Selling a junk or dead car in Pasco

Pasco's street clocks

• 14 days for any vehicle on a street or other municipal property, unless a posted sign gives less.
• 24 hours for an abandoned vehicle or hulk.
• Shuffling it does not count. A move only resets things if the car goes "a minimum of 20 feet for a minimum duration of 48 hours" from where it was noticed or cited.
• Impound can follow if the car is cited two or more times in any 180-day period, or still sits in violation "72 hours or more after citation" once an "Impound or Tow Notice" is attached.

After the tow

Section 9.135.020 lays out what follows. For an abandoned vehicle, the tow operator sends the legal and registered owners a notice of custody and sale by certified mail within 24 hours of getting their details from the state. If the car stays unclaimed and is not listed as stolen "after the expiration of 15 days" from that mailing, it is sold at public auction. To redeem a car, you tender enough to cover towing, storage and related services, and the tow company must give you written word of your hearing rights. If the impound is later found invalid, the owners bear no towing or storage costs. See towed or impounded.

The Pasco sections above deal with streets and tows. On private land the state junk test is used, and Pasco might add rules on top. Under RCW 46.55.010, passing any three of four tests makes a Pasco car junk. Pasco uses four tests: three or more years old, heavy damage, looks like it can't run, and scrap is its only value.

The N 4th Ave title office

DOL lists a quick title office at 1016 N 4th Ave, Pasco, WA 99301. Measured straight from downtown Pasco, it sits about 2 miles to the southeast. We checked this Franklin County office only; there may be others.

Washington seller rules

Your signature goes on the title's release of interest; the notarized application is the buyer's job. If the price and date are not on the title, you also both sign a bill of sale. Pasco sellers remove the plates, as Washington makes that their job, and either return them or use them on a future vehicle of that type. 5 days after a Pasco sale is the deadline for the seller's Vehicle Report of Sale to reach DOL. That holds even when the car is going to a wrecking yard. A Pasco seller missing the title replaces it before anything else. Pasco owners pay $39.50 for a new copy of the title, and the mail brings it in 4 to 8 weeks. An affidavit may be accepted by DOL instead. More at selling with no title.

Nearby towns

Kennewick is 5.4 miles from Pasco in a straight line, Richland 8.4 miles and Walla Walla 40.0 miles. Statewide rules: Washington.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for a Pasco offer. Pickup is at the Pasco spot where it sits, even a curb with a tow notice already on the glass.