Selling a dead or junk car in Winchester

Winchester's inoperable-vehicle rule

Section 16-25 makes it unlawful to keep an inoperative motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer on property zoned for residential or commercial purposes "except within a fully enclosed building or structure or otherwise shielded or screened from view." The city's test for screened is whether the vehicle, "whether covered or uncovered, is not visible by someone standing at ground level from outside of the property." A tarp keeps the rain off, but anyone on the sidewalk can still see the car.

The zoning ordinance repeats the rule in Section 18-6, so the same car can draw attention from both the city code and zoning enforcement.

The clocks

• 15 days. Property owners must remove the vehicle "within 15 days of notice of violation."
• 30 more days. If the city removes it after that notice, it "may dispose of such vehicle after giving 30 days additional notice to the owner of the vehicle."

The restoration exception

A hobbyist can keep a project car if he or she "is actively restoring or repairing the vehicle" and it is screened from view. One more inoperative car can stay as a parts source. That second car must also be "shielded or screened from view," not just the one under repair.

Abandoned cars and why a sale must be reported

Under Section 14-140, the city "may take into custody any abandoned motor vehicle." It can use its own crews or contractors to remove, store and sell such cars at public auction. The same section says "No person shall cause any motor vehicle to become an abandoned motor vehicle."

Here is the detail that matters to a seller. If a car is found abandoned, being its registered owner is evidence of "a rebuttable presumption that the owner was the person who committed the violation." That presumption "shall not arise if the owner of the vehicle provided notice to the Department" of the sale. The summons goes by first-class mail to the address on DMV records. An unpaid penalty can cost you your driving privilege.

So if you sell a car to anyone, including a buyer who might dump it, tell the Virginia DMV about the sale. The web, the phone line or a service center all work.

If the abandoned car cannot run, Section 14-144 lets it go to a demolisher "without the title and without the notification procedures" once the Chief of Police or the city sheriff judges it "cannot be feasibly restored to operable condition." Handling a car a stranger dumped on your property is covered in car abandoned on your property.

Snow plans, garages and hydrants

Winchester names its snow emergency routes, including stretches of Amherst, Boscawen, Braddock, Gerrard, Cameron and Stewart streets. Once the City Manager declares snow plan B, parking or abandoning a car on those routes is unlawful unless it has effective snow tires or chains. The emergency lasts until the routes are declared clear, "not to exceed 24 hours from the last snow."

Section 14-33 is blunt about cars that cannot move. If a vehicle is "parked, stalled, stuck or abandoned" on a snow route during plan B or C, "the Chief of Police shall authorize immediate removal and storage." The towing and storage are due before the car is released. Do not leave a dead car on Braddock Street with snow in the forecast.

Parking decks are no place to store one either. Section 14-62 lets the Winchester Parking Authority limit stays in its garages to 72 hours once notice is posted. Towing at the owner's expense needs proof the owner had notice and that the Authority made reasonable efforts to reach them. On the street, police can remove a car parked closer than 15 feet to a hydrant, or one blocking a fire lane, where tow-away signs are up.

The DMV office and Virginia title rules

As the crow flies, the DMV office we checked at 4050 Valley Pike (540-868-7295) is about 4 miles south of the city's center. Cars already carrying a Virginia title can skip the counter, since seller and buyer may finish the transfer online.

Winchester falls outside the Northern Virginia emissions list. Even so, a Winchester-registered car needs a passing safety inspection at least every 12 months.

On a paper title, Section A, the seller's block, is on the front. On a Winchester title, every owner prints and signs in that box, then fills in the buyer's details, real mileage, sale date and price. The DMV wants no notary.

Take the Winchester plates off before you hand over the car. Move them to another car, or surrender or inactivate them, and only then phone the insurance company. A registration with half a year or more left may qualify for a refund if you send in the plates with form FMS-210.

A wrecked car may carry a title brand. Virginia law counts a late-model car as rebuilt when it was fixed after estimated repairs topped 75 percent of its actual cash value, and selling a rebuilt car without written disclosure on the Commissioner's form is unlawful. In Winchester, a car ruled nonrepairable can be sold only to a licensed auto recycler or a vehicle removal operator. A Winchester car whose water-damage claim paid out $3,500 or more carries a DMV indicator on its next title. A demolisher buying for scrap need not retitle the car to itself. More in salvage title and after you sell.

Nearby towns

Leesburg is 33.4 miles away in a straight line, Herndon 44.6, Manassas 47.5 and Culpeper 49.5. The Virginia page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Selling a Winchester junk car? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form. Got a 16-25 notice? Include its date, because your 15 days count from it. Pickup can be under a tarp in a backyard, in a downtown lot, or out along Valley Pike.