Orem junk and non-running car sales

Emissions and inspections for an Orem car

The five counties with emissions rules are Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Weber and Cache. Orem, with 95,214 people on 18.608 square miles, falls inside the Utah County program. Cars less than six model years old are tested once every two years. Models from 1995 and earlier are marked Not required on the 2026 table.

Safety inspections are a separate matter. Utah dropped them for most vehicles as of January 1, 2018, though commercial vehicles still need one every year.

Junk-car rules that reach Orem

We did not find Orem's city code online, so what follows is Utah statute. Orem may layer its own rules on top, and its offices can tell you what they are.

Utah calls a car abandoned once it sits unattended on a highway for more than 48 hours. Off the road, the statute's test is a car left "on public or private property for a period in excess of seven days without express or implied consent of the owner or person in control of the property." Orem officers, like any peace officer with good grounds, can have that car hauled off, and the owner is looking at an infraction.

The DMV office we checked for Orem

In Orem, the state handles titles through the Tax Commission's Motor Vehicle Division. We checked its Provo office, 150 East Center, suite 1400. In a straight line it is about 5 miles southeast of central Orem. Its phone line is 1-800-DMV-UTAH.

The counter is optional for the last step. Orem sellers can report the sale on the Utah DMV's Motor Vehicle Portal (MVP), by phone, or by signed letter giving the year, make, and plate or VIN. You can also mail Form TC-502, which cancels the registration.

Signing over an Orem title

• No notary. Utah skips it.
• 48 hours. That is the window, counted from the deal, for the buyer to have the title.
• AND or OR. AND between names: both of you sign. OR: either of you can.
• Odometer. TC-891 gets both signatures on anything under 20 years old.

The DMV calls a bill of sale your proof that ownership moved, and TC-843 is the state's optional form. Lost the Orem title? TC-123 does double duty: its second part hands the car to your buyer, so you need no replacement in your own name first. A plain replacement runs $6.00. More in junk car with no title.

Remove the plate before the car leaves your Orem curb, unless the buyer gets it too. Otherwise tickets the car collects later could trace back to you. After you sell covers the rest.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or go online about your Orem car. Pickup can be an Orem driveway or a shop 4.6 miles away in Provo. Statewide rules are on the Utah page.