Getting rid of a dead car in Green Bay

What 24-7 covers, and what it skips

The list is wide. "Non-registered" and "unlicensed" sit right beside "wrecked," so a car does not need visible damage to fall under the rule.

It does not apply to:

• a car in an enclosed building
• a car at a lawful business that sells, dismantles, repairs or restores vehicles
• a car in a storage place kept by or for the city
• a dismantled, non-operating vehicle "licensed as an antique" or collector vehicle

The Chief of Police, the Superintendent of Building Inspection, or staff they designate "may remove or have removed" any vehicle that, in their opinion, breaks the rule.

A row of parts cars needs a permit

Section 10-90 reaches anyone holding on to parts cars. Nobody may "accumulate or store any junked automobile or parts thereof outside of any building" in the city without a permit from the City Clerk. The Plan Commission writes the rules on fencing and distance from highways, and Building Inspection enforces them. If that describes the side yard, see several junk cars.

Street signs that catch a dead car

• Snow and maintenance signs. Under the Class "B" list, no vehicle may park where a sign marks the area to be left vacant "for the purpose of street maintenance or snow removal."
• Permit districts. Without an active residential permit, a car cannot park in a residential parking district.

A Wisconsin title, signed on the back

Green Bay titles are state documents from WisDOT's Division of Motor Vehicles. Selling for the road means signing and dating the back, completing the mileage and brand sections, and adding what the buyer paid and where the buyer lives. At delivery, state law has the owner assign the title, with a warranty of title, to the buyer and hand over the certificate.

Scrapping is simpler: mark the title Junk. Once a car is junk, it can never get a new title. State law says the person who has it must tell the department and send back the title within 10 days.

When an insurance payout tops 70 percent of fair market value and the owner keeps the car, Wisconsin treats it as a salvage vehicle, and the insurer must tell WisDOT in writing within 30 days. See insurer totaled it and salvage title.

Plates and the seller notice

Green Bay sellers keep their plates. If you, your spouse or your domestic partner owns a like vehicle, unexpired Green Bay plates can switch to it. Anything else, destroy. Nothing comes back for the unused months.

Sold it to a private person? Send Wisconsin the online seller notice within 30 days, with the VIN, who the buyer is, the sale price and the date. Brown County sits outside the state's emissions-testing zone.

Nearby towns

As the crow flies, Howard is 5.3 miles off, De Pere 7.8, Appleton 26.0 and Manitowoc 33.0. For statewide rules, see Wisconsin.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form with a few basics: the model and its year, a rough mile count, if it starts, and what the title says. You sell the whole car as it sits. We can pick it up at home, at work, or at a repair shop on either bank of the Fox.