Junk, dead and non-running cars in Seattle

What makes a car "junk" in Seattle

Section 11.14.268 defines a "junk motor vehicle" as any motor vehicle "meeting at least three of the following requirements." Two of the listed marks are being "left on a street, alley way open to the public, or on municipal or other public property for twenty-four (24) hours or longer," and being "without a current certificate of registration or a current and proper vehicle license."

Look at how those two stack. A dead car with lapsed tabs left at the curb for one day already meets two of the three marks it needs. The definition then warns that junk motor vehicles "are subject to impoundment as provided for in Chapter 11.30 SMC in addition to any other penalty provided for by law."

When Seattle tows with no notice first

Section 11.30.040 lists when a car may be impounded without prior notice. The ones a dead car runs into most often:

• it is a junk motor vehicle "parked on a street, alley, or way open to the public, or on municipal or other public property"
• it has "an expired registration of more than 45 days" and is parked on a public street
• it is on public property with four or more parking infractions left unpaid or unanswered for at least 45 days
• it sits in a load zone, bus zone, construction zone or another restricted space

The general street limit is 72 hours under Section 11.72.440. That section says it "shall not apply to 'junk motor vehicles'." A junk car falls under the rules above instead.

A dead car on private property

Section 11.92.020 declares "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles or automobile hulks or parts thereof on private property" to be public nuisances. Two exceptions apply. Seattle exempts a car "completely enclosed within a building" and out of sight from the street and neighbors. It also exempts business stock, meaning a dismantler's or dealer's cars kept legally behind a fence.

The code's word for a hulk is the "remnant or remains of a motor 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." Leave a car on another person's land without permission for a full day and the code calls it abandoned, unless the owner could not move it and asked law enforcement for help.

Getting a car out of a Seattle impound

Under Section 11.30.120, the legal owner, the registered owner or a person they authorize in writing can redeem the car, along with the car's insurer. Before driving off, that person settles the tow company's bill for hauling and storage and pays an administrative fee. If the city towed it for unpaid parking tickets, it stays put until those penalties and fees are paid in full or put on a time payment plan.

You can contest the impound in writing before a Municipal Court officer. Once the car is released, the hearing is held within 90 days. When the car is still impounded, the hearing is set "within two (2) business days." If you ask too late, you lose the hearing.

When the bill tops what the car is worth, Washington's own clock matters. After 120 hours in a registered tow operator's hands, state law treats the car as abandoned. Once 15 days pass after the yard mails its custody-and-sale notice, a car nobody claims is auctioned. Towed or impounded covers selling a car out of a tow yard.

The King County title office we checked

Suite 206 at 201 South Jackson Street appears on DOL's quick title list; its phone is (206) 477-4000. The office sits near 2 miles southeast of downtown Seattle in a straight line. King County has other offices; this is simply one we checked.

Washington paperwork for a Seattle sale

A Seattle seller fills in the title's release-of-interest part, hands the title over, and adds an odometer statement when the law requires it. Price and date go on the title itself or on a separate bill of sale.

Selling a Seattle car to a wrecking yard still means a Vehicle Report of Sale to DOL within 5 days. Get the plates off before the car rolls away. In DOL's words, removing them protects you from what the car racks up afterward, camera and parking tickets and tolls among them. A plate can move to a similar vehicle or go back to the state. After you sell lists the rest.

Nearby

Mercer Island is about 7 miles away, Bainbridge Island across the water about the same, and Kirkland, Bellevue and Shoreline are all within 10 miles. The Washington page covers the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for a Seattle offer. We collect it where it is: at the curb, in a home garage, in an apartment lot, or at a shop that won't finish the job.