Selling a dead or wrecked car in Cottonwood Heights

What a wreck's title can say

Utah calls a vehicle salvage when collision, flood or some other event leaves it costing more to fix safely than it is worth on the market, or when an insurer or another jurisdiction has called it salvage. Put another way: repairs above 100 percent of value. When such a car is registered again or transferred, its title takes one of three brands:

• "rebuilt and restored to operation"
• "in a flood and restored to operation"
• "not restored to operation"

The brand travels with the car. A Cottonwood Heights seller with a branded or salvage-certificate car owes the buyer written notice first, and ads must say so as well. Salvage title and wrecked or totaled go further.

The city code, and the state's clock

We searched for Cottonwood Heights' code online without success; state law fills in here, and the city could have more. Here, as across Utah, time and consent separate a parked car from an abandoned one: beyond 48 hours sitting unattended on a highway, or "a period in excess of seven days without express or implied consent of the owner or person in control of the property" anywhere else. Officers who have reasonable grounds can tow such a car, and leaving it is an infraction.

Emissions in Salt Lake County

Emissions testing applies in five Utah counties, Salt Lake among them. On a Cottonwood Heights sale, the buyer receives a current emission certificate with the title and registration whenever one applies.

Title office and the sale

The office we checked at 4315 S 2700 W, Suite 1200, Taylorsville (801-297-7780) is about 9 miles northwest of central Cottonwood Heights as the crow flies. Every Utah title comes from the state Motor Vehicle Division.

• Sign; there is no notary step.
• Deliver the title inside 48 hours, current registration certificate attached.
• Plates stay yours unless the buyer pays for them too.
• Let the DMV know: Motor Vehicle Portal, form TC-502 by mail, or ring 1-800-DMV-UTAH.
• For a car under 20, both you and the buyer sign Odometer Disclosure Statement TC-891.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, give us the model year, make and model, its mileage, say whether it drives, and note the title's status, brand included. The truck can reach the car anywhere in Cottonwood Heights, from a garage to a spot near the canyon road. Holladay and Sandy have their own pages, and Utah has the statewide rules.