a Vehicle Transfer Notification by day 30 after the sale, online or on the paper VTR-346.
• Take the plates and sticker if you want them. The sticker does not move to another car. The plates can, or you can keep them or deface them before throwing them away.

A car that has sat a while often has lapsed tags. Texas lets you renew registration online up to 12 months after it expires, as long as no citation for expired registration has been issued, and the expiration month stays the same. You do not need fresh tags to sell it whole, though. Note that driving it once the registration is more than five working days expired is an offense.

No inspection stands in the way. Mandatory safety inspections for personal vehicles stopped as of Jan. 1, 2025, and Wichita and Clay counties are not among the 17 where emissions testing continues. Car sitting for years has more on old cars, and the Texas page covers the state rules.

Nearest towns with pages

Wichita Falls is a long way from the next towns we cover: Weatherford at 90.8 miles, Denton at 92.9, Saginaw at 98.3 and Corinth at 99.0, straight-line.

Getting an offer

Use the form online or phone (877) 421-6008. Share what the car is, the odometer number, whether it turns over, and whether the title carries your name. Wherever it sits, the driveway, the curb or a shop lot, is where the truck goes.