Eagle Mountain: selling a car that no longer runs

No city code online, so state law applies

We searched and could not find Eagle Mountain's municipal code. This page draws on Utah statute and the Utah DMV instead. Local ordinances could go further, for instance on storing a dead car at a house, and the city can tell you whether they do.

When a car counts as abandoned in Utah

The state sets two clocks:

• On a highway: unattended for more than 48 hours.
• On public or private property: "in excess of seven days without express or implied consent" of the owner or whoever controls the property.

Since you consent to your own car in your own driveway, the seven-day clock bites when a car sits on land that belongs to someone else. Abandoning it there, or on a highway, is an infraction, and police can take the car away if they have reasonable grounds. Someone else's car stuck on your lot? See car abandoned on your property.

If the car was towed

Once a car is impounded, Utah counts its age from the impound date, using the model year in the VIN. When the model year is eight or more years old, the owner or lienholder has 30 days from the original notice. Without a recovery in that window, or if no owner can be found, a certificate of sale goes to the tow company that has the car. Towed or impounded covers getting it back.

Paperwork from 20 miles out

The DMV office we checked for Utah County is at 150 East Center #1400 in Provo, about 20 miles east of the middle of Eagle Mountain as the crow flies. Its number is 1-800-DMV-UTAH (800-368-8824).

The drive is often optional. Let the state know about the sale by phone or on the Motor Vehicle Portal. On paper, write a signed note listing the car's year, make, and either plate or VIN, or fill out TC-502, and send it to the DMV's Contact Center box in Salt Lake City (P.O. Box 30412, 84130).

Signing the title

• In Utah the seller signs without a notary.
• If AND joins the owner names on an Eagle Mountain title, all of them sign. If OR joins them, one signature is enough.
• The buyer should have the title in hand inside 48 hours of the deal.
• Along with the title goes the current registration, and, since Utah County tests emissions, any current emission certificate.
• Cars 20 years old or older do not need the odometer statement, TC-891.
• A duplicate title costs $6.00 on Form TC-123 or online. The same form can also move a lost title straight to the buyer. See junk car with no title.

Take the plates off unless they are part of the sale. Left on, they can tie you to the next driver's parking or traffic violations.

Nearby

Saratoga Springs is about 5.5 miles away and Lehi about 10.3. American Fork and Herriman are both a little over 12 miles away. For statewide rules, see Utah.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or go online about your Eagle Mountain car, title problems included. A tow truck comes to wherever it quit, be it a driveway, a mechanic's yard or the shoulder of a road.