Selling a junk or unregistered car in Holladay

The two-year covered exception

The same section leaves one way to keep a dead vehicle longer. "One truck with a capacity up to one ton or automobile which is inoperable" may sit behind the house, or beside it where that side does not face a street, for up to two years, provided:

• "The automobile or truck is not visible from a public street; and"
• it is "entirely concealed by a covering maintained in good condition and which does not extend closer to the ground than the lowest point of the vehicle body."

A torn cover, a second car or a spot in the front yard puts you outside it, and the exception ends at two years.

Three more Holladay rules that touch a dead car

• Nuisance. Section 9.52.190 makes it unlawful to let "any unused, abandoned vehicle, vehicles or abandoned parts" sit in a yard, garden, lawn or outbuilding, unless it is tied to a lawful business.
• Snow. Under 11.05.130 no one may park on a street "when it is snowing or snow is on the street" from November through April. A dead car left at a Holladay curb stays in breach for as long as snow covers that street.
• Parking lots. Section 5.74.150 bars storing "any vehicle that is not in a condition ready for use" in a parking lot, and bars using a lot to show a car for sale.

When the state steps in

Utah law runs beside Holladay's 60 days. State law marks a car abandoned after 48 hours alone on a highway, or after "a period in excess of seven days without express or implied consent of the owner or person in control of the property" on other land. Leaving one that way is an infraction, and officers may take it away. Impounded cars eight model years or older carry extra risk: if nobody reclaims one inside 30 days from the first notice, Utah may issue the towing company a certificate of sale.

Title office and paperwork

We checked the state office at 4315 S 2700 W, Suite 1200, Taylorsville (801-297-7780), roughly 7 miles west of central Holladay as the crow flies. You may never need it. No notary is required in Utah, and the sale can be reported on the Motor Vehicle Portal, in a mailed-in TC-502, or with a phone call.

Within 48 hours, the buyer should have the signed title from you, along with the current registration certificate. Holladay sits in Salt Lake County, an emissions county, so add a current emission certificate if one applies. Form TC-843, a bill of sale, is your record that ownership moved. The plates stay with you, unless the deal includes them. Cars at least 20 years old skip the odometer statement. After you sell has the rest.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online and give us the VIN or the year and badge, a rough odometer figure, a yes or no on starting, and the owner name printed on the Holladay title. The truck can meet a covered car in a Holladay back yard or one parked near the Village. Millcreek and Cottonwood Heights are close by, and Utah has the statewide rules.