Selling a junk or dead car in Salt Lake City

Owners who would rather be rid of the car than argue about it have a simple exit: we buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US, the capital included.

Two sections, saying one thing

Look closely at 21A.40.140 and the list runs wider than broken cars: "unlicensed" and "unused" sit right next to "inoperable." Loose pieces are named too, so an engine block on a pallet or a row of fenders by the fence falls inside it.

Section 9.12.025, on waste materials, repeats the idea. It forbids letting "any unused, abandoned vehicle, vehicles or abandoned parts" occupy "any yard, garden, lawn, outbuilding or premises in the city," with an exception only for a licensed business operating at that site. Neither section, in the text we read, grants a grace period.

Removal from the street

Section 12.96.110 picks up where a car crosses from eyesore to hazard. Once a vehicle is found to be "an abandoned and an inoperable vehicle" under the cited state statute, it "is declared to be a nuisance and may be summarily abated" by hauling it off "under the direction or at the request of a police officer or parking enforcement officer of the city."

Utah sets the outer limits. Two days unattended beside a highway (the statute says more than 48 hours) makes a vehicle abandoned. Off the road, the test is a stay "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." Abandoning a car is an infraction.

Older cars face a deadline once towed. Say Salt Lake City seizes a car built eight model years back or earlier, and 30 days after the first notice it still sits unclaimed. At that point the Salt Lake City tow carrier can get a certificate of sale from Utah's Motor Vehicle Division. The age runs to impound day, with the model year read from the VIN. Read towed or impounded before that month is up.

Stranded at the airport

A breakdown in an airport lot answers to its own chapter. Under Section 16.10.180, nobody may leave a motor vehicle there "in excess of seventy two (72) consecutive hours" outside the public parking area unless the airport says yes. Section 16.40.070 then puts the bill on the owner: "The owner of any impounded Vehicle shall pay for the tow charge, regular parking fees, and other penalties and related charges."

Why a buyer asks for your details

Salt Lake City requires dealers and wreckers of used vehicles and parts to log every purchase under Section 12.52.220. The log captures who sold it and where they live, plus identifying numbers such as the license and motor numbers. Expect those questions from any honest buyer; they come from the city, not from curiosity.

Title office and Utah paperwork

Titles in Utah are a state product, issued by the Motor Vehicle Division of the Utah State Tax Commission. We found one office at 4315 South 2700 West, Suite 1200, in Taylorsville (801-297-7780). Measured straight, that is about 7 miles south of downtown Salt Lake City.

A trip there is often unnecessary. Utah skips the notary on a seller's signature. On a Salt Lake City title listing two owners with AND, each one signs. With OR between the names, either owner can sign alone. The state gives a seller 48 hours from the deal to deliver the title, and a bill of sale, such as the optional TC-843, is your record that ownership moved. Under 20 years old, the car also needs a TC-891 odometer disclosure with both signatures.

Remove the plate before the car goes, unless the buyer gets it in the sale. If you leave it on, the next driver's tickets could come back to you. Let the DMV know you sold it through the online portal, a signed letter, form TC-502, or by calling 1-800-DMV-UTAH. A missing title can be replaced for $6.00, or TC-123 can move ownership straight to the buyer; the junk car with no title guide and the Utah page explain more.

Emissions testing applies here, since Salt Lake County is among the five Utah counties that require it. Pass along any emissions certificate that is still current.

Neighbors

North Salt Lake lies 4.9 miles off and South Salt Lake 5.2. One step farther are West Valley City at 7.4 miles, Millcreek at 8.1 and Taylorsville at 8.3.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form about your Salt Lake City car. Let us know if it runs and how the paperwork looks. Across roughly 111 square miles of city, the truck pulls up wherever the car has been left, from a downtown garage to a repair shop's back lot.