Selling a junk or dead car in Wheeling

A stricter line in the property code

Wheeling's property maintenance code goes further. Section 1775.12 says "no inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicle shall be parked, kept or stored on any premises," and no vehicle may be "in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or in the process of being stripped or dismantled." It opens with "Except as provided for in other regulations," so other rules can carve out room. The section does allow a major overhaul, body work included, when it happens "inside a structure or similarly enclosed area designed and approved for such purposes."

Note the word unlicensed. The section names an unlicensed car alongside one that does not run.

Back in Section 361.07, subsection (d) lists who is left out: a car "stored or placed in an enclosed building," and one on the premises of a lawful business where it is needed for that business.

On Wheeling streets

Section 361.07 also covers public ground:

• "No person shall abandon any motor vehicle within the City."
• Also barred: leaving a car anywhere in Wheeling "for such time and under such circumstances as to cause such vehicle reasonably to appear to have been abandoned."
• Nobody may leave "any unlicensed, partially demolished, nonoperating, wrecked or junked motor vehicle" on a street, lane or other public property.

The street rule has no grace period in that text. An unlicensed or wrecked car on a lane is in violation as it sits.

Impound and redemption

Under Section 303.07, police may tow and hold a car obstructing traffic or plows, one "abandoned or junked on private or public property" under the state's Article 17-24, one with illegal or missing plates, and one "damaged or wrecked so as to be inoperable." The registered owner must be told "forthwith" that the car was taken, on what grounds, and to which storage lot. To redeem it, come to the Police Department with "satisfactory evidence of identity and ownership or right to possession."

Salvage and wrecking yards, outdoor storage and junkyards must stay at least two hundred feet from any residential or commercial zone under Section 1371.17, which keeps that kind of storage out of neighborhoods.

Paperwork for a Wheeling sale

Under state law, the registration expires when the car is transferred and you keep the plates. Section 1775.12 is a separate rule: "no inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicle shall be parked, kept or stored on any premises."

• Title: both parties sign on the reverse. The real mileage goes in the assignment section when a Wheeling seller signs over the title. No mileage line on it? Use Form DMV-TM-1.
• Notice: send Form DMV-1-S to the DMV. The statute says immediately, and the form must have no blank lines.
• Scrap: when a Wheeling car is bought to be dismantled, compressed or destroyed, the buyer turns in the title, or a seller-signed cancellation statement, within 45 days.
• Taxes: Ohio and Marshall counties each collect personal property tax through the assessor and sheriff. Title work belongs to the state DMV, whether mailed, handled at a Regional Office or routed through an authorized private license service.

After you sell covers the steps that follow.

Nearby towns

As the crow flies, Weirton is 24.0 miles from Wheeling, Morgantown 49.9 and Parkersburg 72.0. Statewide rules are on West Virginia.

Getting an offer

First, send a few details on your Wheeling car through our form. Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. We can load it from a driveway, an alley garage or a lot on Wheeling Island.