Selling a junk car in Puyallup

Hulks, junk cars and the visibility rule

The code also defines a hulk: "the remnant or remains of a vehicle which is inoperative and cannot be made mechanically operative without the addition of vital parts or mechanisms and the application of a substantial amount of labor to effect repairs." If your car is missing its engine or transmission, that is probably how Puyallup would describe it.

Section 9.28.020 makes it unlawful to keep "an abandoned vehicle or an abandoned vehicle hulk, a discarded or junk automobile or portion thereof" anywhere in Puyallup, public land or private. There are two exceptions:

• the car "is completely enclosed where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property"
• a licensed dismantler or dealer stores it lawfully on properly fenced business property

A tarp in the driveway is not the same as being out of sight.

Notice, a hearing, then removal

Section 9.28.030 calls "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles" stored on private property a public nuisance. Before the city removes one, it tells the last registered owner and the landowner that a hearing before the city council may be requested. If no one asks "within 10 days," the car is removed and the costs assessed.

If someone does ask, the hearing notice goes out by certified or registered mail. A landowner who shows the car was put there without consent is not charged. Once notice is given, the chief of police or someone acting for the chief has it taken to a licensed auto wrecker or tow operator.

Who gets the bill

The code lets Puyallup bill the registered owner, unless that owner followed the state transfer law it names when the car changed hands. If not, the cost can land on the landowner and become a lien, which the city may record with the Pierce County auditor within 30 days after removal. That is a good reason to finish the sale paperwork; see after you sell.

A Tacoma title office

Puyallup is in Pierce County. The nearest quick title office to Puyallup on the Department of Licensing list sits in Tacoma at 2401 S. 35th St., Suite 200, roughly 9 straight-line miles northwest of downtown. It is one we checked; Pierce County has other licensing offices too.

The report of sale

DOL gives a Puyallup seller five days to file a Vehicle Report of Sale, and describes it as protection against tow bills and against civil or criminal trouble the next owner causes. It is needed for a gift, a trade or a wrecking-yard drop-off as well as a sale. Fill in the date, the VIN, the plate, and who sold to whom, with addresses. Sign the title over as well, and keep your plates, since they cannot stay on the car.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Name the car and year, give a rough mile count, say if the engine works, and tell us if the title is clean and yours. Pickup can be at a Puyallup home, or at a shop in Tacoma or Bonney Lake. The Washington page has more on state rules.