Muskego junk cars: garage it or let it go

At home: out of sight or out of there

The words of 248-6 quoted above set no grace period. The section points to an exception in 219-6A. It also has a clause about a vehicle that "Is titled and has a current registration from a state, district or territory of the United States and has a legal license plate(s) mounted on the vehicle." If your car is plated and registered but simply does not run, read the whole section to see where it lands. An unlicensed car with a dead engine fits the nuisance list on two counts.

On public property: 72 hours

Code 343-1 covers streets and other public land. It says no one may let "any disassembled or inoperable and unlicensed or junked, wrecked or abandoned motor vehicles to remain in the open upon public property within the City for a period in excess of 72 hours." The one exception is a car kept "in connection with an automobile sales or repair business located in a properly zoned area."

After a tow

The same section sets out what happens once police tow a car. The car is impounded and "may be stored at a local junk or storage yard at least 10 days." Police report it to the Division of Motor Vehicles and look up the last registered owner and any lienholder. Each gets a certified letter. The letter says that if towing and storage are paid within 10 days the car is released, and that otherwise "at the end of 10 days it will be sold or destroyed."

If the apparent value is $500 or less and nobody claims the car, it may be destroyed or sold. A car with no readable motor, serial or registration number goes to a licensed auto salvage or junk dealer where possible.

Snow

Muskego's snow rule bans parking "on a main street, alley or public parking lot during the period of a snow emergency" until the plows clear it. A car that won't start is not much help when that day comes.

Title, plates and the state report

A Muskego seller deals with the state for the title: WisDOT's Division of Motor Vehicles issues them. On the back of the Muskego title, add your signature, the date, the odometer, the brand box, the sale amount and the buyer's details. A lender on the title means the buyer also gets that lender's release letter. For scrap, the word "Junk" goes across the title, and a scrap car whose title went missing can go without a replacement title.

Keep the plates yourself. Unexpired ones can be moved onto another like vehicle in your name, or your spouse's or partner's; the rest get cut up, since the DMV won't accept them. File the online seller notice within 30 days when a private individual buys. Waukesha County is an emission-test county, so a car that never passed is another one that ends up parked.

Neighboring towns

Franklin is 6.3 miles away in a straight line, New Berlin 7.0, Greenfield 9.0 and Waukesha 11.0. See Wisconsin for the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Muskego? Call (877) 421-6008 or fill in our short offer form online. Pickup works from a closed garage, a repair bay, or an impound yard once the charges are paid.