Selling a junk or dead car in Tukwila

How Chapter 9.32 defines junk

The chapter is titled Junk Vehicles and Improper Storage of Vehicles. One part of its definition is about worth: a vehicle that "has an approximate fair market value equal only to the approximate value of the scrap in it." Another is the loose-parts clause quoted above.

One group is carved out: a vehicle kept "in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler or licensed vehicle dealer," and fenced as the code requires under "the Revised Code of Washington Title 46, Chapter 80, Section 130." A car parked beside a house gets no such pass.

From Notice of Violation to tow

Enforcement opens with a Notice of Violation. Its compliance date is your deadline; the code text we read sets no fixed count of days. You can miss it two ways: by failing to "complete the corrective action," or by failing to "provide notice of same to the Code Enforcement Officer." Skipping the hearing, or losing it, ends the same way: "the City or its designee shall remove, impound and dispose" of the car. Fixing the problem is step one. Telling the officer is step two.

If you own the land, two more clauses apply:

• Dumped by someone else. If the hearing decides the car arrived without the landowner's consent, the Hearing Examiner "shall not assess costs of administration or removal" against that land.
• Your tax statement. The City Treasurer may, "pursuant to RCW 35.80.030(1)(h)," pass the removal cost and penalties to the King County Treasurer, who puts them "to the tax rolls against the property."

Washington's own test

State law adds a second yardstick. A car counts as junk in Washington once three of these four describe it: it is past its third year, it is heavily damaged, it looks unable to run, and scrap is all it is worth. Cities can stack their own nuisance rules on top, which is what Chapter 9.32 does.

Title work in Seattle

Tukwila sellers can try a DOL quick title office in Seattle: Suite 206, 201 South Jackson Street, (206) 477-4000. In a straight line it sits about 9 miles north of central Tukwila. King County may run other offices too.

The seller's jobs in Washington are short:

1. On the title, sign where it releases your interest.
2. Both the Tukwila seller and buyer put their names on a bill of sale. Tukwila sellers can skip it only if the title already records the amount paid and the sale day.
3. Unscrew the plates. They stay yours; the new owner may not use them.
4. In Tukwila, DOL needs your sale report within 5 days. Doing so protects you from tow bills and from trouble the buyer causes.

You never need a notary as the seller; that signature belongs on the buyer's application. Lost the title? A replacement costs $39.50 and takes 4 to 8 weeks. Selling with no title covers the affidavits DOL may accept in its place. If the car is already behind a tow fence, read towed or impounded. The Washington page has the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Tukwila? Call (877) 421-6008 or use the offer form. Driveways, riverside lots and repair bays work. Next door, SeaTac, Burien and Renton have their own pages.