How to sell a dead car in Oshkosh

No Oshkosh ordinance turned up

Oshkosh's municipal code did not surface when we searched online, so what follows is the statewide floor. Under Wisconsin law, each municipality and county can write its own ordinances for removing and disposing of abandoned vehicles. The city may well have its own limits on junk or unlicensed cars on private property. If a city notice arrives, its deadline is the one to follow.

Wisconsin's abandoned-car statute

Chapter 342 bans leaving a vehicle so that it "reasonably appears abandoned." The limit is 48 hours in first-class cities. Elsewhere, the local governing body sets the time. Two things keep a car outside the rule:

• it is out of ordinary public view, or
• a municipal or county official has designated it as not abandoned.

After a tow, the officer must give the towing service the registered owner's and lienholders' names within 24 hours. The car then waits in impound for a claim or for disposal. When hauling and lot fees would swamp what the car is worth, the statute lets it be junked or sold before the period runs out. A separate disposal subsection covers mostly intact vehicles over 19 model years old. The abandonment, impound and disposal costs all fall on the owner.

When the insurer totals it

The salvage line in Wisconsin is 70 percent. Once an insurer's payment tops 70 percent of what the car was fairly worth, deductible included, it becomes a salvage vehicle. If the owner keeps it, the insurer must notify WisDOT in writing within 30 days. The owner then has to "promptly apply for a salvage certificate of title."

Salvage is not the only brand a title can carry. The statute's brand disclosures include flood damaged, manufacturer's buyback, previously salvage, transferred to insurer, and hail-damaged. Hail damage counts as a brand unless the car was repaired with replacement parts. A branded car can still be sold whole; see salvage title and insurer totaled it.

Writing Junk on the title

Wisconsin titles are a state document, handled by WisDOT's Division of Motor Vehicles. A car sold for scrap gets "Junk" written across its title. No title? The DMV does not make you order one first when the car is being junked. The step is permanent. A junked car is shut out of Wisconsin titles and registration forever, even if someone later fixes it.

Statute 342.34 adds a 10-day duty. An owner or holder of a junk vehicle must notify the department and return the title within 10 days. No title may ever be issued for that vehicle again.

A lost title on a car that isn't junk

If the car is being sold as a car and not as junk, get a replacement title first. The statute sets the fee at $20, and the box for it is on form MV2119. The DMV's instruction: the signed replacement goes to the buyer even if the old one is found later, and the old one is destroyed. A replacement title is marked as possibly subject to the rights of anyone holding under the original. If the original turns up, you must hand it in.

Liens, co-owners and the back of the title

Only a titled owner can sell; a vehicle not in the seller's name can be sold only by a licensed dealer. Sign and date the back. On the Oshkosh title, you then fill in the miles, mark any brand, write what you got for the car, and list who bought it and where they live.

• Names joined by AND: every owner signs.
• Names joined by OR: any one owner can sign.
• Title shows a lien: the buyer gets the lender's lien release. The buyer needs both papers. See lien still on the title.

Plates stay with you

On a car or light truck, plates never go with the sale. Oshkosh sellers can shift unexpired plates to a similar vehicle titled to them, a spouse or a domestic partner. Any you aren't reusing should be destroyed. Do not return them to the DMV, and expect no refund for the time left on the registration. If they went with the car anyway, file License Plates Cancellation Application MV2514.

The 30-day seller report

When the buyer is a private person and so are you, WisDOT wants a report within 30 days. The report gives the VIN, the buyer's identity, the price and the date. Individual owners can file online, but businesses cannot. Oshkosh owners filing online need a license or state ID number, a date of birth and the final four digits of their Social Security number. Instructions for Selling a Vehicle, MV2928, includes an optional bill of sale.

If you were thinking of reviving it

A car that sat for years can owe back registration. Under Chapter 341, re-registering means paying for the gap back to when the old registration lapsed. Skip that charge if the car changed hands in the meantime, or if a full year or more has gone by and you file a statement that it stayed off the road. Add that to the repair quote before deciding.

Around Oshkosh

Neenah is 10.6 miles away in a straight line, Fond du Lac 18.4, Appleton 19.7 and De Pere 36.9. Green Bay is 44.7 miles away. The Wisconsin page covers the state rules.

Getting an offer

Got a car to sell in Oshkosh? Ring (877) 421-6008 or send our short form. The truck can collect the car near Main Street, from a garage across the river, or at the body shop holding it after the insurer's call.