St. George junk and dead cars: Utah law and selling whole

The city's own rules

We could not find St. George's junk-vehicle ordinance online when we wrote this page. What follows is Utah state law only. St. George could have stricter local limits on keeping a broken car at home or at the curb, so ask City Hall before relying on the state's longer timelines.

When Utah calls a car abandoned

Utah's abandoned-vehicle law runs a short clock and a long one. Past 48 hours alone on a highway, a car counts as abandoned. So does one 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."

That second clock matters for the car you left at a friend's house, a shop lot or a trailhead. At that point an officer with reasonable grounds can have it hauled off, and the owner has committed an infraction. A car sitting in your own driveway with your own consent does not meet the state test, though a city rule could still reach it.

What happens to a towed car

Impound rules sit in a separate part of the code, and they move faster for older cars. Take a seized car whose model year, read from its VIN, is at least eight years behind the impound date. Thirty days after the first notice, if neither the owner nor a lender has claimed it, or nobody can find the owner, the Motor Vehicle Division can give the towing company a certificate of sale. If yours is already at a lot, read towed or impounded first.

Scrapping, permits and salvage brands

Taking a car apart is regulated in Utah. The usual route: send the title in to be canceled together with a permit application, and strip or scrap the car only after that. In St. George, the permit holder can take the car apart at home or haul it to a St. George area dismantler, crusher or salvage dealer with a license.

A car beyond saving has a quicker path. A State Tax Commission employee can issue what the state calls an "Affidavit of Abandoned and Inoperable Vehicle or Junk Permit" when the car does not run and nobody plans to rebuild it. After an investigator puts in writing that rebuilding is impossible, the car may go straight to scrap, skipping the permit steps, and whoever buys it for salvage signs that it will not come back.

Salvage in Utah means the repair bill to make the car safe tops its fair market value, a 100 percent line, or that the label already came from an insurance company or some other jurisdiction. Those cars get a branded title: rebuilt and restored, flood and restored, or never restored. Selling one with a brand or a salvage certificate? Give the buyer written notice beforehand, and say so in any ad. A car that only has value as parts or scrap gets labeled nonrepairable. More in salvage title and how to sell a car for parts.

No safety inspection either

Since January 1, 2018, most Utah cars have needed no safety inspection; only commercial vehicles still go in each year. For a private St. George seller, that means no inspection or emissions paperwork to chase before a sale.

The DMV office and the title

Titles here are a state matter, handled by the Motor Vehicle Division rather than the county. We checked the Hurricane office, 100 South 5300 West, reachable at 1-800-DMV-UTAH (800-368-8824). From central St. George it is about 11 miles northeast in a straight line.

Signing over the title takes no notary. Read the owner line: AND means every listed owner signs, OR means any one can. Utah law gives the seller 48 hours to deliver the title, and the current registration goes with it. For anything newer than 20 model years, both of you sign the TC-891 odometer disclosure. A bill of sale, TC-843 if you like, proves the car changed hands.

Lost the title? Replacing it costs $6.00, requested on the Motor Vehicle Portal or on Form TC-123. That form has a second part that transfers the car directly to the buyer, which can save ordering a copy for yourself.

Plates and the sold report

The plate stays yours unless it is part of the sale. If you leave it on, any tickets the new driver gets could come back to you. Next, let the DMV know the sale happened. Online, use the Motor Vehicle Portal. St. George, a mailed sale report goes to the Contact Center at Box 30412 in Salt Lake City (ZIP 84130), either on form TC-502 or as a signed letter giving the car's year, make, and plate or VIN. Or phone 1-800-DMV-UTAH.

Around St. George

Washington is 6 miles away and Hurricane 13. Cedar City is about 50 miles up the road. Utah covers the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill us in online. Use the form for your St. George car. Wherever your St. George car landed, a garage, a driveway, a storage lot or a repair shop, our driver heads there.