Herndon junk cars: the monthly rule and a whole-car sale

What Herndon's code covers

Section 26-307 bars keeping an inoperable car, trailer or semitrailer on land "zoned or used for residential purposes," or zoned commercial or agricultural, unless it is enclosed or "otherwise shielded or screened from view." Under state law, screened means you cannot see it from ground level outside the property. If the owner does nothing "after reasonable notice," the town may remove it.

The zoning definitions add a 90-day yardstick. A car is presumed junk "if no license plates are displayed, or if the license plates displayed have been invalid for more than 90 days, or if the vehicle remains in an inoperable condition for more than 90 days." Three months on blocks is the point where the town's presumption is against you.

Someone rebuilding a car gets room. If you can show you are "actively restoring or repairing the vehicle" and it is enclosed or screened, it can stay along with one more inoperable car used for the work.

Repair shops, parks and the street

People often leave a broken car at a shop and walk away. Herndon's zoning limits that. On vehicle sales and service sites, "No more than two abandoned, wrecked, or inoperable vehicles shall be parked on the site for a continuous period of 72 hours." It also says no vehicle may be kept "as a source of parts." A shop holding your car has reason to call you. See stuck at a repair shop.

Town parks are no place to leave one either. Section 50-107 says no vehicle may stay parked "on any roadway, parking area or park property during other than daylight hours."

If the town takes custody of an abandoned car, Section 42-265 lets it hand an inoperable one to a demolisher "without the title and without the notification procedures."

Two counties, two DMV offices

Herndon sits in both Fairfax and Loudoun counties. Both are on Virginia's emissions-inspection list, so a car garaged in town carries that requirement on top of the yearly safety inspection.

We checked two DMV offices for Herndon. As the crow flies, 14950 Northridge Drive in Chantilly (703-803-0072) is roughly 7 miles to the southwest, and 400 Fort Evans Road NE in Leesburg (703-737-6056) is roughly 12 miles to the northwest.

Old cars often turn up without their title. Virginia charges $15 for a replacement, requested on form VSA 67 over the web or at a service center. An unpaid lien sends the new title to the lender of record instead of to you. Scrap buyers get a shortcut: state law excuses a demolisher or scrap processor from retitling the car to itself. When an individual sells a car for crushing, that person signs a Vehicle Removal Certificate, VSA 40. If a car has no title and is ten or more model years older than the current one, the yard must search DMV records before crushing it. More in junk car with no title.

With a title in hand, all owners sign in Section A on the front, and the DMV's seller steps list no notary. Unbolt the plates ahead of the handover, then file the sale with the DMV. A car still listed under your name can end in a suspension if the insurer drops it. After you sell lists the steps.

Nearby towns

Fairfax lies 9.4 straight-line miles off, Leesburg 13.2, Manassas 16.3 and Alexandria 19.4. Statewide rules are on the Virginia page.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or ask online. Herndon owners can get things moving through our offer form. Either side of the Fairfax-Loudoun line works the same. Pickup can happen on your driveway, at a shop by the old depot, or wherever the car last stopped.