Getting rid of a junk or dead car in Wylie

Yard cars and street cars go to different Wylie desks

Junked, dismantled or wrecked cars on private property belong to Code Compliance: Wylie Municipal Complex, 300 Country Club Rd., Building 100, 972-516-6440. A car sitting in the street goes instead to Wylie Police Dispatch, 972-442-8171. Wylie's list of reportable violations also includes vehicles, boats, trailers or RVs parked on an unimproved surface on private land.

Section 110-241: Wylie's definition

Wylie's wording starts with "self-propelled and inoperable," then needs one more condition. A missing plate or missing inspection certificate is one. Being "wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled, or discarded" is another. Time is the third: dead for 72 hours on Wylie public property, or for 30 consecutive days on private land.

Section 110-254 says a junked car, even a single part of one, turns into a public nuisance once people on a public way or right-of-way can see it. Under 110-255 that is a misdemeanor; Wylie caps the fine at $200, and 110-256 treats every extra day as a fresh offense.

Wylie's ten-day letter

For cars on private land, 110-256 requires notice of at least ten days. The letter has to name the nuisance, say it must be gone "within ten days," and say a hearing request has to arrive before that period runs out. Wylie mails it certified, five-day receipt requested, to three addresses: the registered owner in Wylie's records, every lienholder of record, and the Wylie lot's owner or occupant.

The case goes to Wylie's municipal judge, not before day 11 after service. The judge assumes the car is inoperable; the owner has to prove it runs. Shut inside a building and out of sight, a car is outside the procedure entirely. After a removal order, the city manager, police chief or a code officer may come onto private property to identify and take it.

What happens next cannot be undone. Wylie bars rebuilding a removed junked vehicle or getting it running. Within five days, Wylie police or the code officer must alert the state transportation department. Section 110-257 lists where it ends up: a scrapyard, a demolisher, or another suitable scrap site.

Towed off a Wylie street

Under 110-172, Wylie's police chief may have a car put in storage once there is reason to think it was abandoned more than 48 hours. Wylie gives the claimant 30 days from storage to prove ownership and settle storage, removal and any fine owed. If nobody comes forward within 30 days, Wylie or the garage holding it may sell it to cover the charges.

Wylie title errands

Wylie reaches into Collin, Dallas and Rockwall counties, and Texas titles go through county tax offices. From central Wylie, as the crow flies:

• Rockwall: 1101 E Yellowjacket, Suite 110, roughly 9 miles southeast. (972) 204-6130.
• McKinney (Collin): 2300 Bloomdale Rd, Ste 2302, roughly 16 miles northwest. (972) 547-5014.
• Dallas: 500 Elm Street, Suite 1200, roughly 24 miles southwest. (214) 653-7811.

Selling from Wylie needs no notary. Sign over the Wylie title with the date and mileage written in, add a 130-U you signed that carries the price, and note who bought it, the date, and the VIN. Then, inside 30 days, file TxDMV's transfer notification. Keep your plates if you like: the county office will switch them to your next car for free, but the sticker does not travel.

Ready for an offer?

Use the form online or call (877) 421-6008. Expect questions on the car itself, its mileage, whether the starter does anything, and the title's condition. Pickup works from a Wylie driveway, a storage unit, or a shop that gave up on the repair. Next door: Murphy, Sachse, Rockwall. Statewide: Texas.